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Jeff Whitley

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Jeff Whitley
Personal information
Full name Jeffrey Whitley
Date of birth (1979-01-28) 28 January 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Ndola, Zambia
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1996 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2003 Manchester City 116 (6)
1999 → Wrexham (loan) 9 (2)
2002 → Notts County (loan) 6 (0)
2002–2003 → Notts County (loan) 12 (0)
2003–2005 Sunderland 68 (2)
2005–2007 Cardiff City 34 (1)
2006 → Stoke City (loan) 3 (0)
2007 → Wrexham (loan) 11 (1)
2008 Wrexham 11 (0)
2009 Woodley Sports 7 (0)
2009–2010 Northwich Victoria 2 (0)
2013 Droylsden
Total 279 (12)
International career‡
1998–2000 Northern Ireland U21 17 (1)
1997–2004 Northern Ireland 20 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:40, 8 April 2009 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:35, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Jeffrey "Jeff" Whitley (born 28 January 1979 in Ndola, Copperbelt Province) is a Zambian-born Northern Irish former professional football player. He twice won promotion to the Premiership with Manchester City in 2000 and Sunderland in 2005[1] and was a Northern Ireland international. His brother, Jim was also a professional footballer.

Club career

Whitley was a product of the Manchester City youth scheme[2] which he joined as a ten-year-old and began his club career as a trainee in 1996, making over 120 league and cup appearances for the first-team.[3] He had a two-month loan spell at Wrexham in the 1998–99 season.[3] and in March 2002, having fallen out of favour at Manchester City, joined Notts County on loan for the remainder of the 2001–02 season.[4] He had a three-month loan spell at Notts County in the 2002–03 season, returning to Manchester City in January 2003[5] but was released by the club in March 2003 as he did not feature in manager Kevin Keegan's plans.[6]

After a trial[7] and impressing in pre-season, he signed a contract with Sunderland in August 2003.[8] He made over 70 league and cup appearances for Sunderland,[3] helping the club to the Football League Championship play-offs at the end of the 2003–04 season[9] and to the Football League Championship title in 2005.[10] In July 2005, he joined Cardiff City on a free transfer[11] and made 38 league and cup appearances for the club in the 2005–06 season,[12] scoring once against Watford in the league.[13] Whitley joined Stoke City on loan in August 2006[14] but made only four appearances[15] in an unsuccessful loan spell.[16] Cardiff made him available for transfer but he did not take up offers to talk with Millwall and Rotherham[16] and joined Wrexham in February 2007 on loan for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.[17] He scored the winning goal against Bristol Rovers in a 1–0 away victory in March 2007.[18] He was released by Cardiff and signed for Wrexham on non-contract terms in January 2008[19] but was released by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Football Conference.[20] He joined Northern Premier League Division One North side Woodley Sports in an effort to gain match fitness, before signing for Northwich Victoria on 7 March 2009.[21]

International career

Despite being Zambian born, due to Whitley living in England since he was a child, he was eligible to, and played for the England under-17 team. As his father was born in Belfast, he was also eligible to play for Northern Ireland and made his debut for them in 1997.[22]

Personal life

Whitley has spent time at the Sporting Chance clinic after becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs. It affected him greatly and said "at times I would just be praying just to die".[23] Whitley is currently working as a car salesman in the Stockport area and delivers talks at professional football clubs about the dangers of alcohol and drug misuse.[24]

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester City 1996–97 First Division 23 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
1997–98 First Division 17 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
1998–99 Second Division 8 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 13 0
1999–2000 First Division 42 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 46 4
2000–01 Premier League 31 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 37 1
2001–02 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 116 6 4 0 9 0 4 0 133 6
Wrexham (loan) 1998–99 Second Division 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
Total 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
Notts County (loan) 2001–02 Second Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
2002–03 Second Division 12 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 14 0
Total 18 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 20 0
Sunderland 2003–04 First Division 33 2 5 0 2 0 2 0 42 2
2004–05 Championship 34 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 2
Total 67 4 6 0 2 0 2 0 76 4
Cardiff City 2005–06 Championship 34 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 38 1
2006–07 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 34 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 38 1
Stoke City (loan) 2006–07 Championship 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
Total 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
Wrexham 2006–07 League Two 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
2007–08 League Two 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Total 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 1
Career Total 269 14 11 0 15 0 7 0 302 14
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy and Football League play-offs.

References

  1. ^ "Whitley poised for promotion push". BBC Sport. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  2. ^ Manchester City save best till last
  3. ^ a b c "Jeff Whitley". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Whitley joins Notts County". BBC Sport. 20 March 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Whitley returns to City". BBC Sport. 21 January 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Whitley leaves Maine Road". BBC Sport. 7 March 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Whitley wants Black cats deal". BBC Sport. 25 March 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Whitley joins Sunderland". BBC Sport. 4 August 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Whitley signs new contract". BBC Sport. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Whitley completes Cardiff switch". BBC Sport. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Whitley completes Cardiff switch". BBC Sport. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  12. ^ "Games played by Jeff Whitley in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  13. ^ "Watford 2–1 Cardiff". BBC. 25 February 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  14. ^ "Whitley joins Stoke in loan deal". BBC Sport. 18 August 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  15. ^ "Games played by Jeff Whitley in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  16. ^ a b "Cardiff fret over missing Whitley". BBC Sport. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  17. ^ "Whitley makes Wrexham loan move". BBC Sport. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  18. ^ "Bristol Rovers 0–1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  19. ^ "Quartet join Wrexham with one out". BBC Sport. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  20. ^ "Roberts and Llewellyn leave Reds". BBC Sport. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  21. ^ "Northwich complete double signing". BBC Sport. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  22. ^ "Jeff Whitley". Squad Profiles – Legends of the Game. Irish Football Association. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  23. ^ "Former Man City player Jeff Whitley reveals drug battle". BBC Sport. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  24. ^ Taylor, Louise (13 January 2012). "Sheffield Wednesday the beneficiary of Nicky Weaver's go-ahead surgeon". The Guardian.
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