Jim Whitley

Last updated

Jim Whitley
Personal information
Full name Jim Whitley
Date of birth (1975-04-14) 14 April 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Ndola, Zambia
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Macclesfield
(Under-18s manager)
Youth career
1986-1990 Brickfield Rangers
1990–1993 Manchester City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1993–2001 Manchester City 38 (0)
1999 → Blackpool (loan) 7 (0)
2000 → Norwich City (loan) 8 (1)
2000–2001 → Swindon Town (loan) 2 (0)
2001 → Northampton Town (loan) 13 (0)
2001–2006 Wrexham 140 (1)
2016 Brickfield Rangers
Total208(2)
International career
1998–1999 Northern Ireland 3 (0)
1999 Northern Ireland B 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jim Whitley (born 14 April 1975) is a football coach and former professional footballer who is under-18s manager of Macclesfield.

Contents

Jim currently plays the character of Coach Byrne in the CBBC show Jamie Johnson FC.

As a player he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Manchester City, and in the Football League for Blackpool, Norwich City, Swindon Town, Northampton Town and Wrexham. Born in Zambia, he represented the Northern Ireland and was capped three times.

Early life

Born in Ndola, Zambia to a Zambian mother and Northern Irish father, Whitley originally wished to become a golfer. At the age of 11 he moved to Wrexham where he attended Ysgol Bryn Alyn. [1] While at the school he became friends with future Wales international Robbie Savage who helped encourage his interest in football. At the age of 15, Whitley signed for Manchester City and, after completing his GCSEs in Wales, he attended Loreto college in Manchester to take A-levels in art and sports studies. [2]

Club career

Whitley began his career at Manchester City, signing his first professional contract at the age of 18 in 1993. He made his debut for the first team on 3 January 1998 in a 2–0 win over Bradford City in the FA Cup at the age of 22. His first league appearance came the following week in a 3–0 win against Portsmouth and he went on to make 21 appearances in all competitions before being voted the club's young player of the year. [3] He remained a regular in the side until January 1999 when he fell out of favour, appearing just once in the final four months of the season.

At the start of the 1999–2000 season, Whitley joined Blackpool on loan to play first team football, playing 8 times for the side before returning to Manchester City where his only appearance during the remainder of the season came in a 1–1 draw with Huddersfield Town on 18 February 2000. The match would later turn out to be his final appearance for Manchester City and, after spending the whole 2000–01 season away from the club with loan spells at Norwich City, Swindon Town and Northampton Town, he joined Wrexham on a free transfer. [4]

He became a first team regular at the Welsh side, but suffered a serious knee injury in February 2005 which kept him out for nine months. [5] Whitley returned to the side to make 10 appearances during the 2005–06 season, but the knee injury quickly resurfaced and at the end of the season Wrexham decided not to offer Whitley an extension to his contract after undergoing three knee operations and making just 24 appearances in his final two years at the side. [6]

In 2016, Jim Whitley agreed to make a surprise appearance to round off his career by playing for Brickfield Rangers against Droylsden FC after Sporting Director Andrew Ruscoe tracked Jim down to ask him would he play for the club one last time, the club where it all began all those years ago. [7]

International career

Along with his brother Jeff Whitley chose to represent Northern Ireland, qualifying through his father. He made his debut on 3 June 1998 in a 4–1 defeat against Spain and went on to win his second cap three months later in a 3–0 defeat to Turkey. Whitley made his third and final appearance for Northern Ireland two years later as a substitute in a 4–1 loss to Finland. [8]

Coaching career

In October 2022, Whitley was appointed manager of the under-18s team of Macclesfield whose Director of Football was childhood friend Robbie Savage. [9]

Personal life

His brother Jeff is also a former professional footballer, the pair played together at Manchester City.

Following his retirement, Whitley began performing as a singer and dancer in stage shows, appearing in productions called Christmas Crooners and The Rat Pack's Back, taking the roles of Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. in the respective shows. [10]

Jim currently plays the role of Coach Byrne in the CBBC show Jamie Johnson FC.

Whitley also paints portraits and, in 2005, a number of his paintings were exhibited during an art show held at Maine Road, the former home stadium of Manchester City. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Savage</span> Welsh footballer and pundit (born 1974)

Robert William Savage is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, now a football pundit and head coach at Northern Premier League Premier Division club Macclesfield.

Jeffrey Whitley is a former professional footballer who now works for the Professional Footballers Association as a player wellbeing executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Jansen</span> English footballer

Matthew Brooke Jansen is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy McIlroy</span> Northern Irish footballer

Samuel Baxter McIlroy is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland national team.

Stuart James Pearson is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He appeared in three FA Cup finals, two for Manchester United and one with West Ham United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Foster (footballer)</span> English footballer (born 1983)

Ben Anthony Foster is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dele Adebola</span> English footballer

Bamberdele Olusegun Adebola is a Nigerian retired footballer. Including loans, he has played for 16 clubs in his career, with his longest spells at Crewe Alexandra, Birmingham City and Coventry City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darron Gibson</span> Irish footballer

Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for the Republic of Ireland national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Gillespie</span> Northern Irish footballer

Keith Robert Gillespie is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Mindwell in the Mid-Ulster Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonny Evans</span> Northern Irish footballer (born 1988)

Jonathan Grant Evans is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United.

Robert Richard Threlfall is an English former footballer who played in the left-back position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ingham (footballer)</span> Association football player

Michael Gerard Ingham is a former professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Tadcaster Albion. He has played in the Football League for Carlisle United, Darlington, York City, Wrexham, Doncaster Rovers and Sunderland and at senior international level for the Northern Ireland national team. He is currently assistant coach at Scarborough Athletic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Walters</span> Irish footballer (born 1983)

Jonathan Ronald Walters is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently sporting director of Stoke City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Westwood (footballer, born 1976)</span> English footballer and manager

Ashley Michael Westwood is an English football manager and former professional player who is the head coach of the Hong Kong national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee McEvilly</span> Professional footballer (born 1982)

Lee Richard McEvilly aka 'The Sheriff' is a retired footballer who played as a striker. Although born in England, he won one cap for the Northern Ireland national team in 2002 and also played for Northern Ireland at under-21 and under-23 levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Taylor (footballer)</span> Welsh footballer (born 1989)

Neil John Taylor is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a left-back who is assistant manager of Wales national under-21 football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brickfield Rangers F.C.</span> Football club

Brickfield Rangers F.C. is a Welsh football club based in Wrexham. They play in the Ardal NE League.

The 2000–01 season was Manchester City Football Club's 109th season playing in a division of English football, most of which have been spent in the top flight. The club spent this season playing in the Premier League after winning successive promotions from the Second Division and First Division in the previous two seasons. This was the club's fifth season playing in the Premier League since its initial formation as the top tier of English football eight years earlier, with Manchester City as one of its original 22 founding member clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Weir</span> Northern Irish footballer

Robert James Weir is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Crusaders. He has played in the English Football League for Tranmere Rovers, Burton Albion and Leyton Orient and Chesterfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Ruscoe</span> Welsh football and futsal coach (born 1986)

Andrew Lee Ruscoe is a Welsh football and futsal coach known for his contributions to grassroots and semi-professional football in Wales. Ruscoe is the chairman, co-founder, and manager of FC United of Wrexham, a non-profit football and futsal club established in 2020. The club competes in both football and futsal leagues and has expressed long-term goals of advancing to higher levels in both sports.

References

  1. ↑ "What happened next? – Jim Whitley" fourfourtwo.com Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  2. ↑ "About Jim" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine jimwhitley.com Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  3. ↑ "Jim Whitley" mcivta.com Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  4. ↑ "Smith bolsters Dragons defence" BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  5. ↑ "Whitley makes return for Dragons" BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  6. ↑ "Whitley resigned to Wrexham exit" BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  7. ↑ Jones, Dave (12 July 2016). "Jim Whitely's return to Brickfield Rangers". Daily Post. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  8. ↑ "Northern Ireland international results 1990–1999" rsssf.org Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  9. ↑ Brotherton, Alex (30 October 2022). "Man City hero teams up with Robbie Savage for exciting new role". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "When football's final whistle blows" BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March 2009
  11. ↑ "Footballer's art for stadium show" BBC News Retrieved on 20 March 2009
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.