Frederick William James Whitlow (3 September 1904 – 6 January 1978) was an English professional footballer, who played in the Football League for Charlton Athletic and Exeter City.
Early career in Barry
Born in Bristol on 3 September 1904, Frederick William James Whitlow's family eventually moved to Barry and made a home on Barry Island.
Whitlow initially played for Whitmore Albions (one of the junior teams on Barry Island at the time), and was part of the Albions side that defeated the Barry Brooklands on 12 May 1922. Appropriately enough, Whitlow scored in the 2–1 win. Whitmore Albions had also been crowned the winners of the Barry & District League Division 2, and had made it to the Barry Cup Final, but were defeated by the powerful Division 1 side Cadoxton AFC.
The 1922–23 season saw Southern League outfit Barry Town take a chance on the 17-year-old, and Whitlow played for Barry four times in Barry's Southern League campaign, as well as 15 times for the club's Welsh League side.
His senior debut came on 9 December 1922 in the Welsh League match against Caerau F.C. Whitlow's debut came on the back of the death of young Arthur Griffiths, who had died a couple of days earlier while working as a crane operator at Barry Docks.
Despite breaking into the area's senior side, Whitlow returned to the local league for the 1923–24 season, and took up residence in the Barry YMCA team.
Nevertheless, Whitlow was back on Barry's books for a second time for the 1924–25 season and fans only had to wait as long as 30 August to see him in action, when Whitlow scored the solitary Southern League goal that accounted for Ebbw Vale.
Whitlow debut FA Cup goal came in a 1st Qualifying Round defeat of Cardiff Corinthians where he and Stanley Cowie scored a brace each in the 4–0 victory. Whitlow debut Welsh League goal came in February 1925 when Caerau Athletic were mauled 5–1.
Charlton Athletic and Dundee
By 1927–28, Whitlow had signed for Charlton Athletic, who were playing their football in the Football League Division 3 South. by Alex MacFarlane at the time, Withlow followed MacFarlane to Dundee in January 1928, where MacFarlane had previously spent 6 years as manager. However, the move was short-lived and Whitlow returned to Charlton in May 1928.
Playing in 38 of the 42 league matches in the 1928–29 season, Whitlow alone scored 27 of Charlton's 86 goals that season, and it was on goal difference that the Division 3 South title was grasped from the hands of local rivals Crystal Palace who had also finished the season on 54 points. Charlton were duly promoted to Division 2 as a result of their successes.
Division 2 football did not do anything to curtail Whitlow eye for goal, and a further 27 goals came in the course of the 1929–30 season as Charlton were able to consolidate their hold on Division Two football. The Addicks finished in 13th place, between fellow London clubs Tottenham Hotspur above them and Millwall below them. Recently, Charlton fans declared their joy in referring to the record books and noting that Charlton had not lost to their fierce Millwall rivals that season; both games ending 1–1 with Whitlow scoring the Charlton goal on each occasion!
Whitlow final season with Charlton Athletic came in the following season, 1930–31. Charlton remained safe in Division 2 by finishing 15th, after a contribution of 10 goals in 25 games from Whitlow. Whitlow's final Charlton goal came on 21 March 1931 in a home win over Reading FC, and a week later Whitlow's final appearance for the Addicks came against Southampton FC at the Dell. His career tally of 65 goals still ranks high in the Charlton record books.
Exeter City and Cardiff City
For the 1931–32 season, Whitlow was transferred to the south coast of Devon to join Exeter City. Impressing in his first season with the Grecians, it was the 1932–33 campaign for which Exeter supporters' were sent all of a flutter. Finishing as runners-up in the Third Division South, the campaign remains the pinnacle of Exeter City's league football history – and Whitlow had more than a hand in the success that season.
Scoring 33 goals, sprinkled liberally with no less than seven home hat-tricks, Whitlow's goal scoring prowess in 1932–33 still remains an Exeter City club record.