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Dean Whitehead
Personal information
Full name	Dean Whitehead
Date of birth	21 January 1982 (age 27)
Place of birth	Abingdon, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Stoke City
Number	18
Youth career
1998	Abingdon Town
Senior career*
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:06, 28 December 2009 (UTC).; † Appearances (Goals).;

Dean Whitehead (born 21 January 1982 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire) is a professional English footballer. He currently plays for Stoke City as a midfielder, but has also played at right-back.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Oxford United

Whitehead started his career with Abingdon Town's youth team, before joining the youth scheme of his local league club, Oxford United. He progressed through the ranks there, developing a reputation as a tough-tackling midfielder with good passing skills. After playing for the club for around 5 seasons, his contract expired and he turned down the offer of a new one from the club.

[edit] Sunderland

In June 2004 he signed for Sunderland on a free transfer.^[1] Sunderland were ordered to pay £150,000 to Oxford at an FA tribunal, to compensate for the time and money put into his development. Oxford will also receive 25% of any fee should Sunderland sell Whitehead.

Whitehead quickly became a key member of the first-team as Sunderland won the Championship in 2004-05, and was chosen as Players' Player of the Year by his team-mates at the end of the season.

Whitehead was given a new three-year contract during the 2005-06 season,^[2] in which he scored a swerving 30-yard free kick past then England goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, in a 3-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Sunderland were relegated to the Championship for the 2006-07 season, during which Whitehead was given the captain's armband for the second time. During the 2005-06 campaign he had resigned the captaincy to concentrate on his football but he deputised for the frequently injured Steven Caldwell and was appointed on a permanent basis after Caldwell was sold to Burnley.^[3]

After Sunderland finished first in the Championship in 2006-07, Whitehead was injured early on in their 2007-08 Premiership campaign. He sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury in a match against Wigan Athletic, which kept him out for six months.^[4] He made his comeback from injury in November 2007.

Since Sunderland returned to the Premiership Whitehead has found himself playing time spent as a right back, although this was ended when manager Roy Keane signed right backs Phillip Bardsley and Pascal Chimbonda for Sunderland, allowing Whitehead to move back into central midfield. In the summer 2009 transfer market Whitehead was increasingly rumoured to be moving away from Wearside, with clubs such as Stoke City, Fulham and West Brom in the picture. The rumours were proved correct when Whitehead moved to Stoke City in the close season.

[edit] Stoke City

Whitehead signed a 4 year deal for Stoke City on 24th July 2009 for an initial £3 Million which could rise to £5 Million.^[5] Whitehead made his Stoke City debut on the 15 August 2009 in a 2-0 win over Burnley.^[6]

[edit] Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Oxford United	2000-01	20	0	1	0	2	0	-		-		23	0
	2001-02	40	1	1	0	1	0	-		1	0	43	1
	2002-03	18	1	2	0	-		-		1	0	21	1
	2003-04	44	7	1	0	2	0	-		-		47	7
Sunderland	2004–05	42	5	2	0	2	0	-		-		46	5
	2005–06	37	3	2	1	2	0	-		-		41	4
	2006–07	45	4	1	0	1	0	-		-		47	4
	2007–08	27	1	1	0	-		-		-		29	1
	2008–09	34	0	1	0	3	0	-		-		38	0
Stoke City	2009–10	18	0	0	0	0	0	-		-		18	0
Career total		323	22	12	1	13	0	0	0	2	0	352	23

[edit] Trivia

Whitehead has captained Sunderland

[edit] References

^ Whitehead joins Sunderland
^ New Sunderland deal for Whitehead
^ Whitehead given the armband
^ Whitehead injury rocks Sunderland
^ "Dean Deal Done". Stoke City FC. 24 July 2009. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~1732063,00.html. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
^ "Stoke City 2-0 Burnley". Stoke City FC (Stoke City). 15 August 2009. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10310~49150,00.html. Retrieved 15 August 2009.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Steven Caldwell	Sunderland captain 2007-2009	Succeeded by Lorik Cana

[0] Whitehead joins Sunderland

[1] New Sunderland deal for Whitehead

[2] Whitehead given the armband

[3] Whitehead injury rocks Sunderland

[4] "Dean Deal Done". Stoke City FC. 24 July 2009. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~1732063,00.html. Retrieved 24 July 2009.

[5] "Stoke City 2-0 Burnley". Stoke City FC (Stoke City). 15 August 2009. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10310~49150,00.html. Retrieved 15 August 2009.

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