Barry Whitbread


Barry Whitbread is an English coach who led the Singapore national football team to the country's first ever international trophy in association football, the 1998 AFF Championship.

Playing career

Whitbread played football as a forward for Lancaster City in the Northern Premier League while a student at Lancaster University. He scored a hat-trick on his debut for the club, and scored their early goal in what became a 2–1 defeat to Football League opponents Notts County in the first round proper of the 1972–73 FA Cup. Transferred nearer home for a fee of £250, Whitbread's 29 goals helped Runcorn to the Northern Premier League title in the 1975–76 season. After scoring 181 career goals for Runcorn, he joined Altrincham in 1979 for a club record fee of £6,400. He helped the club reach the 1982 FA Trophy final, in which he made his final appearance as a player, on the losing side.

International

Whitbread was a member of the first ever England team at semi-professional level. He won six caps, scoring twice, between 1979 and 1981.

Post-playing career

Whitbread trained as a teacher before moving into football management, having gained his coaching qualifications while still a player. He was assistant manager of Northwich Victoria, then manager of Runcorn from 1988 to 1990, and also coached in the United States. He took the job as Singapore national football team coach in 1996. Two years later, his team written off before it started, Whitbread led Singapore to victory in the 1998 Tiger Cup, their first ever success in an international football competition.
On his return to England he worked at Liverpool's Youth Academy, becoming head of recruitment, a post he held until 2007. He went on to act as chief scout for clubs including Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers.

Personal life

His son Zak, born in Houston, Texas, while Whitbread was working in the US, became a professional footballer after developing in the Liverpool academy. Zak now plays for Shrewsbury Town.