English footballer

Billy Whitehurst

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In 3 languages

Key facts

date of birthJune 10, 1959

height175cm

occupationassociation football player

place of birthThurnscoe

All data from the card 29

Full name: William Whitehurst
Date of birth: 10 June 1959
Place of birth: Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position: Striker
Years: Team
1977–1978: Retford Town
1978–1980: Bridlington Trinity
1980: Mexborough Town
1980–1985: Hull City
1985–1986: Newcastle United
1986–1988: Oxford United
1988: Reading
1988: Sunderland
1988–1990: Hull City
1990–1991: Sheffield United
1990: → Stoke City (loan)
1991–1992: Doncaster Rovers
1992: → Crewe Alexandra (loan)
1992: St George Budapest
1992: Hatfield Main
1992: Kettering Town
1992: Goole Town
1992: Stafford Rangers
1992: Mossley
1993: Glentoran
1993: South China
1993–1994: Voicelink
1994–1995: Frickley Athletic

William Whitehurst (born 10 June 1959) is an English retired professional footballer active during the 1980s and 1990s. Whitehurst's aggressive, intimidating, violent style of play attracted much notoriety in his journeyman career.

Career

Whitehurst was born in Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire 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 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.

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 in 1986. However the move there was similarly short-lived, and Whitehurst left after a clash with assistant manager Ray Graydon.

Whitehurst then joined Reading 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 before joining Sheffield United. Whitehurst helped the Blades gain promotion in 1989–90 and spent a short time out on loan at Stoke City in 1990–91 where he played in five matches. Whitehurst ended his professional career at Doncaster Rovers during which time he also played on loan for Crewe Alexandra.

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 favourite player. Whitehurst told Shoot magazine in the 1980s that Keith Mincher and Chris Chilton had the greatest influences on his career and said that Mincher made him believe in himself while Chilton had taught him positions to take up in the box. Whitehurst cited Spitting Image and Taxi as his favourite shows and Bruce Springsteen and Nat King Cole as his favourite musicians.

In the 1980s Whitehurst was married with two children.

Since retiring from football Whitehurst has trained greyhounds, run several public houses in 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

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hull City	1980–81	Third Division	26	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	1
	1981–82	Fourth Division	36	6	5	2	2	0	3	1	46	9
	1982–83	Fourth Division	36	3	2	0	2	1	3	1	43	5
	1983–84	Third Division	37	10	2	1	2	0	5	0	46	11
	1984–85	Third Division	40	20	1	0	3	3	2	1	46	24
	1985–86	Second Division	18	7	1	0	3	2	3	3	25	12
	Total		193	47	11	3	12	6	16	6	232	62
Newcastle United	1985–86	First Division	20	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	28	7
	1986–87	First Division	8	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	0
	Total		28	7	1	0	2	0	0	0	38	7
Oxford United	1986–87	First Division	20	2	1	0	0	0	1	2	22	4
	1987–88	First Division	20	2	1	0	5	0	1	0	27	2
	Total		40	4	2	0	5	0	2	2	49	6
Reading	1987–88	Second Division	15	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	6
	1988–89	Third Division	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	2
	Total		17	8	0	0	2	0	0	0	19	8
Sunderland	1988–89	Second Division	17	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	18	3
Hull City	1988–89	Second Division	21	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	24	7
	1989–90	Second Division	15	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
	Total		36	5	4	2	0	0	0	0	40	7
Sheffield United	1989–90	Second Division	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	2
	1990–91	First Division	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
	Total		22	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	23	2
Stoke City (loan)	1990–91	Third Division	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Doncaster Rovers	1990–91	Fourth Division	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	1
	1991–92	Fourth Division	9	0	2	1	2	2	0	0	13	3
	Total		22	1	2	1	2	2	0	0	26	4
Crewe Alexandra	1991–92	Fourth Division	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	11	0
Career total			388	77	22	6	23	8	21	8	454	99