Whelan to be honoured by Former Players’ Association

The acknowledgement is richly deserved for a man who was dubbed ‘the Godfather’ of the club in internal media shortly before he was part of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe redundancy drive which unforgivably deemed Whelan’s irreplaceable experience and soul connection to the club as expendable.                                                  

Whelan had served United for around thirty years in his capacity as youth coach but his relationship with the club goes all the way back to when he was a Busby Babe in the 1960s. He was a pioneer as a Black player in English football of the time and that area of his contribution will never be forgotten or diminished but it is his performance and influence as a youth coach which will tie Whelan intimately within the binds of the Old Trafford fabric in the same vein as a Bert Whalley or an Eric Harrison.