Early Career
Whelan was born in Salford, Lancashire, and grew up as a Manchester City fan in Wythenshawe, South Manchester. He attended St Anthonys Sec Modern in Blackley, North Manchester for a short while then after the family moved to Partington, Whelan attended St Paul's Secondary Modern School in Urmston, where he captained his school team, as well as the local schoolboy representative team, Stretford Boys. Whilst playing for Stretford Boys, Whelan was spotted by Manchester United scout Joe Armstrong and invited to sign associated schoolboy forms in 1967.
He signed apprentice professional forms upon leaving school in July 1968 and advanced through the various junior teams featuring in the FA Youth Cup team that reached the semi-finals in both 1969 and 1970. They also won the prestigious FC Blue Stars Youth Tournament in Zurich, Switzerland in May 1969. He signed as a full professional in December 1969 and, in May 1970, aged just 17, he was selected to go on the first team's three-week tour of Bermuda, Canada and the United States, where he played against Eintracht Frankfurt and the Bermuda national football team. The remainder of his tenure with the club was spent on the fringes of the first team, playing for the Reserves, for whom he was the leading scorer in 1971–72.
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