Chris Wood has made HISTORY by winning the October 2024 EA SPORTS Player of the Month award.
The 32-year-old has become the first Nottingham Forest player AND the first New Zealander to win the award. And you can lay claim to some of that history by winning a shirt signed by the forward when he received his prize.
Wood was the Premier League's top scorer in October. He scored in all three of his appearances, netting four goals in total to help Forest go unbeaten through the month, drawing at Chelsea, beating Crystal Palace and winning an East Midlands derby at Leicester City.
He topped an eight-man shortlist after the public's votes on the EA SPORTS website were combined with those of a panel of football experts.
"I'm over the moon with it. It's a fantastic achievement," Wood said.
"It's a credit to all of us and how the team's working. I couldn't have done it without them. They supply me with all the chances, so it's nice that I've been able to tuck them away for them."
“It’s just a credit to all of us, how the team’s working. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) November 8, 2024
💬❤️
Wood on fire
Wood has already picked up where he left off in October, scoring in his only November appearance so far as Forest beat West Ham United 3-0 to rise to THIRD in the Premier League table.
He is now the Premier League's second-highest scorer this season, on eight goals, three behind Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.
Despite ranking second for goals, his Expected Goals (xG) total of 4.51 is only the 10th-highest of all players, showing how high-quality his finishing has been.
His eight goals have come from just 21 shots, too. No player to have had at least 20 attempts has a better conversion rate than Wood's 38.1%.
Rermarkably, since Nuno Espirito Santo's first match as Nott'm Forest head coach on 23 December 2023, Wood has scored 18 non-penalty goals. That is the joint-highest total of all Premier League players during that period, along with Haaland.
Wood's next match is at home to Newcastle United on Sunday 10 November, when he will have the chance to score in a FIFTH consecutive Premier League match for the first time in his career.
2024/25 EA SPORTS Player of the Month winners
August: Erling Haaland (Man City)
September: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
October: Chris Wood (Nott'm Forest)
Nottingham Forest have won an October awards double, after Nuno also won the Barclays Manager of the Month award.
