| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Noel David Whelan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1974-12-30)30 December 1974 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Leeds, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Leeds United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1995 | Leeds United | 48 | (7) |
| 1995–2000 | Coventry City | 133 | (31) |
| 2000–2003 | Middlesbrough | 61 | (5) |
| 2003 | →Crystal Palace (loan) | 8 | (3) |
| 2003 | Millwall | 15 | (4) |
| 2004 | Derby County | 8 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Aberdeen | 20 | (5) |
| 2005–2006 | Boston United | 15 | (4) |
| 2006 | Livingston | 8 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Dunfermline Athletic | 1 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Harrogate Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Darlington | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 319 | (60) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994 | England U21 | 2 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Noel David Whelan (/ˈhwiːlən/; born 30 December 1974) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and radio co-commentator.
As a player, he was astriker who notably played in thePremier League forLeeds United,Coventry City, andMiddlesbrough. He also played in theScottish Premier League withAberdeen,Livingston, andDunfermline Athletic, and in theFootball League forCrystal Palace,Millwall,Derby County,Boston United, andDarlington. He also had spell in Non-league football withHarrogate Town and was capped twice byEngland U21, scoring once.
He now works as a matchday co-commentator for all Leeds United games onBBC Radio Leeds.[3] He was also a former academy coach forDerby County.
Born inLeeds, Whelan started off with his professional career at home town teamLeeds United. Whelan revealed he had held out for Leeds to sign him (the club he supports) after having trials atArsenal,Manchester United, andEverton,[4] coming through the Leeds youth team with a number of other talented youngsters who beat aManchester United team boastingDavid Beckham,Paul Scholes,Nicky Butt,Keith Gillespie,Phil Neville andGary Neville both home and away in the FA Youth Cup Final. Turning professional in March 1993, he made his debut in thefirst season of theFA Premier League, in a 1–1 draw atSheffield Wednesday on 4 May 1993. The following season, he made 16 league appearances but failed to score.
He had a promising1994–95 season, finishing among the club's highest scorers where he scored seven goals in 23 league games, but lost his place to new signingTony Yeboah halfway through the season. During his time at Leeds, he was capped twice by the England U-21 side in 1994, scoring once.
On 16 December 1995, after making eight goalless appearances in the league1995–96 season,[5] Whelan was signed byCoventry City managerRon Atkinson for £2million. Atkinson's assistantGordon Strachan, who had joined Coventry from Leeds the previous season, played a big role in securing the signing. Whelan made his debut in midfield in a 4–1 local derby defeat againstAston Villa atVilla Park. In his second game, againstEverton at Coventry'sHighfield Road stadium, Whelan played as a striker alongsideDion Dublin, and scored the winning goal with a cool finish, which would become his trademark for the rest of the season. Further goals came in the away win atBurnden Park againstBolton Wanderers, and in the New Year's Day home draw withSouthampton. The latter was a "Goal of the Month" contender on theBBC'sMatch of the Day. It saw Whelan dribble the ball from just inside the Southampton half, and beat several players before shooting past the keeper. By the end of that season, he had managed eight goals from 21 league games for the Sky Blues, who secured Premier League safety by finishing 16th.
Whelan played regularly for the Sky Blues throughout the1996–97 season without providing the spark of the previous season, as the club again struggled to avoidrelegation, with Ron Atkinson becoming director of football and Gordon Strachan being promoted to the manager's seat in November. His reputation as the bright young thing was usurped by his new strike partnerDarren Huckerby. Whelan still managed six goals from 35 league games that season.
The Sky Blues' form improved markedly in the1997–98 season as they rose to mid-table respectability in the Premiership under manager Gordon Strachan, with Noel Whelan playing a key role in midfield. With Dublin and Huckerby scoring regularly upfront, Whelan played in a wide left midfield role, scoring the opener in a notable home win overManchester United, and the home draw withArsenal.
Whelan started the1998–99 season in midfield, but moved back upfront following the departure of Dion Dublin to Aston Villa. Back in an attacking position, Whelan struck up a good partnership with Darren Huckerby, bringing his best goal return (10 in 31 Premier League games) in the process, and prompting some Coventry City fans to demand his inclusion in theEngland national team squad. Coventry fans were expecting a great deal of the Whelan-Huckerby partnership in the1999–2000 season but were to be disappointed as first Whelan sustained a bad injury in pre-season and Huckerby was sold to Leeds United. Whelan would miss most of the first half of the season as Gordon Strachan built an exciting new team featuringRobbie Keane, and theMoroccan duoMoustapha Hadji andYoussef Chippo. Whelan did manage to get back into the team near the end of the season but it was clear he was no longer first choice, with Keane andCedric Roussel establishing themselves as first choice strikers. Whelan made a total of 124 league appearances for Coventry in nearly five years there, scoring 31 goals.[5]
On 4 August 2000, Whelan was sold toBryan Robson'sMiddlesbrough for £2.2million.[6] His debut was at Highfield Road as a substitute in Boro's 3–1 victory on the opening day of the2000–01 season. The three-year spell with Boro would be the last time Whelan would feature prominently for a club for more than one season. He did, however, enjoy a brilliant run of form, possibly the best of his career, which includes a goal againstManchester United in the FA Cup fourth round in Middlesbrough's 2–0 victory, after which he celebrated by simply giving the "Leeds Salute", because of his love of the West Yorkshire club and their bitter rivalry with his opponents that day. He also scored an own goal against his former club Coventry on his 26th birthday. The match ended up in a 1–1 draw. He had limited chances in the league, though, appearing in just 19 out of Middlesbrough's 38 Premier League matches in the2001–02 season, scoring four times. He would appear 15 times for Middlesbrough in the2002–03 league campaign, scoring once.[7]
Following a short loan spell withCrystal Palace, where he netted three times in eight appearances, Whelan left Middlesbrough to joinMillwall, managing four goals in fifteen appearances. Whelan left Millwall and signed for his fourth club that season, joiningDerby County.
The goalless spell at Derby saw Whelan sign for Scottish clubAberdeen[8] at the start of the2004–05 season and he would score five times in twenty appearances for thePittodrie side. His one-year contract passed without renewal and Whelan moved back to England to start the2005–06 season atFootball League Two clubBoston United, where he scored four goals in fifteen games. Following his admission to theSporting Chance alcoholism treatment clinic in early January 2006,[9] Whelan left Boston and spend the last two months of the season in theScottish Premier League withLivingston, where he couldn't prevent the side from being relegated into theScottish First Division. He scored once during his spell at Livingston in a 2–1 defeat at Motherwell.[10]
Whelan stayed in the Scottish Premier League, as he signed a one-year contract withDunfermline Athletic in July 2006, making his first competitive start on 29 July againstHeart of Midlothian in a 2–1 defeat. Unfortunately, he had to leave the field injured after just three minutes. After six months out injured Dunfermline terminated their contract with Whelan by mutual consent on 4 January 2007.[11] The following day's papers linked him with a move to First Division leadersGretna to spearhead them in their charge forScottish Premier League football. Since then Whelan has assisted in coaching at Dunfermline, whilst studying for coaching badges; he is said to be interested in a career in management.
He joinedConference North sideHarrogate Town on 11 December 2008.[12][13]
In October 2009, Whelan joinedLeague Two's bottom-placed sideDarlington on non-contract basis, to become new managerSteve Staunton's first signing.[14] He made his debut for Darlington against third-placedDagenham & Redbridge on 10 October but he was substituted byCurtis Main before half-time because of a muscle strain injury, in a game which Darlington lost 2–0.[15] He did not play again for Darlington until 26 January, more than three months after his debut, when he came on as a second-half substitute againstNorthampton Town. However, his comeback lasted only two minutes, before he himself was substituted because of a hamstring injury.[16]
Whelan holds a UEFA B coaching Licence.[17] Whelan first started his coaching career as a player coach at Dunfermline Athletic. After his playing career came to an end Whelan worked as a youth team coach at one of his former clubsDerby County, but after more than 12 months as a coach at Derby, Whelan decided that his commute from Harrogate was too much of a strain.[17] Since leaving his role at Derby Whelan has been involved in the hospitality circuit at another of his former clubsCoventry City.
On 17 November 2010, Whelan revealed he has put his name forward for a role working withinLeeds United's academy. Leeds are the club who Whelan supports and also who gave him the chance to become a professional footballer.
After playing and captainingLeeds United in the Yorkshire Masters Tournament, which Leeds won. Whelan revealed he was going to help coach atDerby County's academy after turning down a coaching role atNottingham Forest.[18]
In April 2019, Whelan joinedEFL Championship sideLeeds United as a coach forLeeds United Development Hub for elite player development scholarship.[19][20]
Whelan competed in an episode ofCelebrity MasterChef broadcast in 2008, but was eliminated in the first round.[21]
From the 2013–14 football season, he became the co-commentator alongside Commentator Adam Pope and Katherine Hannah forBBC Radio Leeds coverage of allLeeds United games, with Whelan becoming synonymous for a catchphrase of 'Get in' every time Leeds scored.[3]
During the 2017–18 season, Whelan as well as working forBBC, Whelan also sporadically featured onSky Sports News as an in-studio summariser for football matches.
On 31 January 2018, Whelan also featured in a two part documentary exclusive toLeeds United's TV channel LUTV called 'I Wore The Shirt'.[4]
Whelan is a father of two sons and two daughters. He is also an uncle to two boys.[22]
Leeds United
Boston United
Dunfermline Athletic
