Glenn David Whelan (born 13 January 1984) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bristol Rovers. He has represented the Republic of Ireland national football team. Whelan started his career at Manchester City but only made one appearance which came in the UEFA Cup and after a loan spell at Bury he moved on to play for Sheffield Wednesday, with whom he won promotion to the Championship in May 2005. In January 2008 Whelan joined Stoke City for a fee of £500,000 with whom he helped gain promotion to the Premier League. He took a while to establish himself in Tony Pulis' first team plans in the top flight but by 2009 he became a regular and went on to play in the 2011 FA Cup Final, but his old club Manchester City beat Stoke 1–0. Whelan continued to be a regular in the side under Pulis and kept his place under Mark Hughes. Whelan spent nine years at Stoke making 338 appearances before joining Aston Villa in July 2017 and then Hearts in August 2019. Early life Whelan was born in Dublin. He grew up in Palmerstown and attended St. Lorcan's Boys' National School. Club career Manchester City Whelan started his career with Manchester City joining from Irish feeder club Cherry Orchard in 2001. He made a solitary appearance in the UEFA Cup coming on as a substitute for Paul Bosvelt against Total Network Solutions in August 2003, before joining Bury on a one-month loan the following month. After appearing in the Republic of Ireland's 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship campaign in November and December, he returned to Bury on another one-month loan on 24 December 2003. In total Whelan played 15 times on loan at Bury and caught the attentions of Sheffield Wednesday manager Chris Turner. Sheffield Wednesday Whelan joined Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in the summer of 2004. He made his debut for Wednesday against Huddersfield Town on 21 August and in his next match, a League Cup tie against Walsall, he provided Lee Peacock with an assist and earned the praise from his manager. He scored his first goal for Wednesday in a 1–1 draw against Walsall in the league. His promising start to his Wednesday career took a knock as he was sent off in a League Cup tie against Coventry City for "violent conduct". However, caretaker manager