Barry Whitbread Dolly Blue Striker to International Manager
Barry Whitbread signed for Lancaster City whilst studying at Lancaster University and the striker didn’t take long to make a name for himself scoring a hat-trick on his league debut for the Dolly Blues at the start of the 1971-72 season. Lancaster City had just started their second season in the new Northern Premier League under new manager Peter Gilmour.
Whitbread, is best remembered for scoring a fourth minute goal to put Lancaster City in front against Notts County in the FA Cup (2nd Round). Unfortunately the Football League side managed to turn the game around winning 2-1 after a disputed penalty decision. The following season he reluctantly tranferred nearer home to Runcorn for a fee of £250 after making 120 appearances, scoring 51 goals for the club.
During a six year spell at Runcorn he helped the club win the Northern Premier League Championship in the 1975–76 season. After scoring 181 career goals for Runcorn, he moved to Altrincham Football Club were he made 94 appearances, scoring 34 goals as he helped them reach the 1982 FA Trophy Final, which was his final appearance for the club.
After hanging up his boots, he became the assistant manager of Northwich Victoria before training as a teacher. He then returned to football in 1988 when he was appointed as the new manager of Runcorn Football Club, where he spent two years before moving to the USA as a coach. In 1996 he was appointed the manager of Singapore leading the country to their first ever international trophy the 1998 AFF Championship.
On his return to England he worked for Liverpool Football Clubs Youth Academy as the head of recruitment, a post he held until 2007. He then went on to become chief scout for both Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers before returning to a coaching role with Manchester United. Barry is now working for the FA as part of the youth team in a coaching role.
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