Dean Furman (born 22 June 1988) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

midfielder 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 ...

for English side Warrington Rylands 1906. He has previously played for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, English League Two side

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

sides

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

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 ...

, and South African

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

side

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

. He made his debut for the South Africa national team in 2012, representing the nation at two

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

tournaments, and as of August 2020 had captained the team and won 56 caps, scoring four goals.

Club career

Chelsea

Furman began his footballing career at nine years of age as a youth team player at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, leaving at 18 years of age.

Rangers

He signed for

side

on 10 May 2006. Furman was a regular in the reserve side and captained the Under-19 team to the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

final in 2007, where they beat

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. He signed a new two-year contract on 24 October 2007. Furman made his professional debut in a 3–1

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

win at Ibrox against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

on 10 May 2008, as a 52nd-minute substitute for

Kevin Thomson Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Thomson played as a midfielder for Hibernian (three spells), Rangers, Middlesbrough and Dundee and represented Scotland. Thomson began his car ...

. He played for three years for Rangers.

Bradford City

On 27 August 2008, he joined English

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

, managed by former Rangers midfielder

Stuart McCall Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United. McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...

, on loan until January. He made his debut for Bradford City as a late substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

three days after his signing before he made his first start in a

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 Leag ...

game with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and first league start at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

, all of which ended in defeats for Bradford. After playing 12 league games for Bradford, he pulled his hamstring, which kept him out for more than a month before he returned to action in a reserve game against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 16 December. His first game back in the first team was as a late substitute in a 0–0 draw with Lincoln City ten days later. Having returned to fitness, Furman also extended his loan spell with Bradford to the end of the season. His first goal for Bradford came later the same month when he scored Bradford's first equaliser in a 3–3 league draw with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Oldham Athletic

Furman returned to Rangers at the end of the season and was offered a new one-year deal at Ibrox, as well as an offer from Bradford City. Instead, Furman returned to England with English

side

, joining them on 29 June 2009, on a three-year contract. Furman won the Football League Goal of the Year 2011 for his effort against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 14 August 2010. Furman was appointed captain of

for the 2011–12 season, at 23 years of age. In four seasons with Oldham he scored nine goals in 147 appearances across all competitions.

Doncaster Rovers

Though still club captain of Oldham, English League One side

signed him on loan on 14 March 2013 for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. Doncaster Rovers were promoted on the last day of the league season, and Furman helped them to the League One title in the 2012–13 season. At the end of the season Furman joined Doncaster permanently, signing a two-year contract. On 18 May 2015, after two years, 82 games, and three goals scored with the side, he was one of six players released by the club.

SuperSport United

After rejecting a contract extension from Doncaster Rovers, on 18 August 2015 Furman signed for South African

side

on a two-year deal, with an option of a further year. With SuperSport United, in five years and 101 games he won two

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. T ...

trophies and two

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...

s, and a runners-up medal in the

2017 CAF Confederation Cup The 2017 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2017 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African F ...

. SuperSport chief executive

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

described Furman as "one of our all-time great midfielders and captains."

Carlisle United

On 28 August 2020, Furman returned to English football as he wished to return with his newborn to his parents and his wife's parents in England, joining

club

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on a one-year deal until the end of the 2020/21 campaign. Cumbrians manager Chris Beech said: "He’s such an intelligent footballer, with the ability to dictate a game – his retain and regain of the ball is exceptional ...."

Non-league career

After a short spell at

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, he signed for Warrington Rylands 1906 in January 2022. Furman played 12 times for Warrington in the 2021–22 season.

International career

Furman received his first international call-up for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

for a friendly on 19 August 2008 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was an unused substitute in that match. Furman earned his first cap for South Africa in a friendly against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 8 September 2012. Furman earned his first

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in the country's 2–0 defeat of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

on 11 September 2012. Furman was selected for the final squad of the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

tournament hosted by his home country. In the second group match of the tournament, the Bafana Bafana convincingly defeated

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

2–0 and Furman was named as Man of the Match. Furman played the full 90 in South Africa's final group game, a 2–2 draw with

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, that secured Bafana Bafana top spot in the group and ensured their first passage to the quarter-finals of the competition since 2002. The quarter-final game against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

on 2 February ended 1–1 after extra time and Furman had his penalty kick saved by Soumaila Diakité, as Mali won 3–1 in the penalty shoot-out. Furman was named captain of Bafana Bafana ahead of 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

on 15 November 2014. He replaced former captain

Senzo Meyiwa Senzo Robert Meyiwa (24 January 1984 – 26 October 2014) was a South African professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and captain for both Orlando Pirates in the Premier Soccer League, and the South Africa national team. He was sho ...

, who died earlier after being shot at his girlfriend's home. He played every minute of the finals in Equatorial Guinea, a

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

exit. He won his 50th cap for South Africa on 24 March 2019 during a 2–1 win over

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

which secured the nation's qualification for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

. Fans nicknamed him "mlungu" (white person). As of 2020 he had represented South Africa winning 56 caps, and scoring four goals.

Personal life

Furman is Jewish and of

English descent The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

. He said in 2020: "I would love to see more Jewish players.... I hope parents and young Jewish players are looking up to me,

Joe Jacobson Joseph Mark Jacobson (born 17 November 1986) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left back for Wycombe Wanderers.

and Nicky Blackman." He was born in the

Camps Bay Camps Bay (Afrikaans: ''Kampsbaai'') is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, and the small bay on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula after which it is named. In summer it attracts many South African and foreign visitors. History The ...

suburb of the city of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, to South African parents Ronnie and Carol Furman. His family relocated to England when Furman was five years old. He grew up in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

, and attended JFS Jewish mixed

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

, where he was a classmate of footballer

Josh Kennet Joshua Simon Kennet (born 27 September 1987) is an English-Israeli footballer currently with London Lions. Early and personal life Kennet is Jewish, and was born to a Jewish family in Camden, England. His father Eilon was born in Israel, and ...

, and later lived in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

."Furman wins top Maccabi GB award,"
''The Jewish Chronicle'', 25 November 2013. His younger brother Jake has represented Maccabi GB at two

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

, and he hopes to represent Maccabi GB at a future Maccabiah Games alongside his brother. His uncle is former Hellenic

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Marc Reingold. Furman has a four-year degree in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

from

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

. His wife Natasha (Tash) Howarth is from Manchester, England, and the couple, who married at a synagogue in England in June 2018, has a daughter born in June 2020.

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.''

Honours

Doncaster Rovers *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

SuperSport United *

: 2015–16, 2016–17 * MTN 8 Cup: 2017–18 Warrington Rylands 1906 * Northern Premier League West: 2021–22 In 2013 he was named he was named Maccabi GB Sportsperson of the Year. In 2018 he was appointed as a

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

ambassador. In 2019 he received the SAA Voyager Art, Sports, Science and Culture Award. In August 2021 Dean was named club ambassador to Manchester Maccabi Community and Sports club.

References

External links

* * *
"Dean Furman talks about his exit from Supersport United to move to Manchester in the United Kingdom,"
Newzroom Afrika, 23 May 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Furman, Dean 1988 births Living people South African Jews Jewish South African sportspeople Jewish footballers South African soccer players South African expatriate soccer players Rangers F.C. players English Jews Bradford City A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players South African people of English-Jewish descent Doncaster Rovers F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Soccer players from Cape Town Association football midfielders Scottish Premier League players English Football League players South African Premier Division players White South African people Chelsea F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland South Africa international soccer players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Footballers from Edgware Footballers from Manchester Warrington Rylands 1906 F.C. players

Club career

Chelsea

Rangers

Bradford City

Oldham Athletic

Doncaster Rovers

SuperSport United

Carlisle United

Non-league career

International career

Personal life

Career statistics

International

International goals

Honours

See also

References

External links