David Whitaker (field hockey)

David Whitaker
Personal information
Born August 1948
St Albans, England
Senior career
Years Team
1969–1971 Loughborough Colleges
1972–1973 Blueharts
1973–1979 Southgate
National team
Years Team Caps Goals
England & Great Britain

David Brian Whitaker (born August 1948) is a former British hockey international and was the coach for Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics.[1]

Biography

After spells at Loughborough Colleges and Blueharts and while with the latter played in the 1973 Men's Hockey World Cup. Whitaker then played club hockey for Southgate Hockey Club in the Men's England Hockey League and became their club captain.[2]

While at Southgate he was selected by England for the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur[3][4] and the Great Britain squad for the 1976 Summer Olympics but the team failed to qualify for the latter.[5]

He won the 1976–77 and 1977–78 league titles and played in the 1978 Men's Hockey World Cup in Buenos Aires.[6] He was also part of the Southgate team that won the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup for three successive years in 1976, 1977 and 1978.[7]

In 1980 the Great Britain manager Roger Self appointed Whitaker to be his head coach and the pair had a successful relationship, including a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the crowning glory of the gold medal win at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.[8]

He was Director of Coaching for the Hockey Association from 1985 and 1989 and was named Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1988. In 1989 he was awarded an O.B.E. in the 1989 New Year Honours and founded Performance Consultants with David Hemery M.B.E. and Sir John Whitmore.[9]

He married fellow Olympic hockey coach Sue Slocombe.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Stars to miss England date". Sports Argus. 3 September 1977. Retrieved 27 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "England name hockey squad". Liverpool Daily Post. 19 December 1974. Retrieved 27 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Hat-tricks, hospitality and honour: recalling the 1975 men's Hockey World Cup". The Hockey Museum. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Gregg, carosn in Olympic panel". Belfast News-Letter. 10 April 1975. Retrieved 26 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "England select Taylor but Mallett waits". Birmingham Daily Post. 15 February 1978. Retrieved 26 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Europes's other champions chase a hat-trick too". Evening News (London). 12 May 1978. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  8. ^ "One of the best coaches in history:David Whitaker". a Hockey World. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  9. ^ "David Whitaker". FLS Associates. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
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