William Isaac Furness (8 June 1909 – 29 August 1980) 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 lea ...

who played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in the 1930s, making one appearance for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1933.

Career

Furness was born in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, County Durham and played his early football for Usworth Colliery from where he was signed by

in August 1928 for a fee of £50.

Leeds United

At this time Leeds were struggling in the lower reaches of the First Division and were getting something of a reputation for being a yo-yo team – after being elected to the Second Division in 1920, they were promoted in 1924, relegated in 1927 and promoted again in 1928. Furness took a while to break into the first team, with Russell Wainscoat and Eric Longden having established themselves in the inside forward positions. In the 1930–31 season Furness displaced Longden and from then on he was rarely out of the side, but his eight goals were unable to stave off relegation and Leeds were to spend the 1931–32 season in the Second Division. With

Charlie Keetley Frederick Charles "Charlie" "Wag" Keetley (10 March 1906 — 1979) was an English football centre forward born in Derby. He played for Leeds United, Bradford City and Reading. Keetley was the youngest of eleven brothers and one sister. Several ...

scoring 23 goals and 12 from Furness, Leeds returned to the top flight as runners-up in Division Two. In

the first season ''The First Season'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1989. The film stars Kate Trotter as Alex Cauldwell, a woman in British Columbia who, following the death of her fisherman husband Frank (Dwight Koss), tries to support herself and her dau ...

back in Division One, Furness was ever-present scoring six goals from 42 league appearances, as Leeds finished in eight place with Arthur Hydes the new spearhead, scoring 16. Furness's form was to be rewarded with his solitary England cap, when he was selected, along with his Leeds teammate Wilf Copping, for the first-ever match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 13 May 1933. The match ended 1–1 with England's goal coming from

Cliff Bastin Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal. He also played for the England national team. Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time. Cl ...

. As well as Furness and Copping, four other players were making their England debut. Furness only missed one match in 1933–34 as Leeds again finished in the upper half of the table. In a memorable match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 7 April 1934 Furness, Harry Duggan, Joe Firth and Johnny Mahon each scored twice in an 8–0 victory – this remains Leeds' best ever League win. Leeds United – Review of 1933–34 (A quiet year)
/ref> Leeds struggled in 1934–35 and, although Hydes continued to score freely with 22 goals with Furness acting as an excellent foil, hitting 16 goals in 34 appearances, with seven of those coming in the last six matches of the season, the defence was poor conceding 8 at Stoke, 7 at Chelsea, 6 at West Bromwich Albion, and 4 against Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Liverpool and Everton. As a result, Leeds narrowly avoided relegation finishing in 18th place. Things improved slightly for Leeds in 1935–36 with an eleventh-place finish with Furness contributing seven goals (including a penalty against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the final match of the season) with

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

top scorer on 20. Furness's final season at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

saw the club struggling again to avoid relegation finishing in nineteenth place. In June 1937, Furness was transferred to

for a fee of £2700 after nine years, 257 matches and 66 goals for the club.

Norwich City

Furness played the next two seasons for

in the Second Division. At the end of the 1938–39 season, Norwich were relegated to the Third Division South. Although Furness played in the first three matches of the next season, scoring twice, league football was then suspended following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Furness returned to the Norwich side, making a dozen appearances in the 1946–47 season before retiring, having made 99 appearances (excluding wartime matches) scoring 23 goals.

Later career

After retiring as a player, Furness remained at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

as assistant trainer and subsequently as head trainer, a position he held until 1955. He subsequently served the club as a physiotherapist until 1963. In 2003, he was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Leeds United profile
*
Profile at www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furness, Billy 1909 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Washington, Tyne and Wear Leeds United F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players English men's footballers England men's international footballers English Football League players Men's association football inside forwards 20th-century English sportsmen