Jack Whitham is an English 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 lea ...

who played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. He was a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

who only started 111 league games in a nine-year career between 1967 and 1976, scoring 40 goals. He made one appearance for the England under 23 team against Wales in 1968. Whitham was born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 8 December 1946; his grandfather

Thomas Whitham Thomas Whitham VC (11 May 1888 – 22 October 1924) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. War servi ...

of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

had won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

in 1917 for attacking single-handed an enemy machine gun post. He played amateur football for Holy Trinity F.C. before signing for Sheffield Wednesday in October 1964.

Playing career

Sheffield Wednesday

Whitham made his debut for Wednesday on 6 May 1967 as a substitute against his home town club Burnley and scored twice in a 7–0 victory. Whitham's time as a Wednesday player was marred by injury problems; his brave style of play meant that he spent long periods on the treatment table and he never played 20 league games in any season. He scored 10 goals in 10 games at the start of the 1968–69 season but never scored again that season as injury took its toll. He still ended up as top scorer that season; his tally included a hat-trick against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in a memorable 5–4 win on 31 August 1968 which was the highlight of his time at Hillsborough. In the following 1969–70 season he was top scorer again with 11 goals in all competitions as Wednesday were relegated to Division Two. In April 1970 he was transferred to Liverpool for a sum of £57,000. In his time with Wednesday he scored 31 goals in 62 starts, an excellent record of a goal every other match."''The Men Who Made Sheffield Wednesday Football Club''", Tony Matthews, , Page 266 Gives biographical information.The Sheffield Wednesday Archive.
Gives details of Sheffield Wednesday career.

Liverpool

Whitham was signed by Liverpool as a potential replacement for

Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 285 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, H ...

who had left to join

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in December 1969. However, his injury problems continued and he failed to get an extended run in the team. The arrival of

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in November 1970 further hindered his chances of first team football. He did well towards the end of 1971 when he scored two late goals in an away win at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

and then scoring a hat-trick in a home 3–2 win against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

on 11 December 1971. In four years he would play just 15 games for Liverpool, scoring seven goals.www.lfchistory.net.
Gives details of Liverpool career and mor.www.ynwa.tv.
Gives details of Liverpool career and more.

Later career

Whitham joined Cardiff City for the 1974–75 season, after being invited to a trial by then manager

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining W ...

, scoring three goals in 14 appearances before moving to Reading for the following season making 19 appearances as they were promoted from

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...

, his three goals that season all came in the same match against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. Whitham returned to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

in 1976 playing for

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

Hallam F.C. Hallam Football Club is an English football club based in Crosspool, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Hallam have played at their Sandygate home in the Sheffield suburb of Crosspool since 1860, with the ground being officially recognised by the ...

and then

Oughtibridge Oughtibridge ( ) is a residential village in the north of Sheffield within the bounds of Bradfield, South Yorkshire, Bradfield civil parish. The village stands about northwest of the Sheffield City Centre, city centre in the valley of the Riv ...

in the local Sheffield league He then went to Hallam as manager before retiring.

After football

After retiring from football, Whitham ran the "Wadsley Jack" a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in the

Wadsley Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was f ...

area of Sheffield for 10 years. He then became the manager of the

South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Mayor Oliver Coppard. History The force was fo ...

Social Club at

Wadsley Bridge Wadsley Bridge is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, northwest of the city centre. The area is a mixture of residential housing and small industrial and commercial premises. The suburb falls within the Hillsborough ward of the Cit ...

. From 1993 until 2007 Whitham was a part-time scout for Sunderland AFC and in 2007 he joined Luton Town as Chief Scout. After Luton Town went into administration in early 2008 Whitham went to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a short spell before becoming head of player recruitment at Sheffield United. He left Sheff United in June 2010 to become European Scout back at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He lives in Sheffield with his wife Jose' and they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2020. Away from football he is a well known singer/songwriter around the acoustic music clubs in the South Yorkshire area.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitham, Jack Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Hallam F.C. players Men's association football forwards 1946 births Living people Footballers from Burnley English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Worksop Town F.C. players Hallam F.C. managers English football managers English Football League players