Media guru Whitney served our game for over 40 years

By Neil Harvey

STEVE Whitney, who formed a key member of the launch team for The Non-League Paper, has died following illness. He was 68.

Reporter Whitney and fellow Non-League writer Tony Williams stood alongside founder David Emery in setting up The NLP back in 1999.

A fantastic football man, Steve enjoyed a long and distinguished career within the game, undertaking a number of different roles spanning four decades.

His involvement began in the early 1970s as an apprentice at Swansea City, for whom he went on to play for their youth and reserve teams before being signed by future Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson for Kettering Town.

A serious knee injury led to his departure in 1974 but he was able to continue his playing career within the United Counties League for several clubs. He took his first steps into coaching with the Kettering Under- 18s before going on to serve the likes of Rothwell Town, Desborough Town and Wellingborough Town as well as being the technical director at the newly-formed AFC Rushden & Diamonds.

Steve also managed in the United Counties League with Irchester United and was chairman at Rushden & Higham United for two and-a-half years as well as being Under- 18s manager.

Outside of football, he worked for Wetherby’s in Wellingborough in their racing department until mid-1970s when he joined the Department of Employment before becoming a Training Agent in 1989, helping to re-train adults into new career paths.

He obtained several qualifications during this time, including becoming a qualified counsellor. Steve began full-time in football journalism as editor of Team Talk magazine in 1991 and then in 1999 as editor of online website, Non-League Daily.

He later joined Pitchero to set up Pitchero Non- League in January 2011. Steve also worked for the National League for seven years as Media Manager as well as the Northern Premier League, helping to write their 300-page 50th Anniversary book, released in February 2019. He also had a regular slot on BBC Radio 5Live’s ‘The Non-League Show’.

Steve became Media Officer for the Southern Football League in July 2020 where he remained until his final few weeks.

 Everyone at The Non- League Paper sends our deepest condolences to Steve’s wife Chris and all of his family and friends following his sad passsing.

TRIBUTE: Steve Whitney has passed away