15 Facts About William Townley

William James Townley was an English football player and coach.

William Townley scored the first hat-trick in the history of the FA Cup final, and he is considered an important pioneer of the game in Germany, leading Karlsruher FV and SpVgg Furth to three German championships as a coach.

William Townley's playing position at Swifts and Olympic was centre-forward.

William Townley joined Blackburn Rovers in 1886 and switched to the left winger position.

On 15 September 1888, William Townley, playing as a winger, made his league debut at Leamington Road, then home of Blackburn Rovers, against Accrington.

William Townley assisted Blackburn to win the FA Cup with the club in 1890 and 1891.

William Townley's first coaching job was with DFC Prague, who were beaten by VfB Leipzig in Germany's first national championship staged in 1903.

William Townley later joined Karlsruher FV, losing finalists in 1905, and led them to a their only national title in 1910.

William Townley guided the club to its first two Bavarian championships, which heralded the onset of a golden era that would last into the 1930s, and which saw the club become one of the most dominant football sides in the country.

In December 1913, William Townley got the call from Bayern Munich, but on a loan arrangement he re-joined Furth in April of the following year to guide them through the national championship rounds.

William Townley re-emerged with Bayern in 1919 and coached there until 1921, helping the club earn local and regional titles.

William Townley interrupted his time in Switzerland for a four-month stint with the Netherlands national team to guide them through the 1924 Olympics in Paris.

In 1930, William Townley returned for a third time to Furth, with the club winning the South German Championship, before being ousted from the national playoffs in the quarter-finals by the defending champions Hertha Berlin.

Now in his mid-60s, William Townley took up his last known posting in 1932 with Arminia Hannover, then a strong regional side.

William Townley died in Blackpool, England in 1950 at the age of 84.