Where Are They Now? - by David Sudworth
Maurice Whittle Wigan Athletic
He’s rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest players ever to grace a football pitch. But it would be easy to hold a two hour conversation with Maurice Whittle without him mentioning it once. “I feel very fortunate and privileged but I don’t go round telling everyone, it’s just not me.” We’re at Maurice’s home in Up Holland. It’s more than 30 years since he arrived back in England fresh from a sun-drenched sabbatical with Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers. During his two years in the States, the Wiganborn defender had played alongside true legends of the game. He counted the legendary George Best, England 1996 ‘keeper Gordon Banks and Peruvian 1970 World Cup superstar Teofilo Cubillas among his teammates. His opponents included the Brazilian great Pele and German 1974 World Cup winner Franz ‘Der Kaiser’ Beckenbauer. I suggest to Maurice it’s actually easier to list the greats who he didn’t play against.
Taking on Pele for Fort Lauderdale
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“I suppose you are right,” smiles Maurice. “But I was very, very lucky and seemed always to be in the right place at the right time.” Now aged 65 and retired, Maurice lives with his wife of 22 years, June, on Parliament Street. He hung up his boots in 1986, having been something of a footballing journeyman. Born on July 15, 1948, Maurice originally lived with his mum Mona, dad John and older brother Fred on the now-demolished Fletcher Street, near Wallgate. He attended the old St Thomas’s Primary on Hodson Street, before going onto All Saints School, on Frog Lane, which is now the Deanery. When Maurice was 10, the family moved to Howard Street, Pemberton. By this time, he was already immersed in football: “My brother Fred watched Latics from a very early age, and my mum and grandmother, Elizabeth, used to do the teas and coffees on match days at Springfield Park. In fact, my grandfather Fred Senior, who died before I was born, was a trainer for Latics and I’ve got his winners’ medal he received when Wigan became Cheshire League champions in 1933/34. It was ironic because exactly 40 years later, in the 1973/74 season, I got a Third Division Championship Winners’ Medal with Oldham Athletic.” Having impressed scouts from Blackburn, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, upon leaving school he had a choice of clubs to sign on with as an apprentice: “I chose Blackburn because they were in the First Division and had very good players like Brian Douglas, Ronnie Clayton and Mike England. Also, my mum didn’t want me going all the way to the Midlands. I played in the reserves and then broke into the first team