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David Longhurst

English footballer (1965-1990)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 1, 2024
Entity authorityQ5236755
Source-derived summary

David John Longhurst (15 January 1965 – 8 September 1990) was an English footballer. During his career, he played for Nottingham Forest, Halifax Town, Northampton Town, Peterborough United and York City. He died on the pitch during a match for York City against Lincoln City in 1990.

Career

Northampton-born Longhurst was a pacy striker who began his career in Nottingham Forest's youth team under the management of Brian Clough in the early 1980s, and received a permanent contract in 1983. However, he never played a first team game for Forest, and joined Halifax Town in the Fourth Division on a free transfer in 1985. He was a regular goalscorer at the club, scoring 24 goals in 85 league appearances, although it wasn't enough to turn the West Yorkshire club into promotion contenders. After two seasons at Halifax, he joined his hometown club Northampton Town in 1987.

After one season at Northampton, Longhurst was signed by Peterborough United in 1988, scoring a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw with Gillingham in the FA Cup first round at Priestfield Stadium on 19 November that year. Peterborough won the replay 1–0.

He joined York City in March 1990.

Editorial summary

“David Longhurst” enters the record as english footballer (1965-1990). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what David, Longhurst and English can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1965, 1990, 1983, 1985—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1965-01-15. Its strongest next move is a source search built around David, Longhurst and English.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“David Longhurst” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, David, Longhurst and English provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 1, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q5236755. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965, 1990, 1983 and 1985.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “David Longhurst”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow David Longhurst primary sources, David Longhurst archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Longhurst”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from David Longhurst” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.