in 1947–48 and 1952–53 and the FA Cup in 1949–50. Whittaker sought to attract Blackpool's Stanley Matthews, who was approached after the Tangerines visit to Highbury in 1954. Since Matthews was already receiving football's maximum wage at Bloomfield Road, he felt there was nothing to be gained by moving south. Matthews, however, stated that he was "very happy" and politely turned down the offer. "Such an approach was against the rules at the time and, consequently, I couldn't tell anyone about it, and I never have until now." Whittaker, while still at the helm of Arsenal, died of a heart attack at the University College Hospital, London in 1956, at the age of 58. Personal life Whittaker wrote an autobiography entitled The Arsenal Story which was posthumously released in 1957. Honours Managerial Arsenal Division One: 1947–48, 1952–53 FA Cup: 1949–50 FA Charity Shield: 1948, 1953 Individual Member of the Order of the British Empire: 1947 See also List of English football championship winning managers References Military personnel from Aldershot English footballers English football managers Arsenal F.C. players Arsenal F.C. managers Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Members of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Sportspeople from Aldershot 1898 births 1956 deaths Association football wing halves Newcastle United F.C. wartime guest players Royal Navy personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers English autobiographers Footballers from Hampshire