Peterborough United complete the signing of Accrington Stanley midfielder
Posh have signed midfielder Ben Woods from League Two side Accrington Stanley.
The 22 year-old has signed a four-year contract after the clubs agreed an undisclosed transfer fee.
Unfortunately Woods won’t be available for three weeks as he is recovering from a hand injury, one that kept him out of the Carabao Cup game against Posh last week.
Posh boss Darren Ferguson was delighted to finally get his man though. The PT first linked Posh with Woods in June, but the hunt started well before then.
"Ben is a player we have been after for quite a while and it has taken us a little longer than we wanted to get it over the line, but I am delighted it is completed now,” Ferguson said. “And he will be a very good signing for us. He was one of the best midfielders in League Two last season and he won all the player-of-the-season awards at Accrington.
"Ben is a very good player. He is left-footed which gives us good balance. He will add quality to the midfield and he will add goals. We’ve been light in those areas recently. I expect Matt Garbett and Klaidi Lolos to get goals for us as well so we have increased our attacking threat from the centre of the pitch.
"Ben will play anywhere you ask him too. He has a great attitude and I love his mentality. He is definitely ready for the step-up and he has plenty of potential. He really wanted to come here and that’s also important.
"We now have six good midfielders, but Ben has also played as a wing-back so we have even more flexibility. Ideally you want your new players to start straight away, but Ben has damaged his hand so it will probably be 3 weeks before we see him.”
Woods will compete for a midfield place with transfer-listed Archie Collins, Donay O’Brien-Brady, Garbett, Brandon Khela and Lolos.
Woods was a member of Manchester United’s Academy before switching to Burnley aged 16. He left Burnley in pursuit of first team football and signed a short-term contract at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in January 2023.
A year later he signed a one-year contract at Accrington which quickly turned into a three-year deal in January 2025 because of his outstanding form. Woods won numerous awards at Accrington at the end of last season including ‘Manager’s Player-of-the-Season’, ‘Supporters' Trust-Player-of-the-Season’, and ‘Goal-of-the-Season.’
Woods appeared 41 times for a struggling League Two side last season scoring nine goals, while picking up 14 yellow cards. He was joint top scorer and became noted for accurate long-distance shooting and set-piece deliveries.