Roy Wood's importance to British Wrestling, both professional and amateur, goes far deeper than the above article reveals.
Here are a couple of pieces about him from other websites:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Riley#The_Aspull_Wrestling_Club
When Billy Riley decided to teach catch wrestling in Wigan, he bought a small plot of land in the 1950s on Vine Street in the town. The gym
was called The Snake Pit. The rules were simple. No children, and certainly NO females were allowed. Luxuries such as toilet facilities were
not available, and the man in charge had no time for those who were not in good shape or had a low pain threshold.
The gym soon became popular for producing some of the toughest catch wrestlers in the world. Men such as Karl Gotch (Istaz), Bert Assirati,
Melvin Riss (Harold Winstanley), John Foley, Jack Dempsey (Tommy Moore), Billy Joyce (Bob Robinson), Billy Robinson, and Billy Riley's son
Ernie Riley all attended The Snake Pit.
The Snake Pit became too much of a labour for the new breed of "show wrestlers" by the 1970s, and the rough style of Riley was soon losing
its demand. The Snake Pit fell into disrepair and anonymity.
When the son of a former student, Roy Wood, and the son of Wood's friend wanted to learn wrestling they traveled to Wigan, only to
see the school in complete disrepair. The roof had literally caved in. With the help of locals, Roy Wood managed to get the gym started again.
Riley's gym was reopened. However, this time, since Roy's son Darren and nephew Paul had wanted to learn, the gym was opened to children.
Riley decided to take a seat by the mat and let Wood coach. Teaching the children was a new concept for both Roy and Riley. The results
though, soon showed that the teaching at the Snake Pit was still world class. By the age of 10, Darren had won the British Championships
alongside local children Paddy Govan, Kevin Govan, Tony Leyland and Neil Maxwell who were also Riley's wrestlers. After competitions, the
children would go round to see Riley and his wife, and take the medals and trophies which they had won. Riley died in 1977. Roy Wood and
Tommy Heyes kept the Snake Pit running, and the children visited Riley's wife to show her the trophies and achievements made possible by the
efforts of her husband.
The next major change for the gym came in the mid 1980s, when Yorkshire TV filmed the documentary "First Tuesday - The Wigan Hold".
The focus of the film was on the lack of resources available to the otherwise world class British wrestlers. This led to a Sports Council
offer to rebuild the site. At the time there were various problems, and it was decided that it would be best to relocate the gym. Roy,
therefore, bought a new building a couple of miles up the road in Aspull. It then became named the Aspull Olympic Wrestling Club
(AKA Riley's). Osamu Matsunami, a Japanese wrestler with a very keen interest in the history of wrestling, saw the documentary and then
saved up and came to England. He spent 6 month periods at a time wrestling at AOWC. He then went on to coach with Billy Robinson in Japan.
Roy Wood was soon recognized in Japan as one of the premiere trainers of submission wrestling. Roy was invited to train at the Yokohoma
Arena. He was asked to prolong his stay in Japan, where he could train some of the finest athletes in the world, but Roy opted to stay in
Wigan. The Aspull Wrestling Club has since then become a hotbed for youngsters and athletes who want to train in submission wrestling
catch-as-catch-can style.
British Wrestling Association
http://www.britishwrestling.org/people.asp?section=149§ionTitle=Personnel&itemid=174
Over recent years, Roy has been actively involved in promoting amateur wrestling – having introduced the
sport into a number of Lancashire schools. Teachers are the first to admit the remarkably positive impact it has had on many pupils.
Roy's active involvement with the sport of freestyle wrestling commenced at the age of 16 when he attended the world renowned “Billy Riley’s
Gym, Wigan”. Roy then embarked upon a career as a professional wrestler working extensively at a large number of venues throughout the UK.
Following retirement from the professional ranks Roy's thoughts turned to how best to remain involved with the sport in order to encourage
young people to be enthused by the benefits it can provide, in terms of both athletic and personal development.
It was also felt to be important to pass on the skills and expertise gained through involvement with Billy Riley and the practical
experience gained as a professional wrestler. In order to further this goal, an Amateur Wrestling Club was established at the site of
Riley’s Gym (which was then no longer active) the focus being on Olympic Freestyle Wrestling, which grew and relocated, now known as Aspull
Wrestling Club.
For several years Roy has been a member (now secretary) for the B.W.A. Northern Region Executive Committee and is their representative on
the Nations & Regions Committee. Roy was also Team Manager for the England Youth Wrestling Team that participated in the 2008 Commonwealth
Youth Games at Pune, India. Since January 2010, Roy has been a Director on the Board of British Wrestling as an advisor on expansion of
grass-roots wrestling and transferring successful elements of the North model to wider British Wrestling.