Personal
Fullname: Francis Whyte
aka: Frank Whyte
Born: 18 April 1935
Died: September 1984 [TBC]
Birthplace: Govanhill
Signed: 8 Aug 1951
Left: 30 Apr 1956 (free); June 1956 (Swindon)
Position: Right-half, Centre-forward
Debut: Partick Thistle 0-1 Celtic, League Cup, 27 Aug 1952
Internationals: none
Biog
Govanhill-born Frank Whyte signed for Celtic in August 1951 from St Paul’s Whiteinch Boys Guild.
He made his debut for the Hoops in a 1-0 League Cup win at Partick Thistle in August 1952. Although initially regarded as a centre-forward but most of his nine games with Celtic were played at right-half. However he had to winning a run in one of the major competitions, with just one appearance in the following season, a humiliating 5-2 loss away to Aberdeen in the League Cup.
He finally got his real first chance in 1955, taking over after Jock Stein’s ankle injury. He played for seven league matches, but to little avail in what was mostly an underperforming side. However, Frank Whyte played in good patch of matches for the first team as Celtic lost only one of those seven league matches and won five of them.
His only goal for the first team was in the Glasgow Cup in August 1953, in a 1-0 victory over Queen’s Park, so this was a great personal highlight scoring the winning goal in a match for Celtic. Charlie Tully was actually out injured for this game, so Neil Mochan was moved out to outside left and this allowed Frank Whyte to be brought in as centre-forward. The Queen’s Park goalkeeper failed to hold a Bobby Collins cross which Frank Whyte gratefully accepted and smashed into the roof of the net just after half-time.
Frank Whyte was released by the club in April 1956, and he moved onto Swindon. He was unfortunate that despite playing in matches around the brief period where Celtic won some major silverware for the first time in a generation, he sadly missed out on playing a part in the runs to those titles won.
He signed up with Swindon in June 1956 but lasted only half a season leaving in December 1956, having played just seven league games with just 2 win and 4 defeats in a poor. Not all Frank Whyte’s fault as Swindon finished second bottom of the Third Division (South) league in England that season (1956/57).
According to a Swindon FC website, he passed away prematurely in Sep 1984, aged just 49.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1952-53 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 1953-54 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 1955-56 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| Total |
7 |
0 |
2 |
– |
9 |
| Goals: |
0 |
0 |
0 |
– |
0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Forums
Notes
- According to a Swindon FC website, he passed away prematurely in Sep 1984, aged just 49. (see: http://www.swindonfc1879.com/WhereAreTheyNow.asp?Start=T&End=Z)