Justin Whittle

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Justin Whittle
Personal information
Full name Justin Whittle
Date of birth March 18, 1971 (1971-03-18) (age 37)
Place of birth    Derby, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Centre Back
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1993-1994
1994
1994-1998
1998-2004
2004-2008		 Army
Celtic
Stoke City
Hull City
Grimsby Town		 .
0 (0)
79 (1)
193 (2)
131 (3)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 08:42, 10 May 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Justin Whittle is a professional football player and a former member of the Royal Army Pay Corps in the British Army. He is not considered a skillful player, but is hard working and influential, captaining both Hull City and Grimsby Town.

Contents

[edit] Hull City

Justin spent six seasons at Hull City and was a firm fans' favourite there.[1] He was recruited by Warren Joyce in 1998 while City were battling relegation from the Football League and became an integral part of the "Great Escape" team. He left after captaining the promotion-winning 2003-04 side - he was offered a new contract at Hull, but with no guarantee of first-team football he chose to accept an offer from Grimsby Town instead. Due to his cult status at Hull, his departure led to widespread criticism of manager Peter Taylor from the fans. Taylor however delivered a second promotion the following season, but many fans still wished that Whittle had still been there to be a part of this success.

[edit] Grimsby Town

Whittle joined Grimsby in time for the start of the 2004-05 season after it became apparent that first team opportunities would be limited at Hull due to an influx of new players and that he would lose the captaincy as a result.

[edit] The Alan Shearer Incident

During a Carling Cup tie on 26 October 2005 in a game against Newcastle United game that was broadcast live on Sky television, Whittle was involved in a series of incidents with former England captain Alan Shearer. Whittle was caught by Shearer's elbow when both were competing for a high ball and the opposite happened a few minutes later after Whittle seemingly sought revenge. Angry words were exchanged after the final whistle. Neither incident was deemed worthy of a caution from the referee. Not surprisingly, both sets of fans saw it differently with Newcastle fans backing Shearer[2] and Grimsby fans backing Whittle.[3] Although initially threatened by Newcastle, no action was taken after the game. British newspapers like The Guardian[4] and The Times[5] seem to favour Shearer because he appeared to offer an apology after he hurt Whittle, though they do not report that while appearing to give this apology he allegedly told Whittle "There's plenty more where that came from".


First-team chances have become increasingly limited for Whittle in 2007-08, and consequently his contract with Grimsby will not be renewed and he will be free to leave the club at the end of the season.[6]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Hull City

Division Three Runner-up: 2004

[edit] Grimsby Town

  • Supporters Player of the Year: 2007

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ The Top 100 Tigers | Hull City | News | News | News
  2. ^ nufc.com match report
  3. ^ codalmighty.com match report
  4. ^ Guardian match report
  5. ^ Times match report
  6. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Grimsby Town | Mariners release defender Whittle

[edit] External links