Sam Whittingham (footballer)

Sam Whittingham
Personal information
Full name	Samuel Littleton Whittingham
Date of birth	24 February 1882
Place of birth	Stoke-upon-Trent, England
Date of death	1958 (aged 75–76)
Position(s)	Half-back
Youth career
	Goldenhill Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team
1902–1903	Stoke
1903–1906	Burslem Port Vale
1906–1907	Crewe Alexandra
1907–1910	Blackpool
1910–1911	Huddersfield Town
1911–1912	Mirfield United
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Samuel Whittingham (24 February 1882 – 1958) was an English footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke, Burslem Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, Blackpool, and Huddersfield Town. Throughout his playing career, Whittingham recorded over 100 Football League appearances and played in numerous FA Cup matches. He was the elder brother of Bob Whittingham, also an accomplished sportsman.

Career

Whittingham played for Goldenhill Wanderers and Stoke before joining Burslem Port Vale in August 1903.^[1] He made his debut on 26 September 1903 in a 1–1 draw with Glossop, making a total of seven Second Division appearances in the 1903–04 season.^[2]^[1] He scored three goals in 31 league games in the 1904–05 season, bagging his first goal in the Football League on 17 December, in a 2–1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers at the Athletic Ground; he later claimed goals in 2–0 home wins over Grimsby Town and Doncaster Rovers in March.^[1] He played 31 league games in the 1905–06 campaign, but was later transferred to Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 1906.^[1]

Transferring to Crewe Alexandra proved to be the most successful time of his career as Whittingham was part of the team that came runners-up in the Birmingham & District League and won the Cheshire Senior Cup with them in 1907. The tournament final was played against Macclesfield Town, and they won the match 2–0. Following his spell at Crewe Alexandra, Whittingham went on to amass over 50 appearances for Blackpool over two seasons. In the latter half of his career he played for Huddersfield Town where he made one appearance in an FA Cup game in the 1910–11 season before ending his career with Mirfield United; a team who were founding members of the Yorkshire Combination.

Source:^[2]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stoke	1902–03	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0
Burslem Port Vale	1903–04	Second Division	7	0	0	0	7	0
	1904–05	Second Division	31	3	2	0	33	3
	1905–06	Second Division	31	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		69	3	2	0	71	3
Blackpool	1908–09	Second Division	23	0	1	0	24	0
	1909–10	Second Division	25	0	2	0	27	0
	Total		48	0	3	0	51	0
Huddersfield Town	1910–11	Second Division	0	0	1	0	1	0
Career total			117	3	6	0	123	3

Crewe Alexandra

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 308. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sam Whittingham at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
^ "Cheshire Senior Cup" (PDF). silkmenarchives.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
^ "Football Club History Database - Crewe Alexandra". fchd.info. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888-1939. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.