Morgan Reece Whittaker (born 7 January 2001) is an English 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 le ...

who plays for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. Whittaker began his playing career at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

's academy before making his senior debut for the club in August 2019.

Club career

Derby County

On 12 August 2019, Whittaker made his professional debut as an 87th-minute substitute in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

for

against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and made his first start in a 3–0 defeat away to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the same competition. He signed a new contract with Derby running until June 2023 on 22 January 2020. Whittaker finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

with three starts and eighteen substitute appearances and scored his first career goal with the second Derby goal in a 3–1 win away to

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

on the final day. Whittaker started the 2020–21 season by scoring the winning-penalty in a 3–2 shootout victory over

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

in the

and continued making frequent substitute appearances throughout the course of the season.

Swansea City

On 1 February 2021, Whittaker joined fellow Championship side

on a four-and-a-half year deal. Nine days later, Whittaker scored on his debut for the Swans in a 1–3 home defeat by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. His first league goal came on 1 May 2021 in the penultimate game of the season to equalise in an eventual 2–1 victory over Derby County that kept his former side firmly in the relegation battle. On 24 August 2021, Whittaker scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over

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, ...

in the second round of the

. It was the first hat-trick scored by a Swansea player since

Scott Sinclair Scott Andrew Sinclair (born 25 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL League One club Bristol Rovers. He represented England at youth level, from the under-17s to the under-21s, and also played for Gre ...

in the 2011 Championship play-off final.

Lincoln City (loan)

On 1 January 2022, Whittaker joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on 8 January 2022, starting and scoring in the game.

Plymouth Argyle (loan)

On 20 July 2022, Whittaker joined Plymouth Argyle on a season-long loan deal. Having scored three vital goals and claiming an assist across September 2022, Whittaker was awarded the

EFL League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Play ...

Award with Argyle sitting top of the league.

International career

Having represented England at U16 to U18 level, Whittaker made his U19 debut on 9 September 2019 during a 1–0 defeat to Germany in Haiger. On 13 October 2020, Whittaker made his debut for the England U20s during a 2–0 victory over Wales at St. George's Park.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

: September 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Morgan 2001 births Living people Footballers from Derby English footballers Association football forwards English Football League players Derby County F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players