Bill Harburn

Education

He began his career as a centre forward, later played at wing half and finished up at full back.

Career

He was one of 35 workers killed when a section of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapsed while under construction in 1970. Harburn was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. As a teenager he was a competition swimmer, and played football as a forward with South Bank"s youth teams.

In the 1947-1948 Football League season, he appeared once as an amateur in the Third Division North for Darlington.

A fourth child was born some years later. The family settled in Melbourne, where Harburn continued his trade as a boilermaker and played football for Victorian State League club Hakoah.

In a game against Juventus in May 1955, The Age"s reporter saw a performance that "stamps him as easily the best full-back to play in Victoria". That same year, he played in an Australian XI against a touring South China team

Harburn was selected for the Australian squad for the 1956 Olympics in his home city of Melbourne, but played in neither of their matches.

He played for Hakoah until at least 1959, and continued playing recreational football for much longer. On 15 October 1970, Harburn was working on the construction of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne when a 2,000-tonne span collapsed, falling onto the mud of the river below. He had changed his job two weeks previously because he wanted to continue working on the bridge rather than in the factory.

He and 34 co-workers were killed.

Achievements

• He continued to represent South Bank after the war in the Northern League, and scored as they beat Tow Law 3–1 to win the 1948 Northern League Challenge Cup. Playing as a wing half, Harburn was a member of the Crook Town team that won the 1952-1953 Northern League title, and he also played for Bishop Auckland and Billingham Synthonia.

Membership

After emigrating to Australia, he played for Hakoah in the Victorian State League and was a member of Australia"s squad for the 1956 Olympics.