Blackburn Rovers 1890 : Townley-Middle row, right.
William (Billy) Townley was born in Blackburn in 1866. He played football for Blackburn Swifts and Blackburn Olympic before joining Blackburn Rovers at the beginning of the 1888-89 season.Townley won his first international cap in 1889. The following year he scored two goals in England's 9-1 victory over Ireland .
Townley was a two-time FA Cup winner with Blackburn Rovers.
In 1890 he became the first player to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final as Rovers beat The Wednesday 6-1.
In 1891 he scored in the final as Notts County were beaten 1-0.
Townley was a schoolteacher by profession, but when his playing career was ended by a serious head injury whilst with Manchester City, he decided to pursue a career in coaching. Opportunities being limited in Britain, he moved to the continent.
Starting with DFC Prag (a team from Bohemia who were part of the German Football Association) , Townley managed (or coached) numerous clubs in Germany and Switzerland, including Karlsruher FV (who he guided to the National Championship in 1910), FC St Gallen, 3 spells at Bayern Munich and 4 spells at SpVgg Fürth (winning 2 National Championships).
