“He absolutely loved playing football. He didn’t care so much about the salary or sitting on the bench on a bigger contract and collecting more money. He didn’t want to be that guy, he just wanted to play.”
Flicking through highlights of Peter Whittingham’s brilliant career, his brother James is recalling the time when the midfielder decided to hang up his boots and retire from professional football.
After almost 600 competitive games — more than 450 of those with Cardiff City — the aches and pains of 16 years at the top were taking their toll.
“Some people might say that he stopped playing a little early (aged 35) but he had played a lot of games and his body was almost telling him it was time. He wasn’t as interested in the long away days if he wasn’t going to play. As he got older he had to be present, scoring goals, taking set pieces — perhaps not winning as many headers as he would have liked or closing his man down quick enough — but always doing a job for the team.”
He didn’t want to live comfortably in his final years, collecting his paycheck. There were other options.
“He certainly wasn’t scared of retirement,” James says.
His property portfolio, built over the course his career, provided security for the future. Further developments were planned. He discovered golf as his new hobby. He fell in love with golf and wanted to improve his handicap.
Cardiff staff were also open to discussing the possibility of the coach returning. The Championship club was ready to receive their hero back.
“He was a real student of the game and I used to say to him that he should write a book about tactics, formations and ways to beat opposition teams,” James says.
