{{short description|English footballer}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Billy Whitehurst | image = | fullname = William Whitehurst<ref name="Stoke City Modern Era"/> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1959|6|10}}<ref name="Stoke City Modern Era"/> | birth_place = Thurnscoe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England<ref name="Stoke City Modern Era"/> | height = 6 ft 0 in<ref>{{cite book |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Dunk |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London |date=1987 |page=306 |isbn=978-0-356-14354-5}}</ref> | position = Striker | years1 = 1977–1978 |clubs1 = Retford Town |caps1 = |goals1 = | years2 = 1978–1980 |clubs2 = Bridlington Trinity |caps2 = ? |goals2 = ? | years3 = 1980 |clubs3 = Mexborough Town |caps3 = ? |goals3 = ? | years4 = 1980–1985 |clubs4 = Hull City |caps4 = 193 |goals4 = 47 | years5 = 1985–1986 |clubs5 = Newcastle United |caps5 = 28 |goals5 = 7 | years6 = 1986–1988 |clubs6 = Oxford United |caps6 = 40 |goals6 = 4 | years7 = 1988 |clubs7 = Reading |caps7 = 17 |goals7 = 8 | years8 = 1988 |clubs8 = Sunderland |caps8 = 17 |goals8 = 3 | years9 = 1988–1990 |clubs9 = Hull City |caps9 = 36 |goals9 = 5 | years10 = 1990–1991 |clubs10 = Sheffield United |caps10 = 22 |goals10 = 2 | years11 = 1990 |clubs11 = → Stoke City (loan) |caps11 = 3 |goals11 = 0 | years12 = 1991–1992 |clubs12 = Doncaster Rovers |caps12 = 22 |goals12 = 1 | years13 = 1992 |clubs13 = → Crewe Alexandra (loan) |caps13 = 10 |goals13 = 0 | years14 = 1992 |clubs14 = St George Budapest |caps14 = 11 |goals14 = 4 | years15 = 1992 |clubs15 = Hatfield Main |caps15 = ? |goals15 = ? | years16 = 1992 |clubs16 = Kettering Town |caps16 = 4 |goals16 = 0 | years17 = 1992 |clubs17 = Goole Town |caps17 = ? |goals17 = ? | years18 = 1992 |clubs18 = Stafford Rangers |caps18 = 2 |goals18 = 0 | years19 = 1992 |clubs19 = Mossley |caps19 = 2 |goals19 = 0 | years20 = 1993 |clubs20 = Glentoran |caps20 = 6 |goals20 = 4 | years21 = 1993 |clubs21 = South China |caps21 = 4 |goals21 = 1 | years22 = 1993–1994 |clubs22 = Voicelink |caps22 = ? |goals22 = ? | years23 = 1994–1995 |clubs23 = Frickley Athletic |caps23 = ? |goals23 = ? | totalcaps = 417+ | totalgoals = 86+ }}
'''William Whitehurst''' (born 10 June 1959<ref>{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Mike|title=A Century of City|year=2005|publisher=Yore Publications| location=Harefield|isbn=0-9547830-7-7|page=156}}<!--|accessdate=9 December 2010--></ref>) 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.<ref name="Billy Whitehurst">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedaisycutter.co.uk/2012/01/the-harder-they-come-big-billy-whitehurst/|title=The Harder They Come: Big Billy Whitehurst|work=The Daisy Cutter|date=17 January 2012 |accessdate=18 April 2013}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="Billy Whitehurst"/> He eventually made the move into the professional ranks with Hull City in 1980 signing for a £2,000 fee.<ref name="Billy Whitehurst"/> 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.<ref name="Billy Whitehurst"/> 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2026}}
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.<ref name="Stoke City Modern Era">{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Simon|title=Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record|year=2000|publisher=Desert Island Books|isbn=1-874287-39-2}}{{page needed|date=April 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="MH">''Shoot Magazine, Focus on Billy Whitehurst'', publisher: ''Shoot Magazine'', published: 1980s</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2026}}
In the 1980s Whitehurst was married with two children.<ref name="MH"/>{{needs update|date=May 2026}}
Since retiring from football Whitehurst has trained greyhounds, ran 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Footballer on a pounds 12k fraud rap|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Footballer+on+a+pounds+12k+fraud+rap.-a0130188377|work=The Mirror|accessdate=18 April 2013}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{ENFA}}</ref> |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|League Cup !colspan="2"|Other{{efn|Includes Football League Group Cup, Football League Trophy, Full Members Cup.}} !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="7"|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 |- !colspan="2"|Total !193!!47!!11!!3!!12!!6!!16!!6!!232!!62 |- |rowspan="3"|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 |- !colspan="2"|Total !28!!7!!1!!0!!2!!0!!0!!0!!38!!7 |- |rowspan="3"|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 |- !colspan="2"|Total !40!!4!!2!!0!!5!!0!!2!!2!!49!!6 |- |rowspan="3"|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 |- !colspan="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 |- |rowspan="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 |- !colspan="2"|Total !36!!5!!4!!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!40!!7 |- |rowspan="3"|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 |- !colspan="2"|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 |- |rowspan="3"|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 |- !colspan="2"|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 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !388!!77!!22!!6!!23!!8!!21!!8!!454!!99 |}
{{notelist}}
==Honours== ; Hull City * Football League Fourth Division runner-up: 1982–83 * Football League Third Division third-place promotion: 1984–85
; Sheffield United * Football League Second Division runner-up: 1989–90
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130401044608/http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/richard-keys-and-andy-gray/121116/billy-whitehurst-joins-keys-and-gray-185470 Interview with Billy Whitehurst] on Talksport {{Hull City A.F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehurst, Billy}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:People from Thurnscoe Category:Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley Category:English men's footballers Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Retford Town F.C. players Category:Bridlington Trinity F.C. players Category:Mexborough Town F.C. players Category:Hull City A.F.C. players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:Oxford United F.C. players Category:Reading F.C. players Category:Sunderland A.F.C. players Category:Sheffield United F.C. players Category:Stoke City F.C. players Category:Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Category:Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Category:St George FC players Category:Hatfield Main F.C. players Category:Kettering Town F.C. players Category:Goole Town F.C. players Category:Stafford Rangers F.C. players Category:Mossley A.F.C. players Category:Glentoran F.C. players Category:South China AA players Category:Sun Hei SC players Category:Frickley Athletic F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:English expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Category:NIFL Premiership players Category:20th-century English sportsmen