Danny Whitaker

Danny Whitaker
Whitaker (in green) playing for Oldham Athletic
Personal information
Full name Daniel Phillip Whitaker[1]
Date of birth (1980-11-14) 14 November 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth Wilmslow, England[2]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Manchester United
Bradford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Wilmslow Albion
2001–2006 Macclesfield Town 172 (23)
2006–2008 Port Vale 86 (13)
2008–2010 Oldham Athletic 80 (8)
2010–2013 Chesterfield 106 (21)
2013–2019 Macclesfield Town 226 (37)
2020 Macclesfield Town 0 (0)
2021–2022 Macclesfield 1 (0)
Total 671 (102)
Managerial career
2018 Macclesfield Town (caretaker)
2019 Macclesfield Town (caretaker)
2020 Macclesfield Town (caretaker)
2020–2022 Macclesfield
2023–2024 Bradford (Park Avenue)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Daniel Phillip Whitaker (born 14 November 1980) is an English former professional football player and manager who is a coach at Northern Premier League Premier Division club Macclesfield.

A former Manchester United Academy player, Whitaker turned professional with Macclesfield Town in 2001. He spent five years with the club and made over 200 appearances in all competitions before he switched to Port Vale in June 2006. He played over 100 games for the Vale in two seasons before he signed for Oldham Athletic in June 2008. Again a first-team regular, he left after two seasons to join Chesterfield in May 2010. He helped the club to the League Two title in 2010–11 and also won himself a place on the division's PFA Team of the Year. He also helped the club to the Football League Trophy title in 2012. He returned to Macclesfield Town in August 2013. He played in the club's defeat at the 2017 FA Trophy final before helping the club to win promotion back to the English Football League as champions of the National League. He was appointed the club's caretaker manager in November 2018 before retiring in July 2019. He again became caretaker manager at Macclesfield in August 2019 and January 2020 before being appointed the first manager in October 2020.

Whitaker led phoenix club Macclesfield to the North West Counties Premier Division title at the end of the 2021–22 season before losing his job in October 2022. He took charge at Bradford (Park Avenue) in December 2023, lasting nine months in the role.

  1. ^ "Danny Whitaker". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  3. ^ "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2006/07". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.