With his hat-trick against his former club Newcastle United, Chris Wood not only fired Nottingham Forest to their first win under new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and boosted the club's bid for safety, he also joined an exclusive group of players.
Wood became just the seventh player in Premier League history to score a treble on Boxing Day, and the first for six years, since Harry Kane did so for Tottenham Hotspur in a 5-2 win against Southampton in 2017.
PL players to score Boxing Day hat-trick
| Player | Club | Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thierry Henry | Arsenal | Leicester | 2000 |
| Kevin Phillips | Sunderland | Bradford | 2000 |
| Robbie Fowler | Leeds | Bolton | 2001 |
| Dimitar Berbatov | Man Utd | Wigan | 2011 |
| Gareth Bale | Spurs | Aston Villa | 2012 |
| Harry Kane | Spurs | Southampton | 2017 |
| Chris Wood | Nott'm Forest | Newcastle | 2023 |
It was one of many rare feats that Wood achieved with his goals at St James' Park.
The 32-year-old became only the second Forest player to score a Premier League hat-trick, after Kevin Campbell in 1996.
He is also only the fourth player to score a hat-trick against a former club, after Andy Cole against Newcastle, Marcus Bent against Blackburn Rovers and Joshua King against Everton.
Furthermore, Wood scored more goals at St James' Park today than he did in 18 Premier League appearances there as a Newcastle player. He only scored one top-flight home goal for the Magpies.