Name: Steve Whitworth
Country:
EnglandClub:
Leicester CityPosition: *
SBSide:
RF/RSAge:
19-24 years (20/03/1952)Height:
183 cm Weight:
75 kg Attack:
71Defence:
70Balance:
79Stamina:
83Top Speed:
82Acceleration:
79Response:
78Agility:
76Dribble Accuracy:
74Dribble Speed:
75Short Pass Accuracy:
75Short Pass Speed:
75Long Pass Accuracy:
74Long Pass Speed:
74Shot Accuracy:
62Shot Power:
78Shot Technique:
64Free Kick Accuracy:
63Curling:
72Header:
76Jump:
75Technique:
74Aggression:
75Mentality:
76Goalkeeper Skills:
50Team Work:
81Injury Tolerance:
BCondition/Fitness:
6Weak Foot Accuracy:
3Weak Foot Frequency:
3Consistency:
7Growth type:
Early Peak CARDS:P01: Overlapping Run
S05 - 1-Touch Play
S08 - Slide Tackle
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Side - 1-Touch Pass - Sliding
Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Balanced
INFO:A solid and reliable defender in a well-organised Leicester City outlet through the 1970s who made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League playing for Leicester City, Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Mansfield Town. He was capped seven times for England. Characterised by great pace, superb tackling and an impressive ability to read the game, Whitworth used to bomb forward all the time, doing overlapping runs on the right side with Keith Weller and crossing the ball to Frank Worthington or Lenny Glover all the way on the left side.
Predominantly a right back, he spent nine seasons as a first-team regular with Leicester before being sold to Sunderland in March 1979 for a fee of £120,000. In his first season for Leicester, Whitworth was a member of the team that won the Football League Second Division, where after Leicester remained in the top flight until 1978. Whitworth scored the goal which won the Charity Shield for Leicester in 1971 (his only goal for Leicester tapped in with his left foot which was purely for standing on as Withworth cited), a year in which the Second Division champions were invited to play the FA Cup runners-up, Liverpool, owing to the European commitments of Arsenal, who had done the Double during the previous season. During the 1970s he also set a record for appearances for Leicester City, taking the field in 198 consecutive games. Only eight other players in Leicester City’s entire history have played more first team games for the Club than Steve.
From 1971 to 1975 he played with the Under-23 national team, making a total of 6 appearances and scoring a goal. Following Don Revie's decision to drop Emlyn Hughes in 1975, Whitworth was given the opportunity to fill the right-back role for the senior England team, which had become something of a problem position. Whitworth made his debut in a 2–0 friendly win against West Germany on 12 March 1975, and went on to start six of England's next eight games. Whitworth's last international appearance came in a 1–1 draw against Portugal in a European Championship qualifying match on 19 November 1975 - which eliminated England from contention for the following summer's European Championships.
