Harrogate strike deal for former Whites star Noel
Harrogate Town have pulled off a major coup by snapping up former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan until the end of the season.
Whelan, who was twice involved in £2m moves – to Coventry and Middlesbrough – has been without a club since leaving Scottish First Division side Dunfermline last season.
The 33-year-old Leeds-born player has been taking his coaching badges while overcoming an Achilles injury.
Coaching career is on the menu for WhelanNoel Whelan failed to make the headlines in the last chapter of his professional playing career – indeed, arguably his most noted performance of recent years came on Celebrity Masterchef.
Now the ex-Leeds United ace is back in football at Harrogate Town but it's ultimately in coaching that he hopes to cook up a treat.
Whelan has not played a professional game since July 2006 when he tore his Achilles tendon playing for Dunfermline against Hearts in the Scottish Premier League. Following frustrating spells at Livingston and Boston United, the injury was the final straw for Whelan who in his glory days starred up front for Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Coventry City.
Some two-and-a-half years later, Whelan is back in the game at chairman Bill Fotherby's Harrogate, though the 34-year-old faces a battle to regain his fitness and is yet to make an appearance.
However, during his spell in the wilderness, Whelan has been concentrating on his coaching badges ahead of an anticipated new chapter in his footballing career.
"I'd moved back to Leeds having retired about a year-and-a-half ago from playing football," explained Whelan.
"I'd just gained my UEFA B Licence to be a coach and manager so basically I was looking to do more coaching than playing as obviously if I could still play at a decent level I would still be playing now.
"This opportunity (at Harrogate) came up and hopefully I can do a bit of coaching and a bit of playing at the same time.
"Basically, I miss playing, as I think most ex-professional footballers probably do, and it's something I wanted to keep involved with. As soon as I finished playing football I didn't want it to be out of my life – it's the only thing I really know.
"I'm just looking to build my fitness up now and get back into the swing of the football, but obviously the coaching side is really more important than the playing side."
A Whelan of yesteryear would be quite an acquisition for Blue Square North side Town – the striker signed as a trainee at Leeds and went on to make 58 appearances between 1993 and 1995.
He was then snapped up for £2m by Coventry City and 39 goals in 155 games followed over a four-and-a-half-year period before a £2.2m move to Middlesbrough in August 2000.
Whelan made 73 appearances at the Riverside before eventually moving to Crystal Palace in May 2003, spells at Millwall, Derby, Aberdeen, Boston, Livingston and Dunfermline following as his career gradually slid somewhat.
Whelan is under no illusions that he is no longer the player of old.
It was during his time at Boston that Whelan was admitted to the Sporting Chance clinic in early January 2006, for the treatment of an alcohol problem.
"I've signed a contract which is not for any money, it's just basically to get myself fit and see what happens," said the Leeds-born footballer of his move to Harrogate.
"Bill (Fotherby) is wanting me to play more, which is fine. I don't mind playing but from my side I am looking for something different now.
"I've got my coaching badge and I feel I have got a lot to offer on the coaching side of things.
I have played under different England managers in my time as a player and I've had 10 years in the Premiership with 300-odd games.
"Bill said he wants me down there which is fine, but then my long-term aim is to get in a Football League club.
"From there I want to learn from the ground upwards with the youth side and then eventually I can move up.
"I'm still young as I am only 34 and I want to do the coaching thing right. It's important to learn your job from the ground upwards, learning all the way."
Whelan now plans to take his UEFA Pro Licence which takes around 18 months to complete.
On the playing side, he has always been about goals and should he gain the necessary match sharpness, he admits it would be great to start a few games and hit the net for Harrogate Town.
It's been so long since his last goal, memories of scoring are starting to fade!
"It's been a long time and I'm not sure what that feeling is like anymore!" joked Whelan. "Hopefully, once I get myself back into the swing of things I can bag a couple and help them stay at the top end of the table.
"Obviously, after not playing for so long my fitness has gone. I've kind of come to the end of that journey myself if I am honest and now is the time for me to learn about the coaching side of things.
"I've got experience of the good things and the bad things and hopefully that can be a help to kids coming through."
Whelan's move has put him back in the limelight – the non-league limelight at least – but culinary fans will have noted his surprise appearance on last year's series of Celebrity Masterchef. That is bound to generate a bit of banter with Neil Aspin's troops at the CNG Stadium – but Whelan is glad he gave it a go.
"I got a phone call, as I've got a media agent in London who gets me a few bits and pieces," explained Whelan. "I did a bit of Nuts TV and things like that, on their football show with Jason Cundy.
"They asked me if I fancied doing Celebrity Masterchef and I said yeah, I thought it would be a great experience and it was. It's something that does not come around very often for a lot of people, to try something different, so I went ahead and did it."
Sadly, Whelan's rainbow trout with new potatoes didn't wash with judges John Torode and Greg Wallace, Whelan and DJ Spoony sent packing as Wendi Peters – Coronation Street's Cilla Battersby – went through.
"It wasn't one of my finest performances!" laughed Whelan. "But seeing how other people adapted from their jobs and the pressure they put themselves through was quite interesting, especially when we were in the restaurant with the chefs.
"It was a pressurising situation, something that I had been used to on the field and it was a very good experience.
"I'm far from a master chef but when you have lived by yourself, you can't always get takeaways and you have to do certain fish dishes.
You have to eat as well as you possibly can so I did do a bit in the kitchen – but when it got to the final I was pretty glad I wasn't there!
"I was with DJ Spoony and Wendi Peters and I went for a rainbow trout with new potatoes and a salsa, and a stilton and broccoli soup, but Wendi has been cooking for about 20 years for her children. I've not got that much experience in the bag!
"Me and DJ Spoony were just ready to walk out at the beginning, we were thinking 'what are we doing?'."
At least Whelan was having fun – something that cannot really be said for the latter part of his footballing career, especially in Scotland. The former Elland Road favourite admits his final years in the professional ranks and subsequent departure from football following left him feeling low.
"I was up in Dunfermline at the time. I was in the middle of retirement when I got a phone call from (manager) Jim Leishman asking me to play for them as a favour that season," he recalled.
"It was a week before the start of the season so they gave me an all-in-one pre-season within a week!
"They put me in against Hearts and I think it was the first minute I went up for a header and I landed and tore my Achilles tendon. That kind of just summed the idea up for me really, that my body was not really able to cope with the demands of football these days.
"When that happened I just decided to do my B Licence and now I can use that and do my Pro Licence along the way as well which takes quite a bit longer.
"It's been quite hard for me. When you have to pack in through injury you get to a stage where you don't know what to do. Since I left school, football has always been there and when, all of a sudden, it is taken away from you, you miss it. You miss that banter in the morning with the boys, you miss the socialising and the training.
"It has been hard to adjust, but you get a lot of people who finish playing and they say that's it.
"For me, coaching was always something in the back of the mind that I wanted to do and I think I could become quite good at it.
"I've experienced the good side of football and the bad side. It happens to a lot of players, but it's important players know these things if they are going to make it as a professional."
The first stages of a burgeoning coaching career could now be developing at Harrogate as Whelan aims to bounce back from a disappointing end to his time in the professional ranks.
However, the would-be coach knows he is blessed to have enjoyed a lucrative and successful playing career – his undoubted highlight the times when he pulled on the white jersey of hometown club Leeds, and in particular winning the FA Youth Cup at Elland Road.
Whelan knows he must now take his coaching career one step at a time but he admits a dream scenario would be one day fulfilling such a role at United.
"I could have played one game for Leeds United and finished, lived my dream and been very happy," he said.
"All I wanted to do was to play for Leeds United and be a professional footballer so when I actually did pull the white shirt on it meant the world to me and my family. For me, that time playing for my hometown club was just like a dream come true.
"Hopefully, and as a Leeds boy, it would be nice to one day return to Leeds.
"I couldn't finish my career there and it won't be as a player, but it would be nice to go back as a coach and help out in any possible way that I can."
I have played under different England managers in my time as a player and I've had 10 years in the Premiership with 300-odd games.
"Bill said he wants me down there which is fine, but then my long-term aim is to get in a Football League club.
"From there I want to learn from the ground upwards with the youth side and then eventually I can move up.
"I'm still young as I am only 34 and I want to do the coaching thing right. It's important to learn your job from the ground upwards, learning all the way."
Whelan now plans to take his UEFA Pro Licence which takes around 18 months to complete.
On the playing side, he has always been about goals and should he gain the necessary match sharpness, he admits it would be great to start a few games and hit the net for Harrogate Town.
It's been so long since his last goal, memories of scoring are starting to fade!
"It's been a long time and I'm not sure what that feeling is like anymore!" joked Whelan. "Hopefully, once I get myself back into the swing of things I can bag a couple and help them stay at the top end of the table.
"Obviously, after not playing for so long my fitness has gone. I've kind of come to the end of that journey myself if I am honest and now is the time for me to learn about the coaching side of things.
"I've got experience of the good things and the bad things and hopefully that can be a help to kids coming through."
Whelan's move has put him back in the limelight – the non-league limelight at least – but culinary fans will have noted his surprise appearance on last year's series of Celebrity Masterchef. That is bound to generate a bit of banter with Neil Aspin's troops at the CNG Stadium – but Whelan is glad he gave it a go.
"I got a phone call, as I've got a media agent in London who gets me a few bits and pieces," explained Whelan. "I did a bit of Nuts TV and things like that, on their football show with Jason Cundy.
"They asked me if I fancied doing Celebrity Masterchef and I said yeah, I thought it would be a great experience and it was. It's something that does not come around very often for a lot of people, to try something different, so I went ahead and did it."
Sadly, Whelan's rainbow trout with new potatoes didn't wash with judges John Torode and Greg Wallace, Whelan and DJ Spoony sent packing as Wendi Peters – Coronation Street's Cilla Battersby – went through.
"It wasn't one of my finest performances!" laughed Whelan. "But seeing how other people adapted from their jobs and the pressure they put themselves through was quite interesting, especially when we were in the restaurant with the chefs.
"It was a pressurising situation, something that I had been used to on the field and it was a very good experience.
"I'm far from a master chef but when you have lived by yourself, you can't always get takeaways and you have to do certain fish dishes.
You have to eat as well as you possibly can so I did do a bit in the kitchen – but when it got to the final I was pretty glad I wasn't there!
"I was with DJ Spoony and Wendi Peters and I went for a rainbow trout with new potatoes and a salsa, and a stilton and broccoli soup, but Wendi has been cooking for about 20 years for her children. I've not got that much experience in the bag!
"Me and DJ Spoony were just ready to walk out at the beginning, we were thinking 'what are we doing?'."
At least Whelan was having fun – something that cannot really be said for the latter part of his footballing career, especially in Scotland. The former Elland Road favourite admits his final years in the professional ranks and subsequent departure from football following left him feeling low.
"I was up in Dunfermline at the time. I was in the middle of retirement when I got a phone call from (manager) Jim Leishman asking me to play for them as a favour that season," he recalled.
"It was a week before the start of the season so they gave me an all-in-one pre-season within a week!
"They put me in against Hearts and I think it was the first minute I went up for a header and I landed and tore my Achilles tendon. That kind of just summed the idea up for me really, that my body was not really able to cope with the demands of football these days.
"When that happened I just decided to do my B Licence and now I can use that and do my Pro Licence along the way as well which takes quite a bit longer.
"It's been quite hard for me. When you have to pack in through injury you get to a stage where you don't know what to do. Since I left school, football has always been there and when, all of a sudden, it is taken away from you, you miss it. You miss that banter in the morning with the boys, you miss the socialising and the training.
"It has been hard to adjust, but you get a lot of people who finish playing and they say that's it.
"For me, coaching was always something in the back of the mind that I wanted to do and I think I could become quite good at it.
"I've experienced the good side of football and the bad side. It happens to a lot of players, but it's important players know these things if they are going to make it as a professional."
The first stages of a burgeoning coaching career could now be developing at Harrogate as Whelan aims to bounce back from a disappointing end to his time in the professional ranks.
However, the would-be coach knows he is blessed to have enjoyed a lucrative and successful playing career – his undoubted highlight the times when he pulled on the white jersey of hometown club Leeds, and in particular winning the FA Youth Cup at Elland Road.
Whelan knows he must now take his coaching career one step at a time but he admits a dream scenario would be one day fulfilling such a role at United.
"I could have played one game for Leeds United and finished, lived my dream and been very happy," he said.
“All I wanted to do was to play for Leeds United and be a professional footballer so when I actually did pull the white shirt on it meant the world to me and my family. For me, that time playing for my hometown club was just like a dream come true.
“Hopefully, and as a Leeds boy, it would be nice to one day return to Leeds.
“I couldn’t finish my career there and it won’t be as a player, but it would be nice to go back as a coach and help out in any possible way that I can.â€
YEP
