‘I thought it was a blag’: Curtis Woodhouse on his long and winding road to recognition

The former Premier League midfielder turned British champion boxer tells Declan Taylor his remarkable story of resilience as he receives a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours

Curtis Woodhouse has been honoured in the New Year’s Honours (Rex Features)

It was early December when Curtis Woodhouse received a curious email which claimed to have come directly from The Palace.

“To tell you the truth I thought it was a blag,” he says. “I was expecting some geezer to be asking for my sort code and account number.

“There was a phone number at the bottom so I rang it fully expecting some kind of wind up. Then the woman on the end of the line was scrolling for ages – 'what was the name again?'

“I told her again 'Curtis Woodhouse' but she couldn't find it on the list. I thought 'here we go' and then she came back on the line – 'here you are, congratulations!'

Not a wind up. In fact, totally legit that the 40-year-old would receive a British Empire Medal for services to football and boxing in the New Year's Honours List. “It's all a bit weird isn't it? It's a bit mad,” he laughs.

But although recognition from the Queen might seem mad to the self-professed 'council estate scally', in reality his were ground-breaking achievements the like of which will probably never be repeated.

Woodhouse was once a Premier League midfielder who had cost Birmingham £1million but he turned his back on football at the age of 26 to pursue a career in boxing despite no experience in the sport whatsoever. “Everybody was laughing at me,” he says. “But that's what kept me going.”

As a boxer he would eventually win the British title in only his 28th fight in what remains one of the most remarkable sporting achievements of the generation. In 2017 he hung up his gloves with a record of 24-7 (13) and has since gone into football management. He is currently the first team boss of Northern Premier League club GainsboroughTrinity and owner of the Curtis Woodhouse Elite Boxing Academy.

“It hasn't sunk in yet,” Woodhouse admits. “There are so many people who have done so many better things than me in football and boxing but I suppose it must be for doing them both that makes my achievements stand out.

“Without sounding overly arrogant, I think what I did in the two sports will never be done again. Probably because nobody will ever step away from football like I did. Also, if they did, it's such a long, difficult road.”

So arduous, in fact, that Woodhouse very nearly never made it. “I was so naïve,” says Woodhouse, who documented the scarcely believable story in his autobiography Box to Box.

“I reckon within the first week of my boxing career I had retired three times. Every time I went home I thought I was done.

“I was getting beaten up by 14-year-olds. I remember sparring Daniel Thorpe who gave me one of the biggest beatings in sparring. After the spar I realised that Thorpey had lost over 100 fights and hadn't won for 18 months. I remember sitting on the side of the ring thinking 'oh my god, I've given up a football career for this'.

“I must admit, if I had my time again – I look back at all the hard parts that you go through – I'm really not sure if I'd do it all again. It was a really tough road with loads of dark moments.

"Mainly the hardest part was just realising that I wasn't very good. That was really humbling because I've always been a kid who was fighting from a young age. I'd probably had about 150 fights outside the ring before I started boxing.

“I always thought I could fight but then there is a realisation of 'oh shit, I'm not very good at this'.”

But Woodhouse was nothing if not stubborn while a famous promise he made to his dad had lit a fire beneath him. “I didn't want to be the guy who walked away from football and then walked away from boxing,” he explains. “I thought I'd become a laughing stock so ego kept me going.

“Then losing my dad was a real turning point. That was the moment when I thought 'right now I have to dig deep'. The last thing I ever said to my dad was a promise to him that I'd win the British title. So losing him focused me on not giving up, I couldn't let the last thing I ever said to my dad be a lie.

“There's no way on God's green earth I should've won the British title. Absolutely no chance. There are fighters five times better than me who have never won the British title but nobody outworked me and that's what I'm most proud of.”

His father, Bernard, will be in his thoughts when he arrives at a Buckingham Palace for a 'Covid-secure' garden party to receive his medal. By then, his wife and three kids might just believe it's real.

“They're convinced it's a blag – they say there's no way I'm getting an award,” Woodhouse says. “Normally when I get an email off Her Majesty The Queen, I think 'what have I done now?' I thought I must be going to jail. It has been quite surreal and definitely humbling.

“I always say that my biggest achievement was winning the British title but I definitely think this surpasses it.

“My dad would be a very proud. I miss him. I think it's difficult when lads lose their dads. He would've loved to have gone down to Buckingham Palace, I can picture him now, with a wild shirt and some Jamaica sandals on. It's a shame he's not around to share it with me.

“All of this made me look back on my career and it put a full stop on the end of it. When I think, was it all worthwhile? Well definitely.

“My life was headed towards a car crash. If boxing hadn't come into my life at 26 I don't know what would've happened. Up to that point I'd been arrested 19 times. From 26 to now I think I've had a parking ticket. That shows my progression.

“I can be a beacon to anybody – you can turn your life around. How you start is not how you have to finish. I'm living proof of that.”