LINNETS LEGENDS
#4 FRED WHITLOW
Fred Whitlow had three stints playing for Barry AFC,
1922-23, 1924-25, and 1935-36 to 1936-37. Bristol-born Whitlow was raised on Barry Island and
joined Barry AFC as a 17 year old, featuring in both the Southern League squad a number of times,
and also the Welsh League squad. Barry AFC’s Southern League season hard started so well,
but any chances of title glory were scuppered when 3 wins against Caerphilly, Mardy, and
Abertillery, and two draws against Ton Pentre were expunged from the records when those teams
could not complete the season.
Rejoining local league football for 1923-24, Whitlow was back on Barry’s books for the 1924-25
season, and Whitlow it was who secured an opening day win over Ebbw Vale at Jenner Park on
August 30, 1924 with a single debut goal. Whitlow’s first FA Cup goal came a fortnight later
when he scored a brace along with Stan Cowie in a 4-0 First Qualifying Round win over Cardiff
Corries, again at Jenner Park. Whitlow would score four more Southern League goals throughout
the season, but Barry AFC would flounder near the foot of the table.
Whitlow would now embark on a terrific career in the football league, first with Charlton
Athletic who had gained League status at Barry’s expense back in 1921, and then with Exeter City.
Joining Charlton for the 1926 season, Whitlow spent a season with Dundee soon after when
Charlton’s manager, Alex MacFarlane, took over at the Scottish club. Both returned to the
Addicks for the 1928-29 season and helped Charlton get their first title when they claimed the
Division Three (South) championship. Whitlow remains one of Charlton Athletic’s top scorers
after racking up 64 League goals.
Fred Whitlow is also celebrated as an Exeter City player, and he still holds a Grecians’ club
record of the most goals scored in a single season; 33 goals in the 1932-33 Third Division
South season, a season that also included seven hat-tricks. Whitlow came back to Barry AFC for
a third time for the 1935-36 season, turning down another season in Cardiff City’s Reserves,
and he proved that even in his 30s he could be a prolific goal-scorer. In the final two years
of his footballing career he would score a remarkable 96 goals for Barry AFC, the club’s
top-goalscorer for both of those seasons.
The 1935-36 season started off brightly enough for Whitlow, and he took this form through to
the end of the season. Getting his goalscoring tally up and running in the home defeat to
Cheltenham Town, Whitlow secured his first Barry AFC hat-trick for the Welsh League side
against Llanelly at Jenner Park. This was followed by an FA Cup hat-trick in the 7-0 thumping
of Bristol Rose Green in October, five goals against Troedyrhiw in the Welsh League, and his
first Southern League hat-trick for Barry against Caerphilly United in December.
Other significant performances saw Whitlow score all five goals in the 5-0 win at Penrhiwceiber,
four goals in the 10-1 Jenner Park win over Porth, and a hat-trick against Cardiff City Reserves
in a 4-4 draw, also at Jenner Park.
For his final season at Jenner Park, Whitlow again ended as top-scorer for both the Southern
League and Welsh League sides with a total of 49 goals in 45 appearances in both leagues.
Whitlow scored six hat-tricks for the Welsh League side, all at Jenner Park, and this included
six in the 10-1 win over Caerau Athletic, and five in the 7-1 win over Treharris.
Appropriately enough, Whitlow signed off his semi-pro career with a hat-trick in the 4-0 victory
over Cardiff Corries in April 1937.
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