Noel Whelan
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| Noel Whelan | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Noel Whelan | |
| Date of birth | December 30, 1974 | |
| Place of birth | Leeds, England | |
| Height | 6' 2" | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Unattached | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993-1995 1995-2000 2000-2003 2003 2003 2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2006-2007 |
Leeds United Coventry City Middlesbrough → Crystal Palace (loan) Millwall Derby County Aberdeen Boston United Livingston Dunfermline |
48 (7) 133 (31) 61 (5) 8 (3) 15 (4) 8 (0) 20 (5) 15 (4) 8 (1) 1 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1994 | England U21 | 2 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Noel Whelan (born 30 December 1974) is an English professional footballer who is currently without a club.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early career
Born in Leeds, Whelan started off with home town team Leeds United, coming through the youth team with a number of other talented youngsters. He made his debut in the first season of the FA Premier League, in the 1992-93 season. The following season, he made sixteen appearances but had to wait until season 1994-95 to get his first goals, where he scored seven times in 23 appearances. He played just eight league games in 1995 and failed to score. His ability with Leeds earned him two caps for the England under-21 team, where he managed to score one goal.
[edit] Big money moves
In December 1995, Whelan was signed by Coventry City manager Ron Atkinson for around £2m. Atkinson's assistant Gordon Strachan, a former team mate of Whelan at Leeds, played a big role in securing the signing. Whelan made his debut in midfield in a 4-1 derby defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
In his second game, against Everton at Coventry's Highfield Road stadium, Whelan played as a striker alongside talisman Dion Dublin, and scored the winning goal with a cool finish, which would become his trademark for the rest of the season. Further goals came in the away win at Burnden Park against Bolton Wanderers, and in the New Year's Day home draw with Southampton. The latter was a "Goal of the Month" contender on the BBC's Match of the Day. It saw Whelan dribble the ball from just inside the Southampton half, and beat several players before shooting past the keeper.
Whelan played regularly for "the Sky Blues" throughout the 1996-97 season without providing the spark of the previous season, as the club again struggled to avoid relegation. His reputation as the bright young thing was usurped by his new strike partner Darren Huckerby.
The Sky Blues form improved markedly in season 1997-98 as they rose to mid-table respectability in the Premiership under manager Gordon Strachan, with Noel Whelan playing a key role in midfield. With Dublin and Huckerby scoring regularly upfront, Whelan played in a wide left midfield role, scoring the opener in a notable home win over Manchester United, and the home draw with Arsenal.
Whelan started the 1998-99 season in midfield, but moved back upfront following the departure of Dion Dublin to Aston Villa. Back in an attacking position, Whelan struck up a good partnership with Darren Huckerby, bringing his best goal return in the process, and prompting some Coventry fans to demand his inclusion in the England national team squad.
Coventry fans were expecting a great deal of the Whelan-Huckerby partnership in the 1999-2000 season but were to be disappointed as first Whelan sustained a bad injury in pre-season and Huckerby was sold to Leeds United. Whelan would miss most of the first half of the season as Gordon Strachan built an exciting new team featuring Robbie Keane, and the Moroccan duo Moustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo. Whelan did manage to get back into the team near the end of the season but it was clear he was no longer first choice, with Keane and Cedric Roussel establishing themselves as first choice strikers.
In the close season, Whelan was sold to Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough for £2.2m.[1] His debut was at Highfield Road as a substitute in Boro's 3-1 victory on the opening day of the 2000-01 season. The three-year spell with Boro would be the last time Whelan would spend more than one season with any club. He did, however, enjoy a brilliant run of form, possibly the best of his career, which includes a goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup in Middlesbrough's 2-0 victory, after which he celebrated by simply giving the "Leeds Salute", because of his love of the West Yorkshire club and their bitter rivalry with his opponents that day.
[edit] Year-to-year deals
Following a short loan spell with Crystal Palace, where he netted three times in eight appearances, Whelan left Middlesbrough to join Millwall, managing four goals in fifteen appearances. Whelan left Millwall and signed for his fourth club that season, joining Derby County.
The goalless spell at Derby saw Whelan sign for Scottish club Aberdeen[2] at the start of the 2004-05 season and he would score five times in twenty appearances for the Pittodrie side. His one-year contract passed without renewal and Whelan moved back to England to start the 2005-06 season at Football League Two club Boston United, where he scored four goals in fifteen games. Following his admission to the Sporting Chance alcoholism treatment clinic in early January 2006,[3] Whelan left Boston and spend the last two months of the season in the Scottish Premier League with Livingston, where he couldn't prevent the side from being relegated into the Scottish First Division.
Whelan stayed in the Scottish Premier League, as he signed a one-year contract with Dunfermline in July 2006, making his first competitive start on 29 July against Heart of Midlothian in a 2-1 defeat. Unfortunately, he had to leave the field injured after just three minutes. After six months out injured Dunfermline terminated their contract with Whelan by mutual consent on 4 January 2007.[4]
The following days papers linked him with a move to first division leaders Gretna FC to spearhead them in their charge for SPL football.
Since then Whelan has assisted in coaching at dunfermline, whilst studying for badges, he is said to be interested in a career in management.
[edit] See also
Seen recently at Tyncecastle stadium whith rumours of him joining Hearts FC as manager.
