Glenn Whelan

Glenn David Whelan (born 13 January 1984) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

He represented the

Republic of Ireland national football team.

He was most recently a first-team coach at Bristol Rovers.

Whelan started his career with Manchester City joining from Irish feeder club Cherry Orchard in 2001.

He made a solitary appearance in the UEFA Cup coming on as a substitute for Paul Bosvelt against Total Network Solutions in August 2003, before joining Bury on a one-month loan the following month.

After appearing in the Republic of Ireland's 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship campaign in November and December, he returned to Bury on another one-month loan on 24 December 2003.

In total Whelan played 15 times on loan at Bury and caught the attentions of Sheffield Wednesday manager Chris Turner.

Whelan joined Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in the summer of 2004.

He made his debut for Wednesday against Huddersfield Town on 21 August and in his next match, a League Cup tie against Walsall, he provided Lee Peacock with an assist and earned the praise from his manager.

He scored his first goal for Wednesday in a 1–1 draw against Walsall in the league.

His promising start to his Wednesday career took a knock as he was sent off in a League Cup tie against Coventry City for "violent conduct".

However, caretaker manager Mark Smith criticised the referee's decision.

Under new manager Paul Sturrock the team managed to finish in 5th position in 2004–05 claiming a play-off place where they defeated Brentford to reach the final.

Whelan was voted "man of the match" in the League One play-off final against Hartlepool United at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff after scoring the match-winning third goal for Wednesday.

After Wednesday won promotion to the Championship, Whelan was trialled as captain by Paul Sturrock after regular captain Lee Bullen was injured.

Whelan started his career at Manchester City but only made one appearance which came in the UEFA Cup and after a loan spell at Bury he moved on to play for Sheffield Wednesday, with whom he won promotion to the Championship in May 2005.

Wednesday were able to avoid an instant return to the third tier in 2005–06 as they finished in 19th position, Whelan playing in 46 matches that season scoring once, which came in a 2–1 defeat against Watford.

In July 2006, Whelan was placed on the transfer list by Sturrock following increased competition for places in the Wednesday midfield after the arrival of Wade Small, Kenny Lunt and Yoann Folly.

He was subsequently removed from the transfer list by the following manager, Brian Laws.

Whelan repaid the faith shown in him with seven goals.

He then went on to win a number of player of the year awards for the club's 2006–07 season.

His performances led to manager Laws entering into contract negotiations with Whelan.

Whelan played 14 times for Stoke City in the 2007–08 season as Stoke finished 2nd and were promoted to the Premier League.

Whelan started the club's first match in the Premier League against Bolton Wanderers.

Whelan did not have a good match and as a result he did not feature much in the first team, only playing in League Cup fixtures and even reserve matches.

Despite this setback, Whelan was still a regular in the Irish national team.

In January 2008 Whelan joined Stoke City for a fee of £500,000 with whom he helped gain promotion to the Premier League.

Sheffield Wednesday rejected bids for Whelan from both Burnley and Plymouth Argyle in January 2008.

However, a £500,000 bid from Stoke City was accepted on transfer deadline day.

Whelan joined Stoke City on 30 January 2008 for £500,000 signing a three and a half-year contract.

He made his first Stoke City appearance in a Championship match against Cardiff City on 2 February 2008 when he came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute for Mamady Sidibé.

Whelan made his first Stoke City league start the following match in a 4–2 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He scored his first goal for Stoke in a 2–1 home defeat to Crystal Palace on 7 April 2008.

In December 2008 Whelan was being linked with a move away from the Britannia Stadium but he revealed that he wanted to stay.

He took a while to establish himself in Tony Pulis' first team plans in the top flight but by 2009 he became a regular and went on to play in the 2011 FA Cup final, but his old club Manchester City beat Stoke 1–0.

Whelan continued to be a regular in the side under Pulis and kept his place under Mark Hughes.

Whelan spent nine years at Stoke making 338 appearances before joining Aston Villa in July 2017 and then Hearts in August 2019.

Whelan was born in Dublin.

He grew up in Clondalkin and attended St. Lorcan's Boys' National School.