Noel Whelan was to have been the Coventry City Former Players Association’s special guest on 10th December last year but unfortunately had to withdraw (and was replaced at the last minute by Andy Blair). He was very disappointed not to come back to the Ricoh and wanted to return at the earliest possibility.
We are therefore delighted to announce that Sky Blue super scorer Noel will now be our special guest at the Ricoh next Saturday (21st January 2012) at Coventry City FC’s home game against one of Noel’s other former clubs Middlesbrough.
Between them Noel, fellow Association member Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin terrorised Premier league defences for the Sky Blues at the end of the 1990s under Gordon Strachan and scored many memorable goals between them. ‘Snowy’ as Hucks refers to him gets many mentions in his recent autobiography. Noel will be around the Ricoh’s corporate lounges before and during the game, interviewed on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire during the game and also, we hope will be able to meet fans on the stage at Lady G’s in the Casino after the match.
Fans will remember Noel as an England Under 21 International who joined the club as a 21 year old from Leeds United for £2m in December 1995. He was known for being both a skilful and combatitive forward in the top division for City. He played over 150 League and Cup games for the Sky Blues in 5 seasons scoring 39 goals. In August 2000 he was transferred to Middlesbrough (where he made over 70 appearances) for a fee of more than £2m. Since then he has had spells at Crystal Palace (loan), Millwall, Derby County and Boston United in England and with Aberdeen, Livingstone and Dunfermline in Scotland. A couple of years ago he appeared on BBC’s Celebrity Masterchef. Most recently he has been furthering his coaching and media careers.
For more information on the Coventry City Former Players Association, please click on http://www.ccfpa.co.uk/