Nikita Whinnett

**Last statistical update: n/a**

**Nikita Louise Whinnett** is a footballer who played for **Hashtag United** (women).

## Career

### Pre-HTU

Youth
Whinnett started playing football in 1997, having signed with Liverpool's academy at the age of 6 - later going on to join the ranks of Everton and Arsenal.

Various
Pre-Brentwood Town, Whinnett played for Assandun Vikings, Hannakins Farm, Southend United and Hawkwell Athletic.

Brentwood Town
Across 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13, Whinnett was attached to, initially, Eastern Region League and, latterly, South East Combination League side Brentwood Town - notably receiving Essex county call-ups during her time there. After assisting (1st of 14 in 10/11) and winning Player of the Match (1st of 16 in 10/11) on debut versus Arlesey Town on 15 August 2010, she netted a hat-trick during a 4-goal away victory against Peterborough a week later on 22 August. On 12 September, the forward converted 4 times in a 10–2 victory on the road to Cambridge University. Further goals arrived across the rest of 2010 against Kettering Town, Stevenage, Chelmsford City (brace), Redbridge, Hutton (brace) and C & K Basildon.

January 2011 saw Whinnett net 5 goals in 3 encounters against West Ham United, Peterborough (brace) and Hutton (brace), which preceded 5 more goals across the rest of the campaign versus Woodbridge Town, Chelmsford City, Cambridge University (brace) and Bedford. 2011–12 would see a less fruitful season for her, as she contributed 4 goals (vs. Luton Town, Norwich City, Lewes, Old Actonians) in 17 fixtures (with 9 assists, 2 POTMs). Across October and December, Whinnett scored 5 goals (against Cambridge, Colchester Town and, hat-trick, Billericay Town) in 5 games before exiting.

Gillingham
By August 2013, Whinnett had moved to Gillingham in the ?. She departed at the conclusion of 2013–14, later noting unhapiness at numerous changes at the club off the pitch.

Gillingham (return)
In October 2014, a few months after leaving, Whinnett rejoined team Gillingham - describing her initial decision to go as "the biggest mistake of my life", having "missed the team, missed the club, missed the fans".

Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic of the announced the signing of Whinnett on 7 November 2014. She remained with *The Addicks* until mid-2016.

Tottenham Hotspur
A move to Tottenham Hotspur commenced in mid-2016 for Whinnett. She debuted in the Premier League - Premier Division, Southern Division on 28 August versus Swindon Town, grabbing her 1st goal for the club in the process during the 4–1 win. A brace in a 10-goal cup thumping of West Ham United followed on 4 September, prior to singular strikes versus Queens Park Rangers and Lewes across the rest of the month. Whinnett went goalless across October, though would end that streak with a 27 November goal in a 4-goal victory at Swindon Town. A 2nd brace for *Spurs* arrived in a home success over Crystal Palace on 11 December, which came prior to additional strikes across the rest of the campaign against Crystal Palace, Cardiff City, Coventry United, Cardiff City and West Ham United.

Promotion as champions was secured at the end of her sole season with the club, as she departed during the subsequent off-season following 13 goals.

Crystal Palace
Whinnett stayed in the Premier League - Premier Division, Southern Division for 2017–18 as she was unveiled as a new arrival by Crystal Palace in June 2017. The forward would score a hat-trick on debut for *The Eagles*, converting in a 9–0 triumph at home to Queens Park Rangers on the opening day of the season. 1 goal came next in a 27 August victory at Chichester City, prior to a double arriving on 3 September in a 10–1 win at home to Brislington in the Premier League Cup. More goals came over Poole Town, West Ham United, Chichester City and Coventry United as they won the title and promotion. Unlike with her preceding club, Whinnett would remain with Palace as they headed to partake in tier 2 football in the Championship.

Her 1st appearance in the Championship came on 23 September 2019 as *The Eagles* drew away to Millwall. 6 league appearances later, Whinnett scored a consolation goal during a 3–1 defeat on home turf to Aston Villa. A 2nd and final goal for the club occurred in a 10 February 2019 triumph on the road to Leicester City, as she concluded her season with a total of 18 games across league and cup as Palace placed 10th.

London Bees
14 August 2019 saw Whinnett join Championship outfit London Bees. Having appeared for her official bow on 18 August as they fell to defeat at home to London City Lionesses, the forward popped up with her opening goal next time out during a 1-goal win on 25 August away to Blackburn Rovers. Across the next 4 months, Whinnett added to her tally with goals versus Leicester City, former team Crystal Palace and Sheffield United. 15 league and cup appearances, though none post-December, came for her in 2019–20; prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced curtailment around March 2020. Whinnett departed within the early stages of the succeeding 2020–21, having amassed sub showings versus Coventry United, old team Liverpool and Sheffield United.

Crawley Wasps
Whinnett completed a return to the National League - Premier Division, Southern Division on 9 October 2020, as Crawley Wasps revealed that they had captured her services on that date. Another curtailment due to the COVID-19 pandemic would follow around December, though not before she had participated in 4 encounters against Watford, Worthing, Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle; notably notching goals in the match-ups with *The Rebels* and *The Pilgrims*. Normality on the pitch resumed in 2021–22, as the forward struck once (versus Cardiff City) in 4 August 2021 matches for *The Wasps*. Whinnett noted her exit on 10 December 2021.

### HTU

2021–22
Having not played at senior, competitive level since August 2021 with Crawley Wasps, Whinnett joined Jason Stephens's HTU on 20 February 2022 following an "injury-affected period" on the sidelines. She was substituted on for her debut later that day, as the forward came on during an eventual 6–2 success over Harlow Town in an Essex Senior Cup semi-final at the Harlow Arena. After further appearances in the National League - Division One South East versus Queens Park Rangers (assisting Kelly Wealthall), Harlow Town and AFC Wimbledon, Whinnett netted her 1 and only HTU goal in a 4–0 road victory against Stevenage. Her last matches for *The Tags* came versus Enfield Town and Billericay Town, with the latter being the club's Essex Senior Cup final triumph at Parkside on 14 April.

### Post-HTU

London Bees (return)
Whinnett resigned with London Bees - now plying their trade in the National League - Premier Division, Southern Division - ahead of the 2022–23 season. She made it a goalscoring debut after netting in a 21 August victory away to Billericay Town. She would later reveal her departure in February 2023, having featured 10 times and added further goals - both in the FA Cup - versus Hackney (on 13 November) and Southampton (on 4 December).

## Personal Life

As of February 2022, Whinnett is the landlady of The Red Cross Inn in Reigate, England. She is engaged to former HTU teammate Megen Lynch, who she had originally met when she penned terms on her move to Charlton Athletic.

## HTU Statistics

Breakdown

'*Other Cups' includes competitions like the FA Trophy, the FA Vase and friendly tournaments. See also: HTUwiki:DataIssues.*

Appearances (7)
Harlow Town  v  Hashtag United

Hashtag United  v  Queens Park Rangers

Hashtag United  v  Harlow Town

AFC Wimbledon  v  Hashtag United

Stevenage  v  Hashtag United

Enfield Town  v  Hashtag United

Billericay Town  v  Hashtag United

Goal (1)
Stevenage  v  Hashtag United

## References

1. ↑ "Nikita Louise Whinnett player stats" .
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Nikita Whinnett" .
3. ↑ "Whinnett makes Addicks switch" , 7 November 2014.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Nikita Whinnett" .
5. ↑ "Well done to @brentwoodtlfc duo @leahmcowan and Nikita Whinnett on their call-ups to the @EssexCountyFA representative squad this evening" , 28 September 2011.
6. ↑ "Second Gills sub. Nikita Whinnett comes on for Lisa Fulgence" , 11 August 2013.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Gills re-sign Nikita Whinnett and she's displayed all the fire and heart we're used to!" , 29 October 2014.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Whinnett pleased with return to Gills" (archived) , 29 October 2014.
9. ↑ "Welcome to Twitter our new signing @Nikita21Out Whinnett #GiveHerAFollow #SheHasntGotAClueWotsShesDoin #NeedsAFewFollowers #TwitterLPlates" , 7 November 2014.
10. ↑ "Charlton team v Coventry: Lynch Flack Dixson Paye Coombs Newman Clifford Pittuck Shepherd Whinnett Graham #cafc" , 1 May 2016.
11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 "Nikita Whinnett player stats" .
12. ↑ "INTERVIEWS 🎥 - We caught up with new signings @Nikita21Out and @megenlynch1 today. Stay tuned for video interviews tomorrow! #cplfc" , 17 June 2017.
13. ↑ "New signing: Nikita Whinnett bolsters Bees attack" , 14 August 2019.
14. ↑ "𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗧𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗦! We are delighted to confirm the signing of striker @Nikita21Out after her departure last week from @LondonBees. Nikita, 29, scored four times in 10 appearances in the Championship last season and has also played for Tottenham, Palace and Charlton." , 9 October 2020.
15. ↑ "Thank you for everything @CrawleyWaspsLFC good luck with the rest of your season" , 10 December 2021.
16. ↑ "NEW SIGNING: NIKITA WHINNETT JOINS HASHTAG" , 20 February 2022.
17. ↑ "Thank you to everyone @LondonBees for all the support over the years! To my team mates and Gaffa thanks for being there for me and getting me threw hard times! I hope to see I all soon! The love is real ❤️" , 10 February 2023.
18. ↑ "Team-mates, fiancées, foster parents – the Crystal Palace pair planning to start a family" , 12 October 2018.
19. ↑ "Happy birthday to my beautiful fiancée" , 3 September 2020.
20. ↑ "Happy 4th anniversary to my beautiful fiancee" , 4 April 2019.