Horace Fairhurst (2 June 1893 – 7 January 1921) was an English professional

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 ...

. He played as a defender. After playing for

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

for a number of years, Fairhurst joined fellow

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in May 1919 after previously playing for them during the 1916–17 and 1917–18

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

wartime seasons.

Career

Fairhurst first played for Blackpool in the 1917–18 wartime season, on 1 September 1917 against

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 ...

, while he was serving at the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

Depot in the town. He made a total of 27 appearances for the club that season. He returned to the club on 8 February 1919, in a 1–1 draw at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and made a total of ten appearances for ''the Seasiders'' that season. The club then signed him in May 1919. He made his official league debut at left-back on 8 September 1919, in a 6–0 home win over Lincoln City in the 1919–20 season. He made 27 league appearances as Blackpool finished fourth in Division Two. His nine appearances for the reserve team won him a

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

championship medal. In his twentieth league appearance of the 1920–21 season, on 27 December 1920, Fairhurst suffered a head injury during Blackpool's single-goal win over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

at Oakwell. At one point it looked as though he would recover, and he reported for training at the Balmoral Hotel for the FA Cup tie at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on 8 January; however, he was deemed "not recovered sufficiently to run the risk of playing him". He was initially named in the Blackpool team to face

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 New Year's Day, but he had "a touch of

gastritis Gastritis is inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur as a short episode or may be of a long duration. There may be no symptoms but, when symptoms are present, the most common is upper abdominal pain (see dyspepsia). Other possi ...

" and did not travel. He died at home on 7 January 1921 as a result of the injury, with the club stating, "We have lost one of the best backs in England". He was buried at Tonge Cemetery on 13 January. He had made just short of 50 league appearances for ''the Seasiders''. On 4 May, Blackpool played a benefit match against Preston North End with the proceeds to go to his widow and to the children of his partner at full-back,

Bert Tulloch Albert Tulloch (23 February 1889 – 15 February 1953) was an English professional Association football, footballer. He played as a defender (association football), full-back, and spent his entire ten-year professional career at Blackpool F.C., ...

, whose wife had died the same weekend as Fairhurst.

Notes

References

*
A mention and a picture of Fairhurst
on Darwen F.C.'s official site
Famous Boltonians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairhurst, Horace 1893 births 1921 deaths Footballers from Bolton English footballers Darwen F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Association football defenders British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in England

Career

See also

Notes

References