Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Robert Whiting [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 6 January 1883||
Place of birth | Canning Town, England | ||
Date of death | 28 April 1917[2] | (aged 34)||
Place of death | Oppy Wood, Arras, France [3] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
1904–1905 | South West Ham | ||
1905 | West Ham United | 0 | (0) |
1905–1906 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | ||
1906–1908 | Chelsea | 52 | (0) |
1908–1915 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 253 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Robert Whiting (6 January 1883 – 28 April 1917), sometimes known as Pom Pom Whiting, [3] was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Chelsea. [1] [4] [5] He made 253 appearances in the Southern League for Brighton & Hove Albion and was a part of the club's 1909–10 Southern League First Division and 1910 FA Charity Shield-winning teams. [6]
Whiting was married with three sons and the second-youngest, William, later followed in his footsteps to play as a goalkeeper for Tunbridge Wells Rangers. [4] In December 1914, four months after the outbreak of the First World War, Whiting enlisted in the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. [4] After arriving in France in November 1915, Whiting became infected with scabies at the front and was sent to a hospital in Brighton for treatment. [4] As a result of the discovery of his wife's pregnancy and the death of his brother on the Somme in August 1916, Whiting went AWOL. [4] He was caught in October 1916 and court-martialled in France in February 1917. [4] A shortage of men meant that his sentence of 9 months' hard labour lasted just one week before he rejoined the Football Battalion. [4] He was killed in action whilst assaulting a fortified German position at Oppy Wood during the Battle of Arras on 28 April 1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. [4] [2]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Chelsea | 1905–06 [7] | Second Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1906–07 [7] | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||
1907–08 [7] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 52 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 0 | ||
Brighton & Hove Albion | 1908–09 [6] | Southern League First Division | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
1909–10 [6] | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
1910–11 [6] | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
1911–12 [6] | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
1912–13 [6] | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
1913–14 [6] | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||
1914–15 [6] | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
Total | 253 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 266 | 0 | ||
Career total | 305 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
Brighton & Hove Albion