Norman Whiteside

Norman Whiteside was born on 7 May 1965, in Belfast. Norman played for Northern Ireland during 2 World Cups. He played 273 games for Man Utd scoring 66 goals. Norman is always remembered for that famous goal for Utd , when he scored the winner against Everton and Neville Southall during the 1985 FA Cup final.
 
Whiteside first made FA Cup history when he became the youngest ever Cup Final goal-scorer as United cruised past Brighton 4-0 in the 1983 replay winning his first FA Cup winners medal with Utd which was then repeated 2 years later with victory over Everton in 1985.
The match finished 0-0 and going into extra time reduced to ten men after the sending off of defender Kevin Moran, United were up against it and an Everton ‘Double’ seemed more than likely.
Then, with ten minutes left, Whiteside collected the ball on the right wing and curled in a superb curling shot from 20 yards to beat Everton keeper Neville Southall.
 
Raised in North Belfast, Whiteside became United's youngest player since the great former Busby Babe, Duncan Edwards when he made his debut as a forward in the 1981-82 season. The following year, he appeared in both the LC and FA Cup finals and became the youngest player to score in both, winning the FA Cup in the process by beating Brighton in 1983 after a replay.
At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Whiteside became the youngest ever player to appear in a World Cup finals, when he debuted for Northern Ireland, breaking the previous record held by the great Pele. He played in all 4 games. At the 1986 finals he scored in his country's only result in the tournament, a 1-1 draw against Algeria. Whiteside gained a total of 38 International caps and scored 9 times in eight years playing for Northern Ireland.
Despite such a promising start, Whiteside began to have serious injury problems which kept him out of the team for long periods. The ever popular Whiteside was regrettably sold to Merseyside rivals Everton in 1989, against the wishes of most of United's supporters.
 
Whiteside started well at Everton, but he was unable to shake off his knee injury. In 1990 he retired having undergone some 13 operations performed on his knee during his career, after a doctor advised him that he might be unable to walk if he continued to play. He had made only 29 appearances for Everton. A sad loss to the game at such a young age.
Norman has since studied podiatry, which he still practices. He is also an accomplished after-dinner speaker.
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