Chester City Woodthorpe made his first-team debut for
Chester City in the
1985–86 season at
Rochdale in the
Associate Members' Cup as a 17-year-old apprentice. The following season saw Woodthorpe make his
Football League debut at
Bury in a 1–1 draw and he ended the campaign with 30 league starts and two goals to his name. He also found the net in the northern final of the Associate Members' Cup, but Chester lost 2–1 on aggregate to
Mansfield Town. He remained a regular in the left-back slot for the remainder of his time at the club and did not miss a game in the
1989–90 season. At the end of the campaign he joined top-flight side
Norwich City for a six-figure sum, having made 155 league appearances and scored six times in four years with Chester's first team.
Norwich City His four years with Norwich included some highlights, such as playing against
Inter Milan in a
UEFA Cup tie (1993), appearing in an
FA Cup semi-final against
Sunderland (1992) and scoring in a 3–0 win over
Liverpool (1991).
Aberdeen In 1994, he moved north of the border when he joined
Aberdeen for £400,000, again providing matches in European competition. In three years at
Pittodrie Woodthorpe made 51 league appearances before returning to the north-west with
Stockport County in 1997.
Stockport County Stockport County had just won promotion to
Division One, a level the club would remain at until 2002 when they were relegated and Woodthorpe left on a free transfer, despite captaining the side in his final season at
Edgeley Park.
Bury Woodthorpe joined
Bury at the start of the
2002–03 season. His first goal for the Shakers was a local derby winner at
Rochdale in the
Football League Trophy and his first season ended with Bury reaching the
Division Three play-offs. Woodthorpe remained a regular figure in the Bury defence, despite being 20 years older than some teammates and opponents. Aged 39, he was released by Bury in May 2008. ==Management career==