Background
Borthwick was born in Hartlepool, County Durham, and made his Football League debut for his local club, Hartlepool United, on 3 January 1983 in a 4–1 defeat away at Colchester United.
Borthwick was born in Hartlepool, County Durham, and made his Football League debut for his local club, Hartlepool United, on 3 January 1983 in a 4–1 defeat away at Colchester United.
He spent six seasons with Hartlepool, scoring 16 goals from 135 games in all competitions, before moving on to Darlington, newly relegated to the Conference for the 1989-1990 season. He had one more season with Darlington, then spent the 1992-1993 season with York City before moving into non-League football with Gateshead.