| view Whalley's match-by-match record |
| Gareth WHALLEY | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The free transfer signing of Whalley was widely regarded as a coup by manager Andy King, after he had helped Wigan Athletic reach the Premiership for the first time in their history during the previous season. Whalley signed for the Town despite being offered a better deal by Grimsby, opting for a two year deal on a lower wage, when three years was on offer with the Mariners. Though his pre-season was interrupted by an hamstring injury that restricted him to just 100 minutes of action in the build up to the new campaign, he took his place in the centre of midfield for the opening match of the season, a 2-0 defeat at Barnsley. Though he kept his place in the side when available through to the end of October, he failed to meet the expectations of the Town's supporters - perhaps not helped by a series of niggling injuries, such as a knock to the chest picked up on his debut, a toe complaint that forced him to retire during a home game with Southend, and a knee injury that prevented him from taking part in new manager Iffy Onuora's first two matches in charge at the start of October. During this period, Whalley started twelve games, and was substituted in nine of them - a back injury then kept him out the following week. After that, Whalley was relegated to the bench on his return and he started just one more league game before the end of the year, in a 1-1 draw at Port Vale - before yet another injury, this time to his leg, kept him out of the fixtures over the festive period. Seemingly the Town's forgotten man, it was March before he returned to the side - when Onuora experimented with Whalley as the creative influence in a midfield three with wingbacks at Yeovil. Though the Town drew 0-0, Whalley played well, and he kept his place for the remainder of the season - missing just one more match - though he was again substituted in seven of the nine games he played. Again though, Whalley's pre-season was interrupted by injury - and after seeing a specialist, ankle surgery took place late in July, keeping him out until mid-October. He returned for a Johnstone's Paint Trophy match at Wycombe, that the Town lost 1-0 - and was named as a substitute for the following weekend's match at Shrewsbury, which proved to be new manager Dennis Wise's last as Town boss. The next game that Whalley featured in, was in a strong reserve side against Salisbury in the Wiltshire Premier Shield, a match to be used by new boss Paul Sturrock to run the rule over some of the squad players. Whalley retired with a dead leg at half-time. Though he was given a chance in the first team in an FA Cup match against Conference outfit Morecambe, Swindon didn't play well, and only scraped a 1-0 victory by virtue of a last minute penalty. Soon afterwards, Whalley was told by Sturrock that he was surplus to requirements at the County Ground - but after refusing a deal to release him from his contract, he remained at the club. A trial period at Conference outfit Halifax proved unsuccessful in February, Whalley finally coming to agreement over his contract in April, when he left the club. PLAYING RECORD:
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date of birth
usual positions central midfield senior career |
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REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
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