Laura Woods started out as a runner and moved on to radio and television roles. Photo: Shutterstock/James Veysey
Professional new chapter and personal makeover, but when Laura Woods becomes the new face of TNT Sports this football season, one old routine is sure to continue.
«My mom listened to every Breakfast show,» says Woods, referring to her three years with talkSPORT, during which she was named national sports broadcaster of the year twice.
«She texted me in the morning. at 5:55 in the morning and she would say, «Good morning, baby,» and I would think, «Mom is listening.» It was so comforting.
“She's also a sports freak. She was my rugby coach when I was younger. She took me and my older brothers to all our clubs after school. She listens to everything, watches everything and always supports me.”
The good luck text will at least no longer require a red-eyed alarm as Woods effectively changes the daily start, which could be as early as 4am to bike around London, to a new opportunity to present live Champions League football and big fight. nights on TNT. She also remains the ITV host for the current Women's World Cup and other major events.
Walking away from talkSPORT after saying goodbye on the air with tears in her eyes was a real head-to-heart decision, she said: early. It was the longest show at the earliest [lasted four hours from 6 am to 10 am]. Everyone I talked to on the radio at breakfast told me that you can't do this forever, and I totally agree.»
Woods previously flew into the O2 sports bar Toca Social for our «it's like speed-dating» interview ahead of her 100th appointment on the day of TNT Sports' official launch.
Woods was a TalkSPORT star and will now be the face of TNT Sports covering the Champions League. Photo: D1 Media
Everyone from photographers and film crews to fans and staff members waited patiently for their audience, but from the moment our conversation turned to the influence of her mother, Michelle, who juggled a job as a special needs teaching assistant and a single mother, one could feel the balancing act. the axis around which her life revolves. However, sincere gratitude to the family who still knows her as «Larry» seems tinged with guilt.
“I would just make sure I always prioritize work,” says Woods, who joined Sky Sports in 2009 as a runner before working in just about every different role in every sport. “It got me through TV, through production, and it got me here. And then I realized, probably in the last couple of years, that although I achieved what I wanted in terms of my professional career, I probably did it at the expense of some of my personal relationships.
“To me I don't feel like I'm spending enough time with my friends and family. I don't give this side of my life as much attention as I would like. They totally understand, but you can miss so many birthdays, parties and weddings. I would like to pay more attention to this.
«I look at my nieces and nephews and think, 'God, they're growing up so fast and I don't want to miss this.' One of my nieces is called Margo. She wants to be a soccer player — she's crazy about Arsenal and the Lionesses. She wears the Arsenal uniform every day. I would like to take her to see the girls at the Arsenal. I want to take her to other matches. If I work all the time, I can't do it.
«I think they [family and friends] should be my priority, and they always feel like my priorities, even if I worked so hard that they had to take a backseat.»
McCoist: «She has no manners and no manners.”
Like family, Woods' eyes light up when the conversation turns to Ellie McCoist. She refers to McCoist as her «old ball and chain» and is visibly thrilled to have him join her on TNT as an announcer and expert.
Woods and McCoist, himself often referred to as the nation's favorite football pundit, were a double whammy for the station, which is an amalgamation of BT Sport and Eurosport and partly owned by Warner Bros. discovery. It is also a statement of the more informal approach being promoted and the desire to create a TalkSPORT-style football chat that aims to communicate with the audience, not at them.
It was something that Woods and McCoist managed daily with self-deprecating wit on a channel that has long been a mainstay of what we might call boyish sports banter. «Ellie is the best and I'm so glad we're reunited,» says Woods. “I wasn't sure it would happen. I tried not to get involved in it…he is just one of the most level-headed and down to earth people I have ever met. With Ellie, you have a little bit of everything: light and shadow and this knowledge. You could start talking about pinkies on the moon and he would have some history. I don't know anyone who can be so warm, funny and really damn good at their job.”
The mutual appreciation between Woods and McCoist is instantly apparent in a conversation with the latter at the nearby Observatory Pub later that day.
«What you see is what you get with Laura,» McCoist said. “She is magical. Great pleasure to be around. Without pathos and graces. She will give you some back too. She used to come to her senses when Spurs fans called her. (Woods is an Arsenal fan and enjoyed the well-timed humiliation.) I would have just let her go on.”
A legendary scorer as a player and broadcaster in one form or another for the past 27 years, McCoist has been involved with football and television long enough to know that their current golden status could easily change. “I know that you are only a few steps away from falling off a cliff,” he says. But you also don't have to spend long in their company to experience their shared infectious enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport, combined with the most priceless commodity of all: the confidence to just be yourself. It is also backed up by hard work. McCoist says he still gets nervous before every broadcast and calls himself an «anorak» because of his good stats. Woods, a seasoned journalist who started out with unpaid work experience and then threw herself into numerous roles on and off screen, also credits her mother with her persistence.
“We didn’t come from money at all,” she says. “My older brothers [Paul and Luc] have been between me and me for four years, so she [Michelle] had three children under the age of four. She was a single mother, she got a job in our school as an assistant teacher for children with special needs. This meant that she could follow us and do the same for hours. At some point, she had two jobs.
“I look at her and accept her work ethic. I went out and washed cars when I was nine or ten. I worked in restaurants, pubs, bars when I was old enough. I had a desire for something. I have always worked. Always 100 mph.
“We were always a little close to perfect…when we were younger, we didn't have a lot of new clothes. Such things. Many families experience this. I think it instilled in me that I wanted to help my mom from a very young age because she was my best friend. I also realized very quickly that I could make money.
“My whole family supports me and I never take anything too seriously. I think that's the key, which is why I want to spend more time with them.»
Laura Woods, Way Forward «As you get older, you learn to find balance in your life»
Woods' sense of perspective was also critical to managing attention, which was still snowballing. Woods chuckles and says she's gotten «my retribution» in recent months when she's often been the personal subject of the sort of «transfer» chat that fills much of the talkSPORT schedule. She also remains active on social media and despite Twitter's inability to effectively rein in offensive trolls, she now seems to have found a healthier balance.
«There's this 'I deserve my patches' kind of thing, but I also know how to not let things affect me anymore,» she says. “You can do it if you want. And I do it from time to time because I find it pretty funny.
“But you also know, as an adult, that you have the option to turn off your phone, put it down, uninstall the app, not look at it. It actually serves me very well. It's not about me saying, «God, I have to uninstall the app.» Now I could say, “I really don’t need to be on social media this weekend. I do things with my friends, my family, the people I love… so I'll just uninstall the app for the time being.»
«I think as you get older you learn to balance your life and a little more. It sounds very simple — like I figured it out — but it won't always be that way. I think you have to take the power away from it, but it's also a great tool. I love it and last season was the best.» And why? “Because I'm an Arsenal fan,” she says, smiling.
You can broadcast TNT Sports at the opening+ app and watch on all major TV platforms. For more information visit: tntsports.co.uk
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