Neil Whatmore (born 17 May 1955) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker. He made 449 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and scored 150 goals, playing for Bolton Wanderers,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. He is perhaps best known for his four separate spells at Bolton Wanderers in the 1980s.

Career

Whatmore was born in

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

, Cheshire. He was educated at

The Whitby High School The Whitby High School is a co-educational secondary foundation school, situated in Whitby, a suburb of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. Admissions It is maintained by the Cheshire West and Chester Local Education Authority. The school educ ...

, Ellesmere Port; where he was spotted by a Bolton scout, together with Paul Jones and

Barry Siddall Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances to his name over a 21-year career in the Football League, playing for numerous clubs. He p ...

. He made his debut for Bolton in what was then the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

as an amateur, after coming through the club's youth system. He scored twice in this game, an away game at Swansea City. Bolton secured the divisional title that year and he scored thirty one goals four years later in promotion to the First Division. On promotion to the top division, Bolton's first choice forward line became Alan Gowling and

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had pla ...

and Whatmore played in midfield for a season before being pushed forward again, scoring eighteen goals although Bolton were relegated.

signed him for £350,000 to reunite him with Worthington, but the pair failed to gel, and Whatmore played only rarely. When

Ron Saunders Ronald Saunders (6 November 1932 – 7 December 2019) was an English football player and manager. He played for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic during a 16-year playing career, before moving in ...

took over as manager, both players fell from favour, but Whatmore stayed another year, some of which he spent on loan at

and for three months at Bolton, before being sold to Oxford United. The emergence of

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is ...

meant Whatmore was surplus to requirements after a season and, after a second loan spell at Bolton, he joined

in a part-exchange deal with Billy Hamilton before moving on to

a few months later. At Mansfield he helped them win the 1986–87 Associate Members' Cup, playing in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. When he was released after two-and-a-half years he spent his fourth and final spell at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

, an anonymous fan coming up with his wages, but he did not make the team and re-signed for Mansfield Town on a non-contract basis as

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

coach and occasional player. In 1988, he moved into non-league football with

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

, and later coached in South Africa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whatmore, Neil 1955 births Living people People from Ellesmere Port Sportspeople from Cheshire English footballers Association football forwards Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players English Football League players