Liverpool’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash against Crystal Palace on Wednesday might be just another fixture on paper, but Softfootball understands that for Freddie Woodman, it’s a night that could mean everything.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper, signed on a free from Preston North End, is expected to make his competitive debut for Liverpool, stepping in while Alisson Becker recovers from a hamstring injury. For most players, that’s a massive occasion already. For Woodman, it’s personal.
Born and raised in south London, Woodman grew up a passionate Crystal Palace fan. His earliest memories of football are tied to Selhurst Park; he was once a ballboy there, even a mascot. His father, Andy Woodman, also played for the Eagles, which made the family’s connection to the club even deeper. He revealed this in an interview he granted, which was uploaded via the club’s official X account.
He said:
I got into football quite late really in terms of the playing side of things, Obviously I watched my dad [former professional goalkeeper Andy] growing up but I just played a little bit here and there.
It was completely random how it happened for me, really. I was at secondary school and we used to rotate the team around. It was my turn to go in goal one day and I had a teacher at the time, Mr Bruce, who was a coach for Crystal Palace. After the session, he came up to me and said he wanted me to go down to Crystal Palace Park, where the academy set-up was based, that evening and take a trial. And that’s where it all started for me.
I used to go down to Selhurst with my grandad as he had a season ticket down there. I was a ballboy a few times and also a mascot and I just used to love it. Being a south London lad, being a Crystal Palace fan was just born into me really.
Now, fate brings him full circle. Standing between the posts at Anfield, facing the very club where it all started, it’s the sort of story football writes when it wants to remind us that dreams and destiny still matter.
Watch the interview video:
Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who’s been under serious pressure after four straight Premier League defeats following their 3-2 defeat to Brentford, is expected to rotate his squad. That means Woodman could finally get his long-awaited chance to prove himself under the lights, an opportunity the midfielder can’t wait to fully grasp, as he revealed further in his interview.
He said:
Any time I get to pull on the jersey for this club, whether it be a pre-season game or whatever competition, I’ll always just try to do my best and enjoy the moment, because I’ve spent a lot of time playing in the Championship, and so to play for a club with this history is pretty special.
It’s clear that this club takes the competition seriously, like it does every competition. When you get to the latter stages, you go to Wembley, and you see how important it is to the fans.
We train in the goalkeeping area at the AXA Training Centre, and I regularly see the photo of Caoimhin Kelleher on the wall after his success in the recent finals, and that’s how important it is. You can really write yourself into history if you win trophies at this club, so I know how important it is, and the club recognises how important this competition is too.
For Liverpool it is not just another cup tie; it’s a chance for them to gather themselves again. Just like Virgil van Dijk revealed in a previous interview, it is a time for the club to sit back and reflect. While for Woodman, it’s a reunion, a memory, and maybe even a redemption rolled into one night at Anfield, a debut written with heart, history, and a touch of home.
