Zak Whitbread was born in Houston, Texas but has spent most of his life in England and Singapore. With the exception of the 5 years he spent in Singapore with his dad he has spent the majority of time in Liverpool. When Zak was growing up in Liverpool he was a fan of Manchester United, but as his dad's team of choice was Liverpool he joined the club's Centre of Excellence when he was eight. In 2003 he played his first for Liverpool, it was an exhibition match against Thailand. He made his first team debut in the 2004/2005 season.