Nathan Wood Becomes The First 2002-Born Player To Play In Professional English Football

Middlesbrough teenager Nathan Wood never experienced the joys of Pokemon in the 90's. The 16-year-old wasn't around when Kenan And Kel, Saved By The Bell and Renford Rejects were on the tele, for god's sake.

To put things into further perspective, the lad didn't even witness Manchester United's famous treble win in the 99/00 season, which in turn has made me feel really, really old.

At 16 years and 75 days old, Wood became the youngest-ever player to feature in a competitive game for Middlesbrough's first-team, last night, when he came on as a substitute in the second half.against Notts Country.

In fact, he became the first 2002-born player to make an appearance in any of England's professional leagues, or domestic cups, according to Scouted Football.

Now that is seriously impressive.

Middlesbrough went on to win the Carabao Cup match on penalties against the League Two side, but Wood's debut grabbed the headlines as Tony Pulis gave the defensive player an opportunity to shine.

Here's how social media reacted to his entrance. It clearly made others feel really, really old too:

What a moment for the youngster. Remember the name.

Topics: Football News, Carabao Cup, Football

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_