Jeff Whitley
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| Jeff Whitley | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jeffrey Whitley | |
| Date of birth | 28 January 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Ndola, Zambia | |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996–2003 1999 2002 2002–2003 2003–2005 2005–2007 2006 2007 2008 |
Manchester City → Wrexham (loan) → Notts County (loan) → Notts County (loan) Sunderland Cardiff City → Stoke City (loan) → Wrexham (loan) Wrexham |
111 (6) 9 (2) 6 (0) 12 (0) 68 (2) 34 (1) 3 (0) 11 (1) 11 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998– | Northern Ireland | 20 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Jeffrey Whitley (born January 28, 1979 in Ndola) is a football player who has played for Manchester City and Northern Ireland and is currently without a club after being released by Wrexham.
[edit] Career
Born in Zambia, Whitley moved to Britain at the age of seven. He first played for the England under-17 team, and in 1996 joined Manchester City as a midfielder. As his father was born in Belfast he was eligible to play for three international teams: Northern Ireland, Zambia, or England. He chose Northern Ireland and played his first game for them in a friendly match against Belgium in 1997. He was also the first black player to play for Northern Ireland.
In 2003 he moved to Sunderland to join his international teammate George McCartney at the Stadium of Light.
Notable goals include one against Wales in a 2004 World Cup qualifier in Cardiff, and against West Ham United in 2004, when he actually scored with a tackle.
At the end of the 2004–05 season, after helping them to win the Football League Championship, Sunderland released Whitley from his contract. And later he signed for Cardiff City. His silky skills have been missed on Wearside ever since.
He also has a brother Jim who formely played professionally, but was forced to retire due to injury. Jeff was sent home recently from the Northern Ireland squad for disciplinary reasons as he missed a curfew set by manager Lawrie Sanchez.
Whitley was on loan to Stoke City from late 2006 until January 2007.[1] However, he struggled to make an impact and ony made one start for the club in an under strength Carling Cup team, in a 2–1 defeat to Darlington.
Whitley recently went AWOL from Cardiff City with the Club, and his agent, unable to contact him.[2] This prevented the club from being able to transfer him during the January Transfer Window.
On 16 February 2007 it was announced that Whitley would be joining Wrexham on loan for the remainder of the season.[3] Whitley would score the vital winning goal on March 24, 2007 away against Bristol Rovers in a 1–0 victory. He was released by Cardiff upon his return to the club.
On 15 January 2008 Whitley revealed that he had been training with Wrexham, with the possibility of re-joining the League Two side, after undergoing treatment for drug and alcohol problems. On the 18 January 2008 it was announced that Jeff had signed for Wrexham on non contract terms.[4] He was released by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Football Conference.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Stoke City | Whitley joins Stoke in loan deal
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Cardiff City | Cardiff fret over missing Whitley
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Wrexham | Whitley makes Wrexham loan move
- ^ "Whitley seeks Wrexham redemption" BBC Sport Retrieved on 15 January 2008
- ^ "Roberts and Llewellyn leave Reds", BBC Sport, 2008-05-06. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
