David Furnell (born June 1874) was an English

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 le ...

who played as a goalkeeper. Furnell originally played for Old St Luke's either as a full back or half back before being converted to a goalkeeper. In 1894 the club merged with Castle Swifts F.C. to form

Old Castle Swifts Old Castle Swifts Football Club, the first professional football club in Essex, was formed by Scottish shipowner Donald Currie in September 1892 as Castle Swifts Football Club. The club's first home ground, located in West Ham, was named Duno ...

and Furnell remained there until they folded in 1895. He then spent a season and a half captaining St Luke's from Beckton before they also folded. It was towards the end of the 1896–97 season that Furnell, who was already a labourer at the shipbuilding company joined Thames Ironworks, making his debut in the final London League game of the season, a 1–1 draw against Barking Woodville. He became first choice keeper for the club during the 1897–98 season and helped them win the London League and promotion to the Southern League by keeping clean sheets in five of his ten games. By November 1897 his form was good enough to earn him recognition at a county level when he was selected to play for Essex against Middlesex, a game that Middlesex won 5–2. During that season he also played in all three of the club's FA Cup games, two games in the

London Senior Cup The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of Ar ...

, as well as at least ten friendlies, the last of which he played at left-half. In all, he played a minimum of 26 games for Thames Ironworks. He moved on to Hammersmith Athletic in 1898–99.

Notes

* In earlier Thames Ironworks and West Ham publications this player has been confused with George Fundell, a forward who also played for Old St. Luke's. He is, however, listed as David Furnell in ''Who's Who of West Ham United'' by Tony Hogg (2005, ) as well as in ''Iron In The Blood'' by John Powles (2005, )

References

* * * 1874 births Year of death missing Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from West Ham English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Thames Ironworks F.C. players Old Castle Swifts F.C. players {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub

See also

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References