Alan Whittle (soccer player)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alan Whittle
Personnel
Surname Alan Whittle
birthday March 10, 1950
place of birth Liverpool ,  England
position Midfield , striker
Juniors
Years station
1965-1967 Everton FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1967-1972 Everton FC 74 (21)
1972-1976 Crystal Palace 108 (19)
1976-1977 FC Orient 33 ( 05)
1977-1988 Persepolis Tehran 34 ( 09)
1979-1980 FC Orient 17 ( 01)
1981 Bournemouth AFC 9 ( 00)
Preston Macedonia
Gravesend & Northfleet
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1970 England U-23 1 ( 00)
1 Only league games are given.

Alan Whittle (born March 10, 1950 in Liverpool ) is a former English football player . As a young offensive player for Everton FC , he won the English championship in 1970 . After that he was only rarely able to meet the high expectations and he spent most of his further career either abroad - he was even active in Iran in the 1977/78 season - or in the lower English divisions.

Athletic career

The blond boy went through the youth departments of Everton FC in the mid-1960s and after ten league appearances in the first two seasons 1967/68 and 1968/69 he celebrated his sporting breakthrough in the championship season 1969/70 . In the second half of the season, the offensive player, who could be used in midfield as well as in attack, often had to replace the injured Jimmy Husband and did this very convincingly with eleven goals in 15 league games. In no less than four games he scored the decisive 1-0 winner and especially his first goal against West Ham United was remembered when he carried the ball from his own half across the entire field and in the end overcame the opposing goalkeeper. Due to its external appearance, the technical skills, his final strength and at times a little raised arrogance on the field comparisons were quickly Denis Law from Manchester United pulled and the pressure from the domestic media intensified after coach Harry Catterick Whittle as “Everton's greatest discovery of all time”. Whittle did not meet the immense expectations in the following years. Although he did not completely lose his basic skills, from then on he was still lacking in consistency and in the course of the following two years until 1972 he lost his place in the team. When the league competitor Crystal Palace finally offered the not inconsiderable sum of 100,000 pounds for a transfer, Everton FC agreed and Whittle moved to London in December 1972 .

Whittle was active for “Palace” for less than four years and although he became a favorite player with fans, he had to contend with injuries and form fluctuations. In addition, he was passed through with his new club until mid-1974 from the first to the third division. He also fell out more and more with coach Malcolm Allison and so he successfully looked for a new employer in September 1976 with the next London club, FC Orient . This meant for him a return to the second division, in which he contributed five goals to narrow relegation in the 1976/77 season . In the same season he reached the final in the Anglo-Scottish Cup , which was clearly lost 1: 5 against Nottingham Forest .

To the great surprise, Whittle then moved abroad to Persepolis Tehran . The adventure lasted barely a year, however, because the league system collapsed in the midst of the Iranian Revolution and so he had no choice but to leave the country. In the following years Whittle let his career end again at FC Orient and the fourth division AFC Bournemouth , in Australia at Preston Makedonia and later in the Southern League at Gravesend & Northfleet .

Title / Awards

literature

  • Ivan Ponting: Everton Player by Player . Hamlyn, London 1998, ISBN 0-600-59581-1 , pp. 72 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - U-23 International Results- Details" (RSSSF)
personal data
SURNAME Whittle, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English football goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool