The club was saddened to hear that former Banbury Spencer half back Roy Warhurst (pictured here in his Spencer days) passed away last Tuesday at the age of 87

Roy was one of the most famous ex Football League players ever to wear the Banbury Spencer shirt.

He began his football career during the Second World War as an amateur with Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United before turning professional with the latter in September 1944.

Roy made 9 League appearances for Sheffield United in War Time football in season 1944/45 scoring 2 goals and then one appearance for them, without scoring, in the regionalised football programme of season 1945/46.

He made his Football League for the Blades on 16th November 1946 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of a crowd of 43,841 and went on to make a total of 17 Football League appearances for the club between seasons 1946/47 and leaving the club in March 1950.

His early career had been as a winger but after he joined Birmingham City for a £8,000 fee in March 1950 he was converted to a left half.

Whilst at Birmingham he played a key part in their Second Division title success of season 1954/55. The following season Birmingham City reached the FA Cup Final but unfortunately Roy injured his thigh in their quarter-final match and missed the rest of the season and thus missed out on an FA Cup final appearance. He became Birmingham City’s captain in season 1956/57 but then rather surprisingly at the end of that season, after making a total of 213 Football League appearances for the club, he joined Manchester City for £10,000.

After making 40 Football League appearances for Manchester City he moved to Crewe Alexandra in March 1959 where he made a further 51 league appearances before joining Oldham Athletic, his final Football League club in August 1960. However he only managed 8 league appearances for Oldham in season 1960/61, all of those being in August and September of 1960, and left the full time game in the summer of 1961 to join Banbury Spencer.

Spencer began season 1961/62 with Roy installed as club captain. There were many who had scoffed at the signing by Spencer of Roy Warhurst in the summer of 1961. They doubted his ability to stand up to a full season of Birmingham League fixtures, having only managed eight League games for Oldham Athletic the previous season and they reckoned, with him also having to travel from his Cheshire home, he wouldn’t play in half the club’s matches. The doubters were though proved to be wrong as Roy missed just one first team game all season and that was due to him being badly delayed on the roads by fog. An unnamed club official in a local paper was quoted as follows “Roy has proved one of the best club men we have ever had. We only wish we had a few more like him.” He made that season in all competitions 48 appearances for the club scoring 7 goals. He was also part of the Spencer side that reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup where they played at Gay Meadow against Shrewsbury Town.

Roy had one further season at Banbury making 26 appearances in 1962/63 scoring one goal. He had though been troubled with a knee injury for the second half of the campaign and retired from the game at the end of the season to concentrate on his scrap metal dealer business in Lichfield and Birmingham.