William Whitehurst (born 10 June 1959) is an English retired professional footballer active during the 1980s and 1990s. Whitehurst's robust style of play attracted much notoriety and he is considered by many to have been the hardest player to have played the game.
Career
Whitehurst was born in
Thurnscoe
Thurnscoe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Dearne North ward of the Barnsley MBC. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village is approximately fr ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
and started his career playing for a number of semi-professional teams in South Yorkshire,
Retford Town,
Bridlington Trinity and
Mexborough Town, whilst also working for the local council as a
bricklayer.
He eventually made the move into the professional ranks with
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
in 1980 signing for a £2,000 fee.
He initially struggled with the demands of the professional game but eventually sealed his place as one of the most popular players to have ever played for the club.
He helped the Tigers win promotion in
1982–83 and
1984–85 with Whitehurst scoring a career best of 24 goals.
His upturn in form had not gone un-noticed and he joined
Newcastle United in 1985 as their then record signing for £232,000. Despite playing in a side containing Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne, the move did not work out and Whitehurst failed to score in his first 11 appearances for the club. A spat with his own supporters signalled the end of his career on Tyneside and after playing only 28 league games he was transferred to
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
in 1986. However the move there was similarly short-lived, and Whitehurst left after a clash with assistant manager
Ray Graydon.
He then joined
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in February 1988 scoring eight goals in 19 matches for the Royals he left for
Sunderland scoring three in 18 matches before making a return to Hull City. Whitehurst spent a year and a half back at
Boothferry Park
Boothferry Park was a football stadium in Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the KC Stadium.
In later years, financial constraints forced Hull City to allow Kwik Save and Iceland superma ...
before joining
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
. Whitehurst helped the Blades gain promotion in
1989–90 and spent a short time out on loan at
Stoke City in
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
where he played in five matches.
Whitehurst ended his professional career at
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
during which time he also played on loan for
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
.
However, Whitehurst's hard man persona and colourful off field antics ensured he always caused a reaction and cemented his place as something of a cult figure within the game. Whitehurst ended his playing days abroad, playing in Northern Ireland, Australia and in Hong Kong with
South China (1992–93) before a long-standing knee injury caused his retirement in 1993.
Personal life and post-retirement
He supported Manchester United as a child and George Best was his favorite player. He said that Keith Mincher and Chris Chilton had the greatest influences on his career and said that Keith made him believe in himself while Chris had taught him positions to take up in the box. He was a bricklayer before turning pro. He cited a 1984 game between Hull and Burnley as his biggest disappointment as the team needed 3 goals to get promoted to the next division, but only scored two goals. His hobbies include gardening, reading and greyhound racing. He cited ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...
'' and
''Taxi'' as his favorite shows and
Bruce Springsteen and
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
as his favorite musicians.
[''Shoot Magazine, Focus on Billy Whitehurst'', publisher: '' Shoot Magazine'', published: 1980's]
He is married with two children.
Since leaving the game Whitehurst has trained greyhounds, ran several public houses in his native South Yorkshire and worked in the building trade and in the stores at BP Saltend and Drax Power Station. In 2008, he was found guilty of benefit fraud and given a suspended prison sentence.
Career statistics
:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the
Football League Group Cup
The Football League Group Cup was a short-lived football competition which first took place during the 1981–82 season. For English clubs it was a replacement for the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which had been discontinued due to the withdrawal of Scot ...
,
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
,
Full Members Cup
The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.
Th ...
.
Honours
; Hull City
*
Football League Fourth Division runner-up:
1982–83
*
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...
third-place promotion:
1984–85
; Sheffield United
*
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...
runner-up:
1989–90
References
External links
Interview with Billy Whitehurston
Talksport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehurst, Billy
1959 births
Living people
People from Thurnscoe
English men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Retford Town F.C. players
Bridlington Trinity F.C. players
Mexborough Town F.C. players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Reading F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Stoke City F.C. players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
St George FC players
Hatfield Main F.C. players
Kettering Town F.C. players
Goole Town F.C. players
Stafford Rangers F.C. players
Mossley A.F.C. players
Glentoran F.C. players
South China AA players
Sun Hei SC players
Frickley Athletic F.C. players
English Football League players
English expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong
English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong