Warboys began his career at
Doncaster Rovers, making his debut in April 1967 at the age of 17, before moving to
Sheffield Wednesday in 1968. Following Wednesday's relegation in 1970, he joined
Cardiff City for a fee of £42,000, as a replacement for
John Toshack who had joined
Liverpool. On his home debut for the club, Warboys scored twice against the team he had just left, Sheffield Wednesday and went on to finish the season having scored 13 goals in 17 league games, including scoring four times in one match during a 4–0 win over
Carlisle United, as the club missed out on promotion by one place. After spending one more year at Cardiff, he returned to
Yorkshire to join
Sheffield United as part of a swap deal which saw
Gil Reece and
Dave Powell move the other way to
Ninian Park. After a brief spell with
Sheffield United, Warboys joined
Bristol Rovers. In his five seasons at the club, he forged a lethal forward pairing with
Bruce Bannister which would be much-celebrated, taking Rovers to promotion to the
Second Division and earning the duo the nickname
Smash and Grab in reference to Warboys' physical playing style and Bannisters ability to grab the resulting chances created by Warboys. He later played for
Fulham and
Hull City before returning to Doncaster Rovers. In his first season back at the club he was awarded the club's Player of the Year award before later moving into
defence. Following an operation to remove a disc from his back, he retired in 1982. ==After football==