Nathan Whittaker (3 February 1863 — 1922) was 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 lea ...

, referee, secretary and manager.

Playing career

Whittaker played for local club

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for a teaching role. Whilst in London, Whittaker played for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Refereeing and secretarial career

Following his playing career, Whittaker moved into a secretarial role in football, sitting on the councils for

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

, the Referees' Association, the

London Football Association The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

and the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

. Alongside his secretarial commitments, Whittaker was also a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, refereeing games in the Football League and the Southern League. The biggest distinction in Whittaker's career came on 20 April 1907, when he refereed in the 1907 FA Cup Final, in a game that saw "fouls rather plentiful".

Managerial career

On 25 April 1907, Whittaker was present at a public meeting in which it was decided for Croydon Common to become a professional club. In December 1909, Whittaker was appointed manager of Croydon Common. In February 1910, Whittaker was replaced as manager by Dave Gardner.

Personal life

Whittaker's brother,

Spen Spen may refer to: *SPEN, human gene *Spen, West Yorkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Sow-Stao#Sp, location in England *River Spen, river in West Yorkshire, England, the United Kingdom *SS Spen, SS ''Spen'', British steamship built in 190 ...

, was also a footballer, later managing

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 ...

until his death in 1910.

References

1863 births 1922 deaths Sportspeople from Church, Lancashire Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers English football managers Accrington F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football referees FA Cup final referees Association football executives English educators {{England-footy-midfielder-1860s-stub