Stuart David Whitehead (born 17 July 1976) 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 ...

. He played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Born in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...

, Whitehead began his career at his hometown club

Bromsgrove Rovers Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. was a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference. They went into administration during the ...

. After a season with the club, he joined then- Premiership

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

in 1995 on a free transfer. Bolton were relegated in his first season with them, but won promotion back to the Premier League in the following season. After another top-flight season, Bolton and Whitehead parted company, with Whitehead never appearing for the club. A regular starting role at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

followed, with Carlisle spending the whole period near the bottom of

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He appeared in the famous

Jimmy Glass James Robert Glass (born 1 August 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is chiefly remembered for scoring the last-minute goal which kept Carlisle United in the Football League in 1999, while on ...

game against

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 which the goalkeeper scored in the 94th minute to keep

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. A ten-month spell at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

followed before Whitehead dropped down to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called th ...

in August 2003 for a season with Telford United. Telford, and their chairman, were to go bankrupt at the end of the season, so Whitehead made the short move to newly promoted (to

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 ...

)

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

. In his two seasons with the club, Whitehead became Shrewsbury's first-choice right-back, making 70 appearances for the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

club. However, on 14 April 2006 he was released by Shrewsbury to allow the emergence of

Gavin Cadwallader Gavin James Cadwallader (born 18 April 1986) is an English retired footballer.He played primarily as a central defender, and could be utilised in a midfield holding role. Cadwallader played two matches for Shrewsbury Town in League Two in 2006 ...

. Whitehead agreed to join Conference club Kidderminster Harriers on a two-year contract in the summer of 2006. In his first season Whitehead played well and was a vital part of the FA Trophy run to the finals. He led the team out on 12 May hoping to lift the trophy but, unfortunately he will go down in history as the first captain to lose a competitive match at Wembley. Whitehead left Kidderminster by mutual consent on 31 January 2008 and subsequently made his return to the

New Bucks Head New Bucks Head is a stadium in Wellington, Shropshire, England and the home of Conference National football club AFC Telford United. It was originally built for Telford United to play at before they went bankrupt. The stadium is on the same si ...

, signing an 18-month deal with

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sys ...

side

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, the ...

. At the start of the 2008/2009 season, Whitehead was named as the new AFC Telford United captain. At the end of the 2009/2010 season, following the dismissal of Rob Smith, Whitehead was named caretaker manager for Telford's final game of the season, a 3–1 defeat away to Vauxhall Motors. He left Telford in January 2012, joining

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City ...

the next day.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Stuart 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Bromsgrove Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players AFC Telford United players English Football League players National League (English football) players Worcester City F.C. players English men's footballers Footballers from Worcestershire