Whitehurst Albert Image 1 Bradford City 1929

Description

Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent born centre forward Albert Whitehurst began his football career playing for Bromsgrove Rovers and New Haden Colliery in 1919 before joining Second Division Stoke in 1920, making his Football League debut against Stockport County in March 1921. He was a fringe player during his three seasons at The Victoria Ground, making only 6 appearances during their 1921-22 promotion season when they finished Second Division runners up, and only one top flight appearance in 1922-23, leaving Stoke to join Third Division (North) Rochdale in May 1923 after 4 goals in 18 appearances.

Whitehurst played five seasons for Rochdale, and after a modest start where he top scored for the club with 15 goals in the campaign as ‘Dale finished runners up in the League in 1923-24, including a hat-trick against New Brighton in March 1924, he scored 18 goals in 1925-26 as they finished third, and then a club record 46 goals in 43 games in 1926-27 as ‘Dale agonisingly missed out on promotion, again finishing as runners up. That total included 5 goals against Chesterfield in December 1926 and 4 further hat-tricks. He followed this with 36 goals in 43 appearances in 1927-28, including another 4 goal salvo against Chesterfield in February 1928.

Whitehurst was transferred to First Division Liverpool in May 1928 after having scored 124 goals in 177 appearances for Rochdale. He was selected for Liverpool’s first eleven on the opening day of the 1928-29 season and responded with the second of Liverpool’s three goals in their home win over Bury. He played in seven of the first nine First Division fixtures but then lost his place and was not recalled until early in February 1929. That appearance at Leeds proved to be the last of the eight games in which he would wear a Liverpool shirt but he did sign off with a goal two minutes from time to save a point in a 2-2 draw.

He joined Bradford City in February 1929 where after being at the club only for a few weeks he scored no less than a club record seven goals in Bradford’s 8-0 triumph over Tranmere Rovers at Valley Parade on 6th March 1929, on his fourth appearance for The Bantams, following it up with four goals against Barrow three days later and a hat-trick against Wrexham a week after that. His astonishing 24 goals in 15 games sealed the Third Division (North) Championship in his debut season. He stayed two more seasons in the Second Division without much regularity before moving to Tranmere Rovers in June 1931, having scored 31 goals in 43 appearances for City. At Tranmere he sometimes played centre half having converted to wing half in the latter stages of his Bradford career, but he was still mainly employed at inside forward, and he scored 35 goals in 90 appearances before his career finished in September 1934, probably through injury (as he was still a regular goalscorer, having been their leading goalscorer in 1932-33 with 17 goals, and had already scored 5 times in 7 appearances in the new season).