Guy Whittingham

Guy Whittingham
Personal information
Full nameGuy Whittingham
Date of birth10 November 1964
Place of birthEvesham, England
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionStriker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1988–1989Yeovil Town23(18)
1989–1993Portsmouth160(88)
1993–1994Aston Villa25(5)
1994Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)13(8)
1994–1999Sheffield Wednesday113(22)
1998Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)10(1)
1999Portsmouth (loan)9(7)
1999Watford (loan)4(0)
1999–2001Portsmouth26(4)
2000Peterborough United (loan)5(1)
2000Oxford United (loan)1(1)
2001Wycombe Wanderers12(1)
2003–2005Newport Isle of Wight
Total401(156)
Teams managed
2003–2005Newport Isle of Wight
2005–2006AFC Newbury
2011Portsmouth (joint caretaker manager)
2012–2013Portsmouth
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Guy Whittingham (born 10 November 1964) is an English former professional footballer and a manager. He was caretaker manager of Football League Two side Portsmouth from November 2012 until April 2013 when he took the role on a permanent basis before being sacked by Portsmouth in November 2013. On the 13th December 2013, he was appointed assistant manager at Crawley Town.

As a player he was a striker from 1988 until 2005, notably in the Premier League for Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday. Having started his career with non-league Yeovil Town he went on to play in the Football League for Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford, Peterborough United, Oxford United and Wycombe Wanderers. He amassed over 450 appearances throughout his career.

Playing career

Born in Evesham, after leaving the British Army, he spent the majority of his career at Portsmouth where he scored 99 times in 173 league appearances, including Pompey's all-time scoring record[1] of 42 league goals in the 1992–93 season (48 in all competitions) as the club missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League on goals scored. He was known while at Fratton Park as "Corporal Punishment".[2] Afterwards he played in the Premiership for Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday, proving to be very popular at the Owls. He later returned to Portsmouth in 1999, where his seven goals in nine matches helped the club avoid relegation to the third tier.

In the 2000–01 season, his last as a professional, he scored for three different clubs, notching for Peterborough United (against Oldham Athletic),[3] Oxford United (against Swindon Town)[4] and Wycombe Wanderers (against Bristol City).[5] He also featured in Wycombe's FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.[6] This was the second time that Whittingham had been denied in an FA Cup semi-final by the Merseyside team, having lost in a penalty shootout to Liverpool whilst at Portsmouth in 1992.

Management & coaching career

Whittingham later went on to become player-manager of Newport Isle of Wight, but left them in May 2005 when the club ran into financial difficulties. He returned to management at AFC Newbury but when that club suffered financial difficulties and the loss of their ground, Whittingham left in June 2006. In August 2006 he took up a coaching role at Eastleigh. In January 2009, he joined the Portsmouth first-team coaching staff as development coach.

He was named joint caretaker manager of Portsmouth together with Stuart Gray on 14 October 2011, when Steve Cotterill left to become manager of Nottingham Forest. The next day the pair won their first game in charge against Barnsley 2–0 at Fratton Park.

Whittingham once again became caretaker manager of the south coast club following Michael Appleton leaving to take the vacant position at Blackpool,[7] and stayed as caretaker until the club exited administration in April 2013, with his full-time appointing imminent.[8] On 25 November 2013, Whittingham was relieved from his duties following a meeting with the Portsmouth board. . The 2-1 loss to Southend proved to be his last game in charge on the south coast. [9] Whittingham was appointed first team coach at Crawley on Friday 13th December 2013.

Managerial statistics

As of 23 November 2013
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Portsmouth 7 November 2012 25 November 2013 51 11 15 25 21.57
Total 51 11 15 25 21.57

References

  1. ”Portsmouth, from Tindall to Ball” Farmery, C: Southend-on-Sea, Desert Island Books, 1999 ISBN 1-874287-25-2
  2. Army career
  3. "Oldham Athletic 1–4 Peterborough United". BBC. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  4. "Swindon 2–1 Oxford". BBC. 8 October 2000. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  5. "Bristol City 1–2 Wycombe". BBC. 16 April 2001. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  6. "Liverpool end Wycombe's fight". BBC. 8 April 2001. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  7. Hassan, Nabil (8 November 2012). "Michael Appleton: Portsmouth exit inevitable – Birch". BBC South Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  8. "Whittingham Appointed Pompey Manager". Portsmouth's official website. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  9. "Guy Leaves Managerial Post". Portsmouth's official website. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.

External links