Gavin Whyte

Gavin Whyte

Whyte playing for Northern Ireland in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Gavin Whyte [1]
Date of birth	(1996-01-31) 31 January 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) [2]
Position(s)	Winger, forward
Youth career
2009–2014	Crusaders
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2018	Crusaders	132	(43)
2018–2019	Oxford United	36	(7)
2019–2023	Cardiff City	45	(1)
2021	→ Hull City (loan)	20	(4)
2021–2022	→ Oxford United (loan)	31	(1)
2023–2024	Portsmouth	29	(0)
International career‡
2015–2018	Northern Ireland U21	7	(0)
2018–	Northern Ireland	30	(5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:00, 21 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:59, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

Gavin Whyte (born 31 January 1996) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who is a free agent that most recently played as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Portsmouth and the Northern Ireland national team.

Club career

Crusaders

Whyte's Crusaders team won three league titles in four years between 2015 and 2018 and he attracted interest from Scotland and England, most notably in trials with Premier League side Everton and Scottish side Celtic during the summer of 2016. ^[3]

Whyte received the Player of the Round after his performance in the Scottish Challenge Cup quarter-finals in a game against defending champions Dundee United, when he netted an injury-time winner to send Crusaders into the semi-finals against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. ^{[4] [5]}

During the 2017–18 season he scored 24 goals in 49 games, ^[6] winning his third NIFL Premiership league title ^[7] and also the County Antrim Shield ^[8] with Crusaders, and was voted the Ulster Footballer of the Year award for 2017–18 ^[9] and also the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year award for 2017–18. ^[10]

Oxford United

On 13 July 2018, Oxford United announced the signing of Whyte on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed transfer fee. ^{[11] [12]} He made his debut as an 82nd-minute substitute in Oxford's opening league match of the season, a 4–0 away defeat at Barnsley. ^[13] His first start, and first goal, came in the first round of the EFL Cup against Coventry City ten days later; Whyte scored the second goal in a 2–0 win for Oxford. ^[14] His first league goal followed in the next game, when he scored the opener in a 2–3 home defeat to Accrington Stanley. ^[15] On 22 April 2019, Whyte scored his first hat-trick for the club, in a 2–3 away win against Shrewsbury Town. By the end of his first and only season with Oxford, he had scored 9 times in 47 appearances (7 of them in League One matches). ^[6]

Cardiff City

On 30 July 2019, Whyte signed for Championship club Cardiff City for an undisclosed seven-figure fee. ^[16] He made his debut on the opening day of the 2019–20 season as a substitute in place of Josh Murphy during a 3–2 defeat to Wigan Athletic. ^[17]

Whyte joined League One club Hull City on a six-month loan deal on 14 January 2021. ^[18] He made his debut on 16 January 2021 in a 1–1 draw at home to Blackpool. ^[19] The following match on 19 January 2021, he scored in the 3–0 home win against Accrington Stanley. ^[20]

On 31 July 2021, Whyte signed a one-year loan deal with Oxford United. ^[21]

Portsmouth

Whyte joined League One club Portsmouth in the summer of 2023, making his debut in the opening match at home against Bristol Rovers. In his first season he played 33 matches, got 3 league assists but went goalless aside from a goal in the EFL Trophy as Pompey won the league.

On 30 August 2024 Whyte departed Portsmouth by mutual consent. ^[22]

International career

Whyte playing for Northern Ireland in 2019

On 14 March 2018, after impressing for Crusaders, Whyte was called up the Northern Ireland U21 squad by Manager Ian Baraclough for matches against Spain U21s and Iceland U21s in the European Under-21 Championships qualifying group stage fixtures. ^[23] He impressed on 26 March 2018, as Northern Ireland U21 played out a goalless draw with Iceland. ^[24]

On 16 May 2018, after impressing at club level and for the U21s, Whyte was named in Northern Ireland's squad ahead of friendlies against Panama and Costa Rica. ^[25]

On 11 September 2018 Whyte scored on his Northern Ireland senior debut, scoring after 108 seconds in a 3–0 win against Israel at Windsor Park. ^[26]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 August 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crusaders	2013–14 [6]	NIFL Premiership	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2014–15 [6]	NIFL Premiership	34	9	2	1	1	0	0	0	37	10
	2015–16 [6]	NIFL Premiership	27	3	3	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	31	3
	2016–17 [6]	NIFL Premiership	34	10	1	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	37	10
	2017–18 [6]	NIFL Premiership	36	21	1	1	2	1	5 [lower-alpha 3]	1	44	24
	Total		132	43	7	2	3	1	8	1	150	47
Oxford United	2018–19 [6]	League One	36	7	4	0	3	2	4 [lower-alpha 4]	0	47	9
Cardiff City	2019–20 [6]	Championship	24	0	4	1	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	30	1
	2020–21 [6]	Championship	7	0	0	0	0	0	–		7	0
	Total		31	0	4	1	1	0	1	0	37	1
Hull City (loan)	2020–21 [6]	League One	20	4	0	0	0	0	–		20	4
Oxford United (loan)	2021–22 [6]	League One	4	0	0	0	0	0	–		4	0
Career total			223	54	15	3	7	3	13	1	258	61

1. Appearance(s) in NIFL Charity Shield
2. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one in NIFL Charity Shield
3. Two appearances in UEFA Europa League, three appearances and one goal in Scottish Challenge Cup
4. Appearances in EFL Trophy
5. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 26 March 2023 ^[27]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Northern Ireland	2018	4	1
	2019	5	0
	2020	6	1
	2021	6	1
	2022	7	2
	2023	2	0
Total		30	5

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.^{[ citation needed ]}

List of international goals scored by Gavin Whyte

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 September 2018	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Israel	3–0	3–0	Friendly
2	4 September 2020	Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	1–1	1–1	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B
3	30 May 2021	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria	Malta	0-2	0-3	Friendly
4	25 March 2022	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0-3	0-3	Friendly
5	24 September 2022	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Kosovo	1–1	2–1	2022–23 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Crusaders

• NIFL Premiership: 2014–15, ^[28] 2015–16, ^[29] 2017–18 ^[30]
• County Antrim Shield: 2017–18 ^[31]

Hull City

• EFL League One: 2020–21 ^[32]

Portsmouth

• EFL League One: 2023–24 ^[33]

Individual

• Ulster Footballer of the Year: 2017–18 ^[34]
• NIFWA Player of the Year: 2017–18 ^[30]

References

1. "Club list of registered players: Cardiff City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 13. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
2. "Gavin Whyte". Cardiff City F.C. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
3. O'Keeffe, Greg (18 May 2015). "Everton trialist Gavin Whyte extra determined after Finch Farm spell". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
4. "Dundee United 1–2 Crusaders". BBC Sport. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
5. Chalk, Paul (14 November 2017). "It's Inverness Caley Jags v Crusaders in Irn-Bru Cup semis". Inverness Courier. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
6. "G. Whyte: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
7. "Irish Premiership: Crusaders are crowned champions". BBC Sport. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018. Crusaders' title triumph was their third in four seasons and the seventh in the Seaview club's history.
8. Jackson, Lyle (23 January 2018). "County Antrim Shield final: Ballymena United 2-4 Crusaders". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
9. "Gavin Whyte: Winger named Ulster Footballer of the Year". BBC Sport. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
10. Hanna, Gareth (7 May 2018). "Gavin Whyte scoops Player of the Year double at NI Football Awards". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
11. Edwards, Mark (13 July 2018). "Oxford United sign winger Gavin Whyte for undisclosed fee". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
12. "Gavin Whyte: Oxford United sign Crusaders winger for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
13. "Barnsley 4 Oxford United 0". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
14. Pritchard, David (14 August 2018). "Oxford United 2 (Browne 39, Whyte 50), Coventry City 0". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
15. "Oxford United 2 Accrington Stanley 3". BBC Sport. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
16. "Done Deal Gavin Whyte joins the Bluebirds". Cardiff City F.C. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
17. "Wigan Athletic 3–2 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
18. "Gavin Whyte Arrives On Loan". Hull City A.F.C. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
19. "Hull City 1-1 Blackpool Town". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
20. "Hull City 3–0 Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
21. "Gavin Whyte: Oxford United re-sign Cardiff City striker on loan". BBC Sport. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
22. Fullerton, Gareth (31 August 2024). "Gavin Whyte leaves Portsmouth by mutual consent". Belfast Live. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
23. "Bailey Peacock-Farrell continues magnificent March with international call-up". Leeds Live. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
24. "Whyte impresses again but Northern Ireland U21s draw a blank against Iceland". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 27 March 2018.
25. "Northern Ireland Announce Squad of Central America". Belfast Live. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
26. Petrie, Richard (11 September 2018). "Northern Ireland 3 Israel 0". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
27. "Whyte, Gavin". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
28. "Match Report". glenavonfc.com. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
29. "Cliftonville 1-3 Crusaders: Crues join the greats with Premiership double". News Letter. 19 April 2016.
30. "NI Football Awards: Crusaders' Gavin Whyte wins top honours". BBC. 8 May 2018.
31. "Crusaders lift Co Antrim Shield after seeing off Ballymena United". News Letter. 23 January 2018.
32. "Hull City 3–1 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
33. "Portsmouth 3–2 Barnsley: Pompey seal promotion to Championship with dramatic win". Sky Sports. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
34. "Crusaders' Gavin Whyte named Ulster Footballer of Year". News Letter. 24 April 2018.

External links

• Gavin Whyte at Soccerway
• Gavin Whyte at Soccerbase