Robert Whitelaw (5 March 1903 – 1965)[1] was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half back for various clubs in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Whitelaw | ||
| Date of birth | 5 March 1903 | ||
| Place of birth | Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1965 (aged 61–62) | ||
| Place of death | Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Half back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Larkhall Thistle | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1926–1930 | Doncaster Rovers | 31 | (1) |
| 1930–1932 | Celtic | 17 | (0) |
| 1931 | → Albion Rovers (loan) | ||
| 1932–1933 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 10 | (2) |
| 1933 | Glentoran | ||
| 1933–1934 | Queen of the South | ||
| 1934 | Celtic | – | (–) |
| Cowdenbeath | |||
| Albion Rovers | |||
| Glentoran | |||
| 1936–1937 | Southampton | 20 | (1) |
| 1937–19?? | Kidderminster Harriers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Football career
editWhitelaw was born in Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire and first played junior football with local club, Larkhall Thistle.[2]
In July 1926,[3] he moved to England to join Doncaster Rovers of the Football League Third Division North, where he remained for four years, making 31 league appearances, scoring once.[2]
Whitelaw returned to his native Scotland in August 1930 to join Celtic. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw away to Hamilton Academical on 13 September.[4] Described as "a whole-hearted 90 minutes player", he was mainly used as cover for Chic Geatons.[4] Whitelaw remained at Parkhead until June 1932, when he moved to the south coast of England to join Bournemouth, of the Football League Third Division South.[3]
The following summer, he moved to Northern Ireland to join Glentoran, but he was soon back in Scotland with Queen of the South[2] before returning to Celtic in 1934.[4] After a very short time, he was again on the move spending time with Cowdenbeath, Albion Rovers and back at Glentoran[2] before returning to the south coast of England, to join Second Division Southampton in May 1936.[3]
Whitelaw was signed by Southampton's new manager George Goss as a replacement for the recently retired Stan Woodhouse.[3] His debut for the Saints came on 5 September 1936, in the first Second Division match played at Villa Park, which ended in a 4–0 defeat.[5] Whitelaw retained his place at right-half in the Southampton team, where he combined well with fellow half-backs, Bill Kennedy and Billy Kingdon,[3] until December when he lost his place to Cyril King.[5] Although he made one further appearance at the end of the season, he was not offered a new contract and left the club in May 1937, winding up his career at non-league Kidderminster Harriers.[3]
Later career
editDuring the Second World War, he was engaged as an interpreter for military intelligence.[4] He subsequently became an hotelier in Kidderminster.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan & Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
- ^ a b c d Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 278. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
- ^ a b c d e f Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 362. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- ^ a b c d "Whitelaw, Robert". Player profiles. thecelticwiki.com. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ^ a b Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 97. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.