Zak Whitbread
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Zak Benjamin Whitbread | ||
Date of birth | [1] | January 10, 1984||
Place of birth | Houston, Texas, United States | ||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2][1] | ||
Position(s) |
Centre-back | ||
Youth career | |||
1992−2003 | Liverpool | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2003−2006 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) |
2005−2006 | → Millwall (loan) | 25 | (0) |
2006−2010 | Millwall | 78 | (3) |
2010−2012 | Norwich City | 44 | (1) |
2012−2014 | Leicester City | 16 | (1) |
2013−2014 | → Derby County (loan) | 4 | (1) |
2014−2015 | Derby County | 9 | (0) |
2015−2016 | Shrewsbury Town | 22 | (1) |
Total | 198 | (7) | |
International career | |||
2003 |
United States U20 | 5 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Zak Benjamin Whitbread (born January 10, 1984) is an American-English retired professional footballer who played as a defender.[3]
Early life
Although born in Houston, Texas, United States, Whitbread has spent most of his life in England and Singapore. He has lived in Runcorn for the majority of his life, except for the five years he spent in Singapore when his father, Barry Whitbread, was the coach of the Singapore national football team during the late 1990s. While in Singapore, Whitbread attended St Stephen's School and then United World College of South East Asia.
Club career
Liverpool
While growing up in Runcorn, Whitbread was a fan of Manchester United, but joined Liverpool's Centre of Excellence at the age of eight, and then working his way through the Academy from under-15s through under-19s before joining the reserve team in 2003.
His first match in a Liverpool jersey took place in 2003 in an exhibition match against Thailand during the club's
Millwall
After signing for Millwall permanently on a three-year contract in June 2006,[6] he featured frequently in the team's first eleven, starting 18 games for his new club in the 2006–07 season, before injuring himself in September 2006. The injury sidelined him for the rest of that season.[7]
Over the course of the
Norwich City
Whitbread signed for Norwich City on a 2+1⁄2-year contract on January 8, 2010,[9] making his debut in the 5–0 win over Colchester United on January 16 as a substitute for Chris Martin, but featured little thereafter due to an injury. Whitbread was given squad number 6 ahead of the 2010–11 season, switching from 31. He played 3 games in pre-season 2010–11 before he sustained another injury, which ruled him out of the start of the new league season. Whitbread was expected to return to training near the time of the international break in September, however a further setback kept him out until the new Year. Whitbread returned to full training near Christmas 2010, along with Adam Drury.
He made his long-awaited return from injury in a 4–2 win over Sheffield United on December 28, 2010, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for
Whitbread started in the Canaries' first game back in the Premier League, partnering
He made a return to the Norwich squad on December 3 against Manchester City, featuring as an unused substitute. In the next fixture against Newcastle United, Whitbread was given a start in a 4–2 win for Norwich, playing well apart from giving the ball away for Demba Ba's second goal. Whitbread kept his place for the following matches, performing admirably with Russell Martin in defence. He was partnered with Daniel Ayala from the New Year's Eve fixture against Fulham, and this partnership has seen Norwich win two consecutive away matches and three wins out of three in 2012. Whitbread was withdrawn early in the 2–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers, along with Daniel Ayala after complaining of a tight hamstring, 20 minutes after Ayala was subbed due to a suspect hamstring tear. He immediately regained his place upon his return to fitness, again at the expense of Leon Barnett in the narrow 2–1 defeat to Manchester United. He suffered a minor calf injury, before the 2–2 draw against Everton, causing manager Paul Lambert to withdraw him from the squad. He was eventually released by the club at the conclusion of the season.[10]
Leicester City
On July 24, 2012, Whitbread signed a two-year contract with
Derby County
On September 29, 2013, Derby County announced that Whitbread had signed on a three-month loan deal. He scored on his debut in a 4–4 draw at home to Ipswich Town.[12]
At the end of the 2013–14 season, Whitbread was released by Leicester City.[13] On June 25, 2014, Whitbread agreed a one-year deal to join Derby County on a permanent basis.[14]
Shrewsbury Town
Following his release from Derby, Whitbread joined
International career
Whitbread's first opportunity to play for the national team of his country of birth came in August 2003 when he was called up to Thomas Rongen's U.S. under 20s squad, and traveled to Spain for the L'Alcudia International Tournament, where he started three of the five matches played. He was also named in Rongen's side for the 2003 World Youth Championships in December. He started every match and scored his first goal for the U.S. to help the squad reach the Quarter Finals. His play led to his inclusion with the mostly Major League Soccer based side that unsuccessfully tried to qualify the U.S. for 2004 Summer Olympics. He was only able to play in one match for Glenn Myernick due to an injury he suffered during training. He played for the United States under 20s team in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, and has since been promoted to the under 23 squad.
On March 16, 2011, Whitbread was called into the United States senior team's camp for its friendlies against Argentina and Paraguay, but was unable to feature due to sustaining an injury while on club duty.[20]
References
- ^ a b "Zak Whitbread: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- ^ "Zak Whitbread". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on May 15, 2006.
- ^ Everett, Adam. "Ex-Liverpool footballer Zak Whitbread wins planning row". warringtonguardian.co.uk. Warrington Guardian. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- ^ Bascombe, Chris (July 25, 2003). "Thailand 1, Liverpool 3". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ Bascombe, Chris (July 25, 2003). "Thailand 1, Liverpool 3". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "Millwall land Liverpool defender". BBC Sport. November 24, 2005. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ Millwall FC
- ^ Fletcher, Paul (May 24, 2009). "Millwall 2–3 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
- ^ "Norwich City sign Zak Whitbread and Oli Johnson". BBC Sport. March 8, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
- ^ "Zak Whitbread and Aaron Wilbraham released by Norwich City". Goal.com. May 17, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ "Whitbread joins Foxes". Leicester City F.C. July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
- ^ "Derby 4–4 Ipswich". Goal.com. October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
- ^ "Sean St Ledger and Zak Whitbread depart Leicester City". The Football League. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- ^ "Derby County: Lee Naylor & Zak Whitbread agree one-year deals". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
- ^ "Zak Whitbread: Shrewsbury Town sign defender on short-term deal". BBC Sport. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ^ "No excuses from Zak Whitbread after defeat on debut". Shropshire Star. October 19, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
- ^ "Town 2 Bury 0 – Report and pictures". October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
- ^ "Shrewsbury: Zak Whitbread re-signs as Anthony Gerrard leaves". BBC Sport. January 21, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- ^ "Town announce retain list". Shrewsweb. May 20, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ Donovan and Dempsey headline US roster – News | FOX Sports on MSN
External links
- LFChistory.net player profile
- Zak Whitbread at Soccerbase