William Nicholson Harburn (19 November 1923 – 15 October 1970) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played in the Football League for Darlington and in non-league football for several clubs in the north-east of England. After emigrating to Australia, he played for Hakoah in the

Victorian State League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

and was a member of Australia's squad for the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport eve ...

. He began his career as a centre forward, later played at

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and finished up at full back. He was one of 35 workers killed when a section of the

West Gate Bridge The West Gate Bridge is a steel, box girder, cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, spanning the Yarra River just north of its mouth into Port Phillip. It carries the West Gate Freeway and is a vital link between the inner ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

collapsed while under construction in 1970.

Life and career

Harburn was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. As a teenager he was a competition swimmer, and played football as a forward with South Bank's youth teams. He continued to represent South Bank after the war in the Northern League, and scored as they beat

Tow Law Tow Law is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the south of Consett and 5 miles to the north west of Crook. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,952, increasing to 2,138 at the 201 ...

3–1 to win the 1948 Northern League Challenge Cup. In the 1947–48 Football League season, he appeared once as an amateur in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

for Darlington, playing at centre forward in a 2–0 defeat away to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

on 8 September 1947. Playing as a

, Harburn was a member of the Crook Town team that won the 1952–53 Northern League title, and he also played for Bishop Auckland and Billingham Synthonia, for whom he scored twice in six matches during the 1953–54 season. In the mid-1950s, Harburn, his wife Mavis, and their three young children emigrated to Australia. A fourth child was born some years later. The family settled in

, where Harburn continued his trade as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US De ...

and played football for

club Hakoah. In a game against Juventus in May 1955, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

s reporter saw a performance that "stamps him as easily the best full-back to play in Victoria". That same year, he played in an Australian XI against a touring South China team. Harburn was selected for the Australian squad for the

in his home city of Melbourne, but played in neither of their matches. He played for Hakoah until at least 1959, and continued playing recreational football for much longer. On 15 October 1970, Harburn was working on the construction of the

in Melbourne when a 2,000-

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

collapsed, falling onto the mud of the river below. He had changed his job two weeks previously because he wanted to continue working on the bridge rather than in the factory. He and 34 co-workers were killed.

References

External links

Harburn pictured as a youngster
at Picture Stockton Archive
The West Gate Bridge Memorial website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harburn, Billy 1923 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees Footballers from County Durham English footballers Soccer players from Melbourne Australian soccer players Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of Australia Association football forwards Association football defenders South Bank F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Billingham Synthonia F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players Industrial accident deaths Accidental deaths in Victoria (Australia)