Dean Whitehead

Despite missing out three matches, he played in 43 fixtures as Oxford United had a poor season, finishing in 21st position.

Dean Whitehead (born 12 January 1982) is an English football coach and former professional footballer player, He is currently assistant manager of EFL Championship club Watford.

A midfielder who occasionally played at 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 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.

This turned out to be Whitehead's only appearance of the 1999–00 season, as he spent the rest of the season on the substitute bench.

At the end of the 1999–00 season, he signed a contract with the club.

In the 2000–01 season, Whitehead soon received a handful of first-team appearances for the club by manager Denis Smith.

Although he received his first-team opportunities, he found himself in a competition with Matt Murphy and other midfielders for the central role.

Despite being sidelined on two occasions, due to suspensions, Whitehead played in 23 matches in 2000–01 season, as Oxford suffered relegation to the Third Division.

At the end of the 2000–01 season, he signed a long–term contract with the club.

He played for Oxford in the Second Division until their relegation into the Third Division in 2001.

In the 2001–02 season, Whitehead scored his first goal in the Football League against Rushden & Diamonds on 31 August 2001.

He was soon a first-team regular in 2001–02 season, establishing himself in the midfield position.

However, halfway through the season, Whitehead, along with Chris Hackett were subjected to criticism by manager Ian Atkins for unprofessionalism over refusing to do the club's fitness programme, which were denied by the pair, who stated the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

Towards the end of the 2001–02 season, he began playing in a central midfield role.

Whitehead began the 2002–03 season as a first team regular in good form.

At the beginning of November, Whitehead's performances against Aston Villa and Rochdale were praised by Atkins.

He continued with his impressive displays to the end of the year.

Whitehead later scored his first goal of the season on 26 December, in a 3–0 win over AFC Bournemouth.

However, he found his first-team chances limited between January and March.

As a result, he was restricted to 22 appearances in 2002–03 as Oxford missed out on a play-off place by a single point.

In 2003–04 season, Whitehead reclaimed his place in the team following the departure of Dave Savage.

It wasn't until on 27 September 2003 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–0 win over Northampton Town.

He was praised for his performances in his run of first-team football.

Whitehead scored his first brace of the season on 18 October, in a 4–0 win over Bury.

He also scored a free kick on 1 November, helping his team to make a 3–1 comeback win over Darlington.

By the end of the 2003–04 season, he made 47 appearances and scoring seven goals.

Whitehead was named the club's Player of the Season.

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.

On 21 February 2004, he scored against Bury for the second time that season, in a 1–1 draw.

In a 2–1 loss against Macclesfield Town on 1 May, Whitehead captained the side for the first time, in the absence of Andy Crosby.

As a result, he was offered a two–year contract by the club, which would keep him at the Kassam Stadium until 2006.

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.

Born in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Whitehead started his career with Abingdon Town's youth team, before joining the youth scheme of his local professional Football League club, Oxford United as an apprentice.