Walter Whittaker

Walter Whittaker
	Whittaker while with Brentford 1905
Personal information
Full name	Walter Whittaker
Date of birth	20 September 1878
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Date of death	2 June 1917 (aged 38)
Place of death	Swansea, Wales
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1894–1895	Molyneaux
Senior career*
Years	Team
1895–	Buxton
0000–1896	Molyneaux
1896	Newton Heath
1896–1897	Fairfield
1897–1898	Grimsby Town
1898–1900	Reading
1900–1901	Blackburn Rovers
1901–1903	Grimsby Town
1903–1904	Derby County
1904–1906	Brentford
1906–1907	Reading
1907–1910	Clapton Orient
1910–1912	Exeter City
1912–1914	Swansea Town
1914	Llanelly
Managerial career
1912–1914	Swansea Town (player-manager)
1914	Llanelly (player-manager)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Walter Whittaker (20 September 1878 – 2 June 1917) was an English football goalkeeper who played in the Football League for Newton Heath, Grimsby Town, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, Clapton Orient and Swansea Town.

Playing career

Whittaker began his career with Manchester League side Molyneaux. He had a short spell with Buxton, but returned to Molyneaux before joining Newton Heath in February 1896 as a replacement for William Douglas, who had transferred to Derby County. Whittaker was one of four goalkeepers Newton Heath tried following Douglas' departure (including their regular left-half Walter Cartwright), but the team lost all three matches Whittaker appeared in; he was transferred to Fairfield at the end of the season.

After a season away, Whittaker returned to the Football League with Second Division side Grimsby Town in May 1897, playing in all but two of the club's matches in the 1897–98 season. In May 1898, Whittaker transferred to Southern League club Reading, where he played for almost two seasons before returning to The Football League with Blackburn Rovers in February 1900. After just over 50 league appearances for Blackburn, Whittaker rejoined Grimsby Town – newly promoted to the First Division – in December 1901. The club narrowly avoided relegation at the end of the 1901–02 season, but they were unable to repeat the feat in 1902–03, and at the end of the season, after 47 more appearances for Grimsby, Whittaker transferred to Derby County to remain a First Division player.

Whittaker was predominantly Derby's second-choice goalkeeper in 1903–04, making just 12 league appearances out of a potential 34, before returning to the Southern League with Brentford in May 1904.^[1] After two years with Brentford,^[2] he moved back to Reading for a season, before returning to the Football League again in 1907 with Second Division side Clapton Orient. After making 90 Football League and six FA Cup appearances in three years with the London side, he made a final return to the Southern League First Division with Exeter City in July 1910.

Management career

In July 1912, Whittaker was appointed as the first manager of Swansea Town and spent two years with the newly elected Southern League Second Division club in a player-manager capacity.^[1] In his first season with Swansea, he won the Welsh Cup and guided the team to third place in the league.^[1] After leaving Swansea, he took over as player-manager at nearby Llanelly, but his time there was cut short by the outbreak of the First World War.

Personal life

Whittaker died of pneumonia in 1917 at the age of 38.^[3]

Honours

As a manager

Swansea Town

Welsh Cup: 1912–13^[1]

References

Barnes, Justyn; Bostock, Adam; Butler, Cliff; Ferguson, Jim; Meek, David; Mitten, Andy; Pilger, Sam; Taylor, Frank OBE; Tyrrell, Tom (2001). The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Manchester United Books. p. 122. ISBN 0-233-99964-7.
Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 279. ISBN 1899468676.
Shury, Alan; Landamore, Brian (2005). The Definitive Newton Heath F.C. SoccerData. p. 71. ISBN 1899468161.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 136. ISBN 1-874427-57-7.
^ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 358. ISBN 0951526200.
^ "Whittaker Walter Image 1 Brentford 1905". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 24 December 2018.