Christopher Anderson Whyte (born 2 September 1961) 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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and made nearly 400 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

and

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He had lengthy spells with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

where he was a pivotal part of their 1991–92 title-winning teamand

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. The team compete in the ...

, and also played for numerous other clubs in England and abroad. Whyte was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

by England at under-21 level.

Club career

Whyte was born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London, and started his career as a youth player at

, turning professional in September 1978. A defender who played at centre half (but also less often at full back), he made his Arsenal first-team debut as a substitute against

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

on 30 September 1981. He made his first appearance in

against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 17 October, and went on to start all but one of Arsenal's remaining league matches that season, partnering

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. The majority of his 20-year playing career was spent as a central defender at Arsenal, where his tally of 722 appearances stands as a club record. He played 68 time ...

in central defence. Select season required from bottom navbar. Whyte stood out with his coolness and confidence, as well as his timing and good judgement of the game. The following season, Whyte continued as a regular for Arsenal as the team reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions, and took his tally of England under-21 caps to four. However, after Arsenal's shock League Cup loss to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in November 1983 and the subsequent dismissal of

Terry Neill William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...

, Whyte was dropped from the side in favour of new signing

Tommy Caton Thomas Stephen Caton (6 October 1962 – 30 April 1993) was an English footballer who played as a centre half for Manchester City, Arsenal, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic. Caton captained both Manchester City and Oxford United and was na ...

. The emergence of

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

forced Whyte further down the pecking order at Highbury. He made no appearances for Arsenal during 1984–85, instead being loaned out to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, and although he had a brief run as an emergency striker in 1985–86, he was given a free transfer at the end of that season. In all he played 113 matches for Arsenal, scoring eight goals. No domestic club offered Whyte a contract, and disenchanted, he left for the United States and played for two years in the Major Indoor Soccer League for

New York Express The New York Express was a soccer team based out of Uniondale, New York that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played only part of the 1986–87 MISL season before folding just after the league's midseason All-Star Break. Their home ...

and

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los ...

. In the summer of 1988, Whyte was offered a return to England by

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Whyte made his Albion debut in a League Cup tie against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

in September 1988, and ended the 1988–89 season as the club's Player of the Year. Whyte returned to the top flight in 1990, when he was signed for £450,000 by

Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...

. He was nearly ever-present for the next three seasons, putting in 146 appearances as Leeds won the 1991–92 First Division title. In 1993, he moved to

, winning the 1994–95 Second Division title with the Blues. After a brief spell 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 ...

on loan, Whyte left Birmingham in 1996, and subsequently played for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

and

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

. He then returned to the United States for a spell with the Raleigh Express in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

before returning to England to play under former Arsenal teammate Ian Allinson, manager of Harlow Town of Rymans League Division One. In 2000, he played for Finnish third-tier club HyPS.

International career

Whyte was

four times for the England under-21 team. His first two appearances were in the semi-finals of the

1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 3rd staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1980–82) and had 26 entrants. West Germany competed in the competition for the first time. Engl ...

in April 1982, but he did not play in the final. His third and fourth appearances were later that year, in qualifiers for the next edition of the championships.

Honours

Club

Leeds United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1991–92 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Birmingham City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1994–95

Individual

* West Bromwich Albion Player of the Year: 1989

References

;Infobox statistics *English Football League clubs: *

: * Detroit Neon/Safari: *

: ;General

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whyte, Chris 1961 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football central defenders Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players New York Express players Los Angeles Lazers players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Detroit Neon players Detroit Safari players Leyton Orient F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Raleigh Express players Harlow Town F.C. players Hyvinkään Palloseura players English Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Premier League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers