How Man Utd legend Norman Whiteside took football by storm

Following one of his career-defining moments at Wembley in 1985, Whiteside continued to smash further records and a year later he became the youngest player to reach 200 games for United, aged 21 years and four months; another record he also still holds.

MANCHESTER TO MERSEYSIDE

At a time when he should have been approaching the peak of his powers as a footballer, injuries began to mount, including knee, Achilles and hamstring problems. Having made only six appearances in the 1988/89 season, Whiteside joined Everton for £750,000 in 1989. Unfortunately, after only 29 appearances for the Toffees, he announced his retirement in 1991.

FROM PLAYER TO PODIATRIST

Aged only 26 at the time of his retirement, he briefly took up the assistant manager’s position at Northwich Victoria, working alongside another ex-Red and Northern Ireland legend Sammy McIlroy. Having gained an interest in the medical side of the game while undergoing numerous treatments himself, Whiteside resigned from his management role, and decided to pursue a new career as a podiatrist. For a player whose career was cut short due to injury, this new path seemed like a natural progression. He graduated from Salford University and began working for the PFA, screening 16-year-olds for underlying injuries, before setting up a podiatry clinic in Manchester. Norman’s courage to start afresh after having his dream career curtailed is an inspiration to us all.