Steven Whittaker
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Steven Gordon Whittaker (born 16 June 1984) is a Scottish former professional
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 le ...
and coach, who is currently an assistant manager with
Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
. He played as a defender. Whittaker began his career with Hibernian and made over 170 appearances in his first spell with the
Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...
side. He also won the
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
in
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
before signing for
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
in August that year. Whittaker won three
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
titles, two
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, he signed for
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
on a free transfer. After five years with Norwich, Whittaker returned to Hibernian in 2017, before moving to Dunfermline Athletic in 2020 in what would be his final season as a footballer. He made 31 international appearances for the Scotland national team between 2009 and 2016. On 13 May 2022 Whittaker joined Fleetwood Town As Assistant Manager


Club career


Hibernian

Despite being a boyhood Hearts fan, Whittaker joined
Kenny Miller Kenneth Miller (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Miller, who played as a striker, is one of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic. Miller began his career at ...
and
Derek Riordan Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has been capped three times by the Scotland national team. Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief spell o ...
in signing for Hibernian from the Hutchison Vale Boys Club. He made his debut against
St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...
in a 1–0 win on 12 May 2002. In the 2002–03 season, he went on to make further six first-team appearances before finally becoming a regular starter the following season. Due to Whittaker lacking a defined position, his form suffered as he was deployed at right-back and across the midfield under
Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became a manager at Kilma ...
. He scored his first career goal against
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
in a 3–2 win on 3 January 2004. He was an unused substitute when Hibernian lost the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final. The arrival of
Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...
later that year saw Whittaker confirmed in the team's right back role, and with this new certainty, he flourished, becoming a regular in the Scotland under-21 team and helping Hibernian to a third-place league finish. Whittaker was a regular in the Hibs teams of both Mowbray and John Collins, and was in the side that won the
2007 League Cup Final The 2007 Football League Cup Final was a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 25 February 2007 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2006–07 staging of the Football League Cup, and last to be staged at the ...
. He made 174 appearances in all competitions for Hibs, scoring five goals.


Rangers

Whittaker completed a £2 million move to
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
on 1 August 2007, signing a five-year contract. He was given the number 28 shirt and started his first game for Rangers on 18 August 2007 against
Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...
in the
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
, marking his debut with the second goal in a 7–2 win for Rangers. Having been deployed mostly at left back during the first half of the season, Whittaker established himself as first-choice right back after
Alan Hutton Alan Hutton (born 30 November 1984) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a right back (association football), right back. Hutton started his career with Rangers F.C., Rangers, and won the 2004–05 Sc ...
's departure to
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in January 2008. Whittaker scored the second goal of Rangers 2–0 win over
Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
in the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
quarter-final second-leg on 10 April 2008. He picked the ball up on the halfway line and "danced through the Sporting defence" before scoring. For the 2009–10 season, Whittaker was given number 16 and scored 11 goals in all competitions as Rangers won both the league title and the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
. His goal tally was aided by regularly taking
penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...
. Whittaker signed a new five-year contract with Rangers in July 2011, after the club had rejected bids from
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
club
Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...
. During a
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
qualifier against Swedish club
Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...
, he was sent off for throwing the ball at an opponent player after receiving a poor tackle. Rangers entered
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
in February 2012 and were subsequently
liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
. Charles Green, who bought the business and assets of Rangers from the administrator, attempted to transfer the player contracts to a new Rangers company. Whittaker was one of several players to object to this proposal.
PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repla ...
had previously commented that players were entitled to become
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
s if they objected to the transfer. Whittaker explained himself in a news conference, saying, "I'm 28 and I want to play at the top level for as much as I can. It doesn't look like Rangers will be in the SPL and there's no European football. We owe no loyalty to the new club. There is no history there for us."


Norwich City

Whittaker signed for English
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
on 30 June 2012, signing a four-year deal. On 20 July, Whittaker received provisional international clearance from
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
that allowed him to play while arbitration over his move from Rangers continued. Whittaker suffered an ankle injury during a friendly match against
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
, which caused him to miss the start of the
2012–13 Premier League The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114 ...
season. Two months after receiving his ankle injury, he described it as the worst of his career. He made his competitive debut for Norwich on 31 October, playing at right back in a 2–1 win against
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. A few days later, Whittaker made his league debut for the club, playing at right back and stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes, in a 1–0 win over
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
. After making his debut, Whittaker said he was pleased to make his debut with a win. The following month, on 8 December 2012, Whittaker scored his first goal in his Premier League career after an assist from
Robert Snodgrass Robert Snodgrass (born 7 September 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Heart of Midlothian. Snodgrass started his senior career with Livingston. He also had a loan spell at Stirling Albion before moving to E ...
in a 4–3 win over
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
. Whittaker scored in the opening game of the
2013–14 Premier League The 2013–14 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Premier League, the top-flight English professional league for men's football clubs, and the 115th season of top-flight Eng ...
season with a goal against Everton. His blasted shot struck the post and bounced back out, but he beat Tim Howard to the rebound to tap it back in. He also assisted debuting teammate
Ricky van Wolfswinkel Ricky van Wolfswinkel (; born 27 January 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club FC Twente. He has played top-flight football in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, France, Spain and Switzerland and ...
; Whittaker sliced a shot with his foot which floated toward Van Wolfswinkel, who was free to head-in the goal. Norwich were relegated in 2013–14, but Whittaker played regularly in 2014–15 as they were promoted by winning the play-off final. Whittaker set up one of the goals in the final. Whittaker received his first red card in a league game against
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
in August 2015; he was booked for blocking
Matt Targett Matthew Robert Targett (born 18 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club Newcastle United. Targett came through the Southampton academy and was named their ''Young Player of the Season'' in 2 ...
from taking a throw-in, and three minutes later, received a second yellow (and consequently a red) for grappling
Dušan Tadić Dušan Tadić ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Тадић, ; born 20 November 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder and captains both Eredivisie club Ajax and the Serbia national team. Tadić spent his ...
's shirt during a challenge. Following Whittaker's sending-off, Norwich were defeated 3–0. Norwich were again relegated in 2015–16, while Whittaker played less frequently for their first team. In May 2017, Norwich announced that Whittaker would be released at the end of his contract.


Hibernian (second spell)

On 15 July 2017, Whittaker rejoined Hibernian on a three-year deal. He scored a goal in his second league debut for Hibs, a 3–1 win against
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
on 5 August. A hip injury prevented Whittaker from playing during the latter part of the 2018–19 season. After
Paul Heckingbottom Paul Heckingbottom (born 17 July 1977) is an English football coach and former player who is currently manager of Championship side Sheffield United. Heckingbottom played as a defender for several English clubs, including Sunderland, Scarboro ...
was sacked as head coach in November 2019, Whittaker assisted caretaker manager
Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...
. After four months out of the team, Whittaker was used as a defensive midfielder in both matches of a Scottish Cup tie with
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in January 2020. Whittaker was one of three first team players released by Hibs at the end of the 2019–20 season.


Dunfermline Athletic

Following his release from Hibernian, Whittaker signed a one-year deal with
Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...
club Dunfermline Athetlic, which would also see him take up a position as a coach with the side. In June 2021 it was announced that Whittaker had retired from playing in order to take up a full-time coaching position with Dunfermline. After Peter Grant's tenure as Dunfermline manager ended, Whittaker, along with
Greg Shields Greg Shields (born 21 August 1976) is a Scottish football player and coach, who is currently Head of Academy - Football with Dunfermline Athletic. His playing career was most closely associated with Dunfermline Athletic, as he played for the clu ...
, were appointed joint interim manager of the club. Shields and Whittaker were in charge for two matches, before John Hughes was appointed on a permanent basis.


International career

Whittaker was a regular for the Scotland under-21 squad. In October 2006 he was added to the full
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
squad for the Euro 2008 qualifying match against
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, although he did not feature in the match. Whittaker was then called into the Scotland B side to face a Republic of Ireland B team on 20 November 2007. He played 68 minutes before being replaced by
Ross McCormack Ross McCormack (born 18 August 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Aldershot Town. McCormack started his career with Scottish Premier League club Rangers in 2002, where he made few appearance ...
. He also played in the goalless draw between those two sides in November 2006. He made his debut for the full national side on 12 August 2009, in a 4–0 defeat to
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. His second appearance came in the 2–0 victory over Macedonia, when he came on for the injured
Callum Davidson Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976 in Stirling) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. He is the manager of St Johnstone. Davidson played as a left-back for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Preston North ...
. Whittaker earned 31 caps up to March 2016. He dropped out of the squad as he lost his place at Norwich, but was recalled in September 2017.


Career statistics


Club


International appearances


Managerial statistics


Honours

Hibernian *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
: 2006–07 Rangers *
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
: 2008–09, 2009–10,
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08, 2008–09 *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
: 2007–08, 2009–10,
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
runner-up: 2007–08 Norwich City *
Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...
:
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Steven 1984 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Association football fullbacks Association football utility players Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Hibernian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Scottish Premier League players People educated at Lasswade High School Centre Norwich City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Dunfermline Athletic F.C. managers