About Dean Whitehead
Dean Whitehead (born 12 January 1982) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is Darrell Clarke's assistant manager at EFL League Two club Tranmere Rovers. A midfielder who occasionally played as a right-back, he made 622 league and cup appearances in a 19-year playing career, scoring 29 goals. Whitehead joined his local non-League club Abingdon Town before he signed for Football League club Oxford United in 1999. He played for Oxford in the Second Division until their relegation into the Third Division in 2001. He 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 get promoted from the Championship in 2017 before retiring in 2018. He has coached at Huddersfield Town, Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale, Beşiktaş (Turkey), Cardiff City, Watford, Barnsley, Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers, and Tranmere Rovers. In the 2000–01 season, Whitehead soon received a handful of first-team appearances for the club by manager Denis Smith. In the 2001–02 season, Whitehead scored his first goal in the Football League against Rushden & Diamonds on 31 August 2001. He progressed through the ranks, making his first-team debut in a 2–0 win over Luton Town in the Football League Trophy on 7 December 1999.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.