Ex-All Whites international Mike Groom recalls striker who stunned him with ‘audacity, self-belief, awareness and skill’

In a rugby-infused country such as New Zealand, and with England’s cricketers in town for a Test match this past week, Hamilton on the winding Waikato river could feel every bit the other side of the world from the Premier League that it, well, very much is.

Yet right now English football’s dream factory has never been closer. Chris Wood, their boy and New Zealand’s captain, is leading a stirring rise at Nottingham Forest this season; one that has them fourth in the league, ahead of the champions, Manchester City. Driven by Wood’s 10 goals, and with Anfield and Old Trafford having been conquered, hopes of a first European adventure since 1995-96 have been rekindled at a club with a little bit of history there.