"It was (Alan) Shearer's (home) debut," explains England fast bowler Wood. "He scored a banger, and everyone had Shearer tops on."
Well, almost everyone. Wood had travelled 20 miles south from his Ashington home with his Newcastle-supporting family. But swimming in a black and white ocean, he stuck out in Wimbledon blue. And whereas most bairns were clamouring for the scribble of Newcastle's new number nine, six-year-old Wood's sights were elsewhere.
"I remember shouting over at Dean Holdsworth," Wood recalls. "I’m like 'Deano, Deano' in an Ashington accent with my Wimbledon strip on. The people around us were looking at me mam like 'what the hell?'"
All this begs a simple question: how did a lad looking to follow in Stephen Harmison's footsteps, from a family of Newcastle fanatics, have his head turned by a side in south west London?
"Newcastle would have been the obvious answer," admits Wood. "I remember the 5-0 win over Manchester United, the Philippe Albert game - he apparently used to drink in Ashington every now and again.
"I was at my uncle's house watching and everyone was going wild. But I'd started collecting the Premier League stickers by then. You know, the book with the shinies? And my favourite colour was blue. I could have picked Chelsea or Leicester, but one of the Wimbledon stickers I had looked like me dad.
"Now I originally thought it was Hans Segers, but my uncle has since sent us a picture - he must have gone through the old sticker books - and reckons it's actually Gary Blissett, the centre-half. He's got a huge moustache, and my dad had a moustache, and I think that must have been what it was."
Wood has gone on to become one of, if not, the premier quick bowlers in world cricket. During England's victory over the West Indies at Trent Bridge in July he was clocked at 97.1mph - a fraction short of the fastest ball ever delivered in a Test match. That 97.3mph nut also came out of Wood's hands over in Multan back 2022.
But as a youngster Wood also had talented feet, spending a season or two as a pre-teen with Newcastle's age group sides. "I actually found it difficult," Wood admits of the travel to Benwell and the training. "I was never going to make it anyway. Newcastle would provide all the kit, which was great, but because I was a member at Wimbledon, on my birthdays, or at the start of the season, Wimbledon would always send me things - cards, toothbrushes, Crazy Gang stuff.
"I remember thinking 'I'm getting more from Wimbledon than I was from Newcastle' at the time! But I guess with Wimbledon it was a smaller, family club and they tried to really look after people. And I still get that feeling with the AFC Wimbledon now as well."
A junior Wood witnessed the back end of the 'Crazy Gang' days, during which Wimbledon reached several cup semi-finals before their eventual Premier League relegation in 2000.
They had previously spent 14 years in the top-flight, lifting the FA Cup in the 1988 season and finishing sixth in the 1993-94 Premier League.
He would usually have his own name printed on any replica shirts, but rotated through numbers 11 for Marcus Gayle, seven for Neal Ardley and eight for Robbie Earle.
When that side visited Newcastle in the late 90s, Wood turned up at the Gosforth Marriot to meet some of his heroes. "They couldn't believe that a lad with a North East accent was there supporting Wimbledon," he explains, laughing.
"Mick Harford took me round and to collect autographs - Earle, Neil Sullivan, Kenny Cunningham, Alan Kimble, Chris Perry. And I obviously still love Vinnie Jones. He's iconic, isn't he, from a Wimbledon point of view even now he's gone on to Hollywood?
"When I was playing for England a little while ago, Vinnie Jones tweeted me and I was like, 'oh my god, that's the best thing I've ever seen in my life!'"
Wood made the pilgrimage to Wimbledon's borrowed Selhurst Park home just the once. It was May 1998 and proved an unhappy visit. "Tottenham beat Wimbledon 6-2. Jürgen Klinsmann scored four. It took what seemed like a three-year camel ride across the desert to get there.
"Wimbledon were fantastic. They didn't know I was coming that far and said if I ever made the journey again, they would make us mascot. That was lovely. But I think I was burnt after that one trip down thinking 'I can't go back' - I was a bad omen."
Wimbledon remained close to Wood's heart but his soft spot for Newcastle also developed. For several years he semi-regularly clambered up the Level 7 staircases. "Lots of people would say, 'oh they look like ants up there' but I actually quite like the view because you can see the tactical set-up. There's nothing quite like going to a game is there? When you watch it on TV, it's obviously great, but when you're at the game... I can't believe how fit they are, how much movement there is and how quick the game is. TV doesn't do it justice."
A couple of matches from United's 2004-05 campaign stick out in Wood's memory.
"I went with my uncle, and they played Heerenveen in the UEFA Cup. I couldn't believe the noise. The Heerenveen fans were loud, the Newcastle fans were loud. I remember being there thinking 'wow'."
There is also a Manchester branch to Wood's family and earlier that season Newcastle had beaten Manchester City 4-3 on Tyneside. 2-0. 2-2. 3-2. 3-3. And then Craig Bellamy's 89th-minute winner saw former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan finally beaten. Future free-agent signing Antoine Sibierski was in the opposition line-up that day.
"It was a hell of a game and Sibierski hit the bar with a header. My uncle jumped up and I screamed, 'sit doon will you, you're ganna get us into trouble.' So, I'm very much accustomed to the ways of being an away fan in the home end."
Which is how Wood just about sees himself ahead of Tuesday night's rearranged clash - even if he follows Newcastle more closely than modern AFC Wimbledon now. Indeed, a few summers back at Lord's he was famously caught on microphone screaming nostalgic Newcastle names - the likes of 'Asprilla', 'Ketsbaia' and 'Shearer' - as he attempted to run out bemused New Zealand batters in a Test match.
Such cries rang out regularly and with verve on Tyneside playing fields in the late '90s but at the self-anointed Home of Cricket? Less commonly heard. "Jos Buttler loved it," Wood explains, grinning. "And it rolled on from there really. The England dressing room is massively mixed. Chris Woakes is huge Aston Villa. Zak Crawley is a Charlton fan, he's a little bit different. Ben Stokes has been in a couple of Newcastle games with me. I'm not sure who he supports - I think he got a Tottenham shirt once, but I wouldn't say he's a team fan, he just likes football.
"Joe Root is a massive Sheffield United fan, but he has links to Newcastle - his mam is from Blaydon, as are his uncles and aunties. His uncle used to buy him Newcastle kits as a kid, and he's been to a few games. He wasn’t happy when Newcastle drummed Sheffield United 8-0 last year. His family were giving him a lot of stick!"
There are plenty in the Newcastle dressing room who adore their cricket, too. "Sean Longstaff loves his cricket, and I've met Nick Pope at Chester-le-Street for one of the England games, Eddie Howe too. I'm just waiting for them to set up a training session where I can show off me football skills and then get at them in the nets!"
That prospect will excite supporters although quite what the likes of Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães would think about padding up to face a man of Wood's terrifying speed is another question. Before that though, there is a Carabao Cup to be won. "It's great to see Newcastle doing well, obviously being a North East lad and seeing how much it affects people around here," says Wood to close. "The belief it has, and not necessarily having to win things, it's more just the fact that it brings a smile to people's faces, knowing that they can try for things, not just the 'no hope' kind of thing.
"I've still got a lot of friends in Ashington who are huge Newcastle supporters, my family are Newcastle season ticket holders, and hopefully I might get to see them at the game on Tuesday."
