page_title: Dean Whitehead
section_title: Stoke City
hierarchical_section_title: Dean Whitehead / Career / Stoke City
caption_attribution_description: Stoke City FC V Arsenal 67
context_page_description: Dean Whitehead is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and occasionally at right-back. He is currently assistant manager at League One club Shrewsbury Town.
  Whitehead joined his local non-League club Abingdon Town before he signed for Football League club Oxford United in 1999. He impressed in the lower divisions and was signed by Championship club Sunderland in 2004. He won promotion in his first season with Sunderland, although they were relegated from the Premier League after one season. He was made captain by Roy Keane as Sunderland claimed an instant return to the top flight. After two more seasons in the north-east, Whitehead signed for Stoke City in 2009. He helped Stoke reach the 2011 FA Cup Final, where the team finished runners-up to Manchester City. After spending four seasons with Stoke, Whitehead signed for Middlesbrough in 2013. He moved to Huddersfield Town two years later, helping them to promotion from the Championship in 2017 before retiring in 2018.
context_section_description: Whitehead signed a four-year contract with Premier League club Stoke City on 24 July 2009 for an initial £3 million fee, rising to £5 million with add-ons. He stated that Stoke's team spirit was the main reason for his move to the club.
  He made his debut on 15 August 2009 in a 2–0 win over Burnley. Whitehead made a slow start to his Stoke career with a number of anonymous performances. However, following a 0–0 draw with Blackburn Rovers, he earned praise from manager Tony Pulis. Whitehead scored his first goal for Stoke when he converted winger Matthew Etherington's cross in the 86th minute in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Arsenal on 24 January 2010. Whitehead was sent off by Mike Dean against Tottenham Hotspur in March 2010 a decision which drew heavy criticism from Tony Pulis and Matthew Etherington.
  His first Premier League goal for Stoke came against Birmingham City on 9 November 2010 with Whitehead scoring the winning goal in a 3–2 win. He scored his second league goal for Stoke away to Manchester United on 4 January 2011, becoming the first Stoke player to score at Old Trafford since 1980. Towards the end of 2010–11, Whitehead lost his place in the starting eleven to a resurgent Glenn Whelan, making a number of cameo appearances from the bench. One of these came in the 2011 FA Cup Final against Manchester City.
  Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Whitehead said that he's expecting to face new competitions in the club's midfield section. He then made his 100th appearance for Stoke on 3 November 2011 in a UEFA Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, scoring the first goal in a 2–1 victory. He played in 10 of Stoke's 12 European fixtures in 2011–12, and ended the season having played in 47 matches in total. He made a bad start to 2012–13, as on the opening day of the season away to Reading he conceded a 90th-minute penalty and was sent off after picking up a second yellow card. He remained back-up to Glenn Whelan for the remainder of the season being used mainly as a substitute, although he was assigned as a stand-in right back in absent of Andy Wilkinson and Ryan Shotton. He was released by Stoke at the end of 2012–13.
caption: Whitehead (wearing a number 18 shirt) bout to chase a ball from Arsenal's Cesc Fàbregas (wearing a number 4 shirt) during a FA Cup match in January 2010.
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