Bobby Shou Wood (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution.
Youth and early career
Wood was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a mother with partial Japanese ancestry and a father with African American ancestry. He began his youth career in 1999 with Powder Edge SC, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. He moved to California in 2005 to play with the Irvine Strikers.
Club career
Wood relocated to Germany in July 2007 to join the academy of 1860 Munich.
1860 Munich
On January 29, 2011, Wood made his professional debut coming on in the 82nd minute as a substitute during a 2. Bundesliga match against MSV Duisburg.
Wood made his first career start for 1860 Munich in October 2011 against F.C. Hansa Rostock. On November 30, 2012, against VfR Aalen, Wood scored his first professional goal to secure a 1–1 draw for 1860 Munich.
In December 2012, Wood signed his first professional contract, extending his stay with 1860 through the 2016 season.
Loan to Erzgebirge Aue
In February 2015, Wood moved to fellow 2. Bundesliga side Erzgebirge Aue, signing a contract until 2017. For Aue, Wood made nine league appearances and scored three goals before seeing the club relegated to 3. Liga for the first time in six years.
Union Berlin
In July 2015, Wood signed a three-year contract with 1. FC Union Berlin for an undisclosed fee. In his Union Berlin debut season, Wood broke the record for goals scored by an American in a single season in Germany's top two flights.
Hamburger SV
On May 15, 2016, Wood signed a four-year deal with Hamburger SV. On August 27, Wood made his Bundesliga debut with Hamburg against FC Ingolstadt. In the 1–1 draw, Wood scored the opening goal with a fantastic strike from the edge of the box, beating out Ingolstadt defender Marvin Matip after receiving a long pass from keeper René Adler. After his debut, manager Bruno Labbadia commented that Wood "has lots of pace and uses his body skillfully". His goal was later voted as the Goal of the Week in the Bundesliga. Wood scored the first goal on September 10 at Bayer Leverkusen after Bayer keeper Bernd Leno came well off his line, but a late hat trick from Joel Pohjanpalo made the result 3–1 in favor of Bayer.
Following the match against Leverkusen, however, the entire Hamburg team entered a dry spell in scoring lasting over a month, resulting in the sacking of Labbadia on September 25. Wood made his first start under new manager Markus Gisdol on October 25 in their second round DFB-Pokal match against Hallescher FC, scoring twice in the 4–0 victory. However, their problems in the league persisted, culminating in Wood being sent off in his first Bundesliga start under Gisdol, coming five days later at 1. FC Köln. After the match, Gisdol told reporters that Wood's red card, given when he elbowed Köln defender Dominique Heintz in the stomach, was "inexcusable", and Wood was handed a three-match ban by the DFB.
After the 1. FC Köln match, Hamburg won three of their six remaining matches with Wood scoring one goal in the 2–1 win against FC Schalke 04 on matchday 16. Hamburg finished the year ranked 16th. In the following year, Hamburg started with two defeats against VfL Wolfsburg (1–0) and FC Ingolstadt both away (3–1), before the Northern Germans won six of the following ten matches and climbed to 13th. Wood scored a goal during this time against Borussia Mönchengladbach in a 2–1 victory. The following four matches ended with three defeats and one draw, placing Hamburg in 16th after matchday 32. In the penultimate matchday, Hamburg drew 1–1 against FC Schalke 04 away, after the goal of Pierre-Michel Lasogga in injury time. Before the goal of Lasogga, Wood had an opportunity to equalize. Through the draw, Hamburg saved themselves from relegation. The last matchday one week later, Hamburg won 2–1 against VfL Wolfsburg and saves with the 14th rank before the relegation.