Ryan Woods says rejoining Exeter City was an easy decision

RYAN Woods says it was an “easy decision” to rejoin Exeter City after having his contract terminated by Championship side Hull City earlier this week.

The 30-year-old midfield playmaker enjoyed a superb loan spell with the Grecians last season, featuring 14 times after joining in a loan deal at the end of the January transfer window. The Grecians won eight of those games and lost just twice, which underlines how effective he was during his short stay in Devon.

Even a red card in the penultimate game of the season – a 2-1 win at Northampton Town – could not spoil such a productive spell which saw Woods fall back in love with the game after a difficult few years.

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On returning to Hull, where he was not wanted, from his loan spell with City, Woods agreed a settlement on his contract, which was announced on Monday. Within 24 hours, he was back with a club that values him so highly, penning a two-year deal to stay.

“This was such an easy decision and the desire the club showed wanting me to come back, and the desire I showed in wanting to come back – it was so easy in the end,” Woods said.

“I have spoken before about the enjoyment factor I had last season - I hadn’t had that in such a long time – and my performance I think represented that on the pitch.

“When I settled my love for football came back and if I’m honest the season ended too soon for me, I have really just been wanting this to happen because I couldn’t wait to come back.”

Having started his career in the Academy at Walsall, Woods joined Shrewsbury Town, where he was to make his debut and go on to make over 100 appearances for the club. His performances earned him a £1 million move to Brentford, where he racked up 128 appearances.

After a successful loan spell with Stoke City, the move was made permanent where he made a further 39 appearances, while he also had two loan spells at Millwall. But Woods joined Hull in the summer of 2022, making 27 appearances before he joined Bristol Rovers on loan at the start of last season.

That move failed to work out when Rovers sacked Joey Barton and replaced him with Matt Taylor and when January came around, boss Gary Caldwell moved quickly for a player he was keen to sign last summer.