Jonathan "Jay" Wheeldon (born 28 August 1988) is an English football coach and former player who serves as head coach of Calgary Foothills.

Career

Early career

After spending many of his youth years with English academies

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

, Wheeldon signed his first professional contract with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

. Wheeldon would go on to spend some time in Belgium with Montegnée before returning home to play for non-league club

Hungerford Town Hungerford Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association, they are currently members of and play at Bulpit Lane. History The club was esta ...

Calgary Foothills

From 2015 to 2018 Wheeldon played under his brother,

Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Thomas Wheeldon Jr. (born 3 May 1979) is an English former professional footballer and current head coach of Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. Playing career Wheeldon began his playing career in England with Swindon Town before movi ...

with Calgary Foothills. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

the club captured the PDL Championship.

Cavalry FC

Wheeldon signed with

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

on 13 March 2019. He made his debut in their inaugural game against

York9 York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

on 4 May. Wheeldon went on to set an 18 match unbeaten streak in the first season which was the record for any player across the division. Wheeldon re-signed with Cavalry for the 2020 season on 29 January 2020. On 26 January 2021, Cavalry announced that Wheeldon had left the club in order to pursue a career in coaching.

Coaching career

Wheeldon began coaching in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

in 2012 with PASS Academy while also serving as technical director of Calgary Northside SC. In 2013, Wheeldon became manager of the Calgary Foothills Skills Academy, a role he retained after returning to professional football in 2019. By 2021, Wheeldon had completed his

Canada Soccer The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

A License, and had previously obtained a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

B License and is currently the Academy Director with Calgary Foothills along with becoming head coach of the Calgary Foothills U23 team in June 2021

Coaching statistics

The following statistics are for club teams only (playoff and cup matches are included).

Honours

Calgary Foothills * PDL Championship:

Cavalry FC *

Canadian Premier League Finals The Canadian Premier League Finals is the annual championship game of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top level of Canadian soccer. As of the 2021 Final, it is played as a single match hosted by the higher seeded team. The winner is awar ...

**Runners-up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

(Regular season): **Champions: Spring 2019, Fall 2019

Personal life

Wheeldon is a lifelong supporter of Everton FC.

References

External links

* Living people 1988 births Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Torquay United F.C. players R.R.F.C. Montegnée players Hungerford Town F.C. players Calgary Foothills FC players Cavalry FC players National League (English football) players Belgian Third Division players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players {{Canada-footy-bio-stub