Manchester City and Rochdale
In February 1973, Whelan was on the verge of signing for Bolton Wanderers when his mother received a phone call from Manchester City manager Malcolm Allison. He was offered a month-long trial with the club, and within three weeks he had been offered a professional contract and was making his debut against West Ham United, starting up front with Francis Lee on 17 March 1973. However, Whelan only made five more appearances for City over the next sixteen months before departing for Rochdale in July 1974. In his first season with Rochdale, Whelan was voted as the club's Player of the Year. In the second season he became, jointly with Clive Charles of Cardiff City, the first black player to receive a PFA divisional award being named by his fellow pros in their all-star team. He scored 20 goals in 130 first team outings for Rochdale.
Read more about this topic: Tony Whelan
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