Bob Whiting
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Robert Whiting[1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 6 January 1883||
Place of birth | Canning Town, England | ||
Date of death | 28 April 1917[2] | (aged 34)||
Place of death | Oppy Wood, Arras, France[3] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1904–1905 | South West Ham | ||
1905 | West Ham United | 0 | (0) |
1905–1906 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | ||
1906–1908 | Chelsea | 52 | (0) |
1908–1915 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 253 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Robert Whiting (6 January 1883 – 28 April 1917), sometimes known as Pom Pom Whiting,[3] was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Chelsea.[1][4][5] He made 253 appearances in the Southern League for Brighton & Hove Albion and was a part of the club's 1909–10 Southern League First Division and 1910 FA Charity Shield-winning teams.[6]
Personal life
Whiting was married with three sons and the second-youngest, William, later followed in his footsteps to play as a goalkeeper for Tunbridge Wells Rangers.[4] In December 1914, four months after the outbreak of the First World War, Whiting enlisted in the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.[4] After arriving in France in November 1915, Whiting became infected with scabies at the front and was sent to a hospital in Brighton for treatment.[4] As a result of the discovery of his wife's pregnancy and the death of his brother on the Somme in August 1916, Whiting went AWOL.[4] He was caught in October 1916 and court-martialled in France in February 1917.[4] A shortage of men meant that his sentence of 9 months' hard labour lasted just one week before he rejoined the Football Battalion.[4] He was killed in action whilst assaulting a fortified German position at Oppy Wood during the Battle of Arras on 28 April 1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.[4][2]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Chelsea | 1905–06[7] | Second Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1906–07[7] | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||
1907–08[7] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 52 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 0 | ||
Brighton & Hove Albion | 1908–09[6] | Southern League First Division | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
1909–10[6] | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
1910–11[6] | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
1911–12[6] | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
1912–13[6] | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
1913–14[6] | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||
1914–15[6] | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
Total | 253 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 266 | 0 | ||
Career total | 305 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
Honours
Brighton & Hove Albion
- Southern League First Division: 1909–10[3]
- FA Charity Shield: 1910[3]
References
- ^ a b Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 309. ISBN 978-1905891610.
- ^ a b c "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Footballer featured in War Stories exhibition". brighton-hove.gov.uk. May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Robert (Bob) 'Pom Pom' Whiting". robertpompomwhiting.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ "Bob Whiting: big kicker and casualty of war". Great War London. 12 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 258. ISBN 0-9521337-1-7.
- ^ a b c "Robert Whiting". 11v11.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- 1883 births
- 1917 deaths
- Footballers from the London Borough of Newham
- People from Canning Town
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- West Ham United F.C. players
- Tunbridge Wells F.C. players
- Chelsea F.C. players
- Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
- English Football League players
- Southern Football League players
- British Army personnel of World War I
- Middlesex Regiment soldiers
- British military personnel killed in World War I
- British Army personnel who were court-martialled
- English prisoners and detainees
- Prisoners and detainees of the British military
- Military personnel from London
- English football goalkeeper stubs