Willo Flood

William Robert Flood (born 10 April 1985) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He earned 15 caps for his country at under-20 and under-21 levels. He represented eight clubs in England and Scotland including Manchester City, Cardiff City, Dundee United, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Aberdeen.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Flood grew up on a housing estate in the Ballyfermot area of the city. He began his football career at Cherry Orchard, joining at seven years old. At the age of 14, Flood dislocated his patella playing in the All-Ireland Final, describing it the injury as "very sore". Despite the injury, Cherry Orchard won the final, resulting in Flood receiving the winners' medal, which was his only one until he won the Scottish League Cup in 2014 with Aberdeen. While at Cherry Orchard, Flood was mentored by Barry Pointon, who had known him since he was 15. Flood's performances for Cherry Orchard attracted interest from Celtic, Manchester United and Arsenal, but he opted to join Manchester City instead, due to their partnership at the time.

Immediately after joining Manchester City, Flood was assigned to the academy. Having faced with an injury at his previous youth club, he had his injuries sorted by City's medical team and was grateful towards the club. saying: "If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be playing football". Having been called up to the first team in the 2003–04 season, Flood made his debut in the qualifying round of the 2003–04 UEFA Cup, in a 7–0 aggregate win over Total Network Solutions. Following this, he continued to maintain his development in City's reserve team.

On 21 September 2004, Flood was called up to City's first team for a match against Barnsley in the Football League Cup and scored his first career goal, in a 7–1 win to help the club advance to the next round. Three days later, he made his Premiership debut, coming on as a 76th minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Arsenal. On 1 November, Flood scored his first career league goal in his first league start, in a 1–1 draw at home to Norwich City. After the match, Kevin Keegan was impressed with Flood's display, saying he "has got the vital ingredient for someone his size and that is a big heart". Following this performance, Flood signed a new contract with City, keeping him until 2007. Flood appeared in four league matches, making three starts between 24 October and 13 November. Following an injury crisis, he appeared two times in the first team, coming against Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur in March 2005. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Flood went on to make twelve appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. Local newspaper Manchester Evening News said about the player: "Flood played four matches in a row in October–November when he opened his scoring account but his form seemed to tail off and other Academy products have jumped ahead of him. Needs to kick on with his career again."

Following his loan spell at Coventry City came to an end, Flood suffered a hernia injury that saw him out for the rest of the year. On 15 February 2006, he then made his return from injury, playing for City's reserve team, in a 4–0 win against Sunderland's reserve team. On 25 March 2006, Flood made his first team appearance for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss. After the match, manager Stuart Pearce praised his performance. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he went on to make five appearances in all competitions.

On 15 March 2004, Flood was loaned out to Third Division side Rochdale for a month. The following day, he made his debut for the club, starting a match and played 88 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–1 draw against Huddersfield Town. Flood appeared in the next six matches for Rochdale, as the club were trying to avoid relegation. After a month loan spell with Rochdale, he returned to his parent club, making six appearances for the club.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Flood joined Championship side Coventry City on a month's loan. On 20 August 2005, he made his debut for the club, starting a match and played 73 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–0 win against Queens Park Rangers. Since joining Coventry, Flood received a handful of first team football, playing in the midfield position. For his performance, he had loan spell with the club extended into a second month. However, Flood received criticism for his performance while playing for Coventry's reserve team. On 28 September, he was able to make up with his performance by scoring his second career league goal, in a 3–1 win at home to Watford. On 28 October, Flood returned to his parent club after the club decided to terminate his loan contract. During his time at Coventry, he made eight appearances, scoring once.

Flood joined Championship club Cardiff City for a fee of £200,000, paid in separate instalments, Upon joining the club, he describe leaving Manchester City as a "wrench", but believe that Dave Jones could help him improve as a player, due to his track record as a manager.