William "Bill" Furby was an English amateur

Amateur sports

Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...

 footballer who played for Southampton St. Mary's in the club's first season

1894–95 Southampton St. Mary's F.C. season

The 1894–95 season was the tenth since the foundation of Southampton St. Mary's F.C. and their first in league football, being founder members of the Southern League....

 in the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

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Football career

Furby was one of several players from Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

 who joined St. Mary's in 1894. His first recorded match was at centre-half in a Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...

 Charity Cup tie on 18 April – he retained his place for the remaining two matches in this tournament including the final against Royal Artillery five days later, when he scored in a 5–0 victory.

Although he was an adaptable half-back and a good crosser of the ball, during the inaugural Southern League season, Furby's first-team opportunities were restricted due to the form of Ernie Taylor

Ernie Taylor (footballer born 1869)

Ernest James "Ernie" Taylor was an English amateur footballer who played for Southampton in the club's first two years in the Southern League.-Football career:...

 and Lachie Thomson

Lachie Thomson

W.J.G. "Lachie" Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.-Stoke:...

. After only five league and two FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 outings, he left the "Saints" to join arch-rivals Freemantle

Freemantle F.C.

Freemantle Football Club were a football club based in the Freemantle area of Southampton who were active at the end of the nineteenth century. During their brief heyday, they were rivals to Southampton Football Club...

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