Peter Whittingham’s No7 Cardiff shirt retired in classy gesture following his tragic death in 2020

CARDIFF have retired the No7 shirt worn by the late Peter Whittingham.

The legendary Bluebirds midfielder tragically died in March 2020 at the age of 35 having sustained head injuries following a fall at the Park Hotel in Barry.

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Reuters

Whittingham’s No7 shirt has now been retired by Cardiff[/caption]

A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death as football was left in shock at the loss of the ex-England Under-21 and Aston Villa star.

Whittingham cost Cardiff just £350,000 from Villa in 2007 and went on to help Malky Mackay’s side win the Championship and reach the Premier League for the first time in the 2012/2013 season.

And the stylish playmaker has been honoured after 459 games and 98 goals between 2007-17 which puts him seventh on the club’s all-time appearance table and ninth on the scorers’ list.

Whittingham then spent a year at Blackburn where he ended his career.

At the time of Whittingham’s death, Cardiff team-mate Jay Bothroyd called on his former club to retire his shirt number and the Welsh outfit have now acted on the eve of the new season.

A Cardiff statement read: “The club has taken the opportunity at this juncture to retire the number 7 shirt in honour of Peter Whittingham.”

The Championship club are planning a memorial game for Whittingham in November and a flag is also displayed in his honour at every home match.

Cardiff have also appointed Joe Ralls as their new captain to replace Sean Morrison, who is recovering from a serious knee injury.

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The Bluebirds were sensationally linked with a free transfer swoop for Welsh hero Gareth Bale this summer.

But fans were left gutted when the 33-year-old move to the MLS with Los Angeles FC

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