Early career Horsfield was born in
Barnsley,
West Riding of Yorkshire. --> While still a schoolboy he started playing football for a men's team,
Athersley Recreation, in the Barnsley
Sunday League, and had an unsuccessful trial with home-town club
Barnsley F.C. On leaving school, Horsfield took a college course in
bricklaying. He continued playing football part-time, with Athersley, with
Worsbrough Bridge in the
Northern Counties East League, and with
Football League club
Scarborough, Given his league debut in March 1993 by
manager Ray McHale, he was released after playing 12 league matches and returned to bricklaying and part-time football. After a nine-game spell with
Halifax Town in 1994, he rejoined manager McHale at
Guiseley, where his goals helped the club to reach third place in the
Northern Premier League Premier Division in the
1994–95 season. During the following season he moved on to
Witton Albion, where he scored 6 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions. However, he also sustained a potentially career-threatening knee injury; The following season, Halifax won the Conference title by a nine-point margin, thus regaining their Football League status. Horsfield's 30 goals in 40 league games, including hat-tricks against
Yeovil Town,
Telford United and
Hereford United, made him that season's Conference top scorer. Together with teammate Mark Bradshaw, Horsfield was selected for
England's semi-professional representative team for a match against their Dutch counterparts, but injury prevented him from playing. In the Conference, Horsfield had still been working in the building trade while playing football part-time, but
promotion to the Football League meant he had to give up his job to become a full-time footballer. A clause was also included in the
contract which would allow Halifax a share of the profits from any future sale. The remainder of his
1998–99 season produced 15 goals from 28 games as Fulham won the Second Division title by 14 clear points. He was also named in the
PFA's Second Division
Team of the Year. Though less prolific in the
First Division, seven league goals and another seven in the cups still made him the club's top scorer for the
1999–2000 season. After new manager
Jean Tigana made it clear that Horsfield's aggressive style and perceived lack of pace and mobility would not fit the way he wanted his new team to play, and brought in
Louis Saha as his main striker, the player agreed to join Fulham's First Division rivals
Birmingham City.
Birmingham City In July 2000, Horsfield signed a five-year contract with Birmingham, who paid a club record fee of £2.25 million, £350,000 of which went to Halifax Town under the sell-on clause. He was their top scorer in his first season, finding the net on twelve occasions, and his two goals in the second leg of the
League Cup semi-final helped the club reach
their first major final for nearly 40 years. In the starting eleven for the final against his boyhood heroes
Liverpool, Horsfield had been
substituted by the time Birmingham lost in a
penalty shoot-out. In the
2001–02 season, Horsfield was chosen Player of the Year both by Birmingham's fans and by his teammates. His
strike partnership with
Stern John proved crucial in the unbeaten run which helped Birmingham reach the
First Division play-offs, and he scored the
equaliser against
Norwich City in the
play-off final, which the club went on to win on penalties to earn promotion to the
Premier League. Horsfield's first Premier League goal came in the September 2002
local derby defeat of
Aston Villa. Horsfield missed games through suspension and surgery, and was frustrated by manager
Steve Bruce preferring to use him as a specialist substitute; after he came on to score a late winner against local rivals
West Bromwich Albion, Bruce described him as "a manager's dream", saying that "when you're tiring, the last thing you need is Big Horse rampaging at you". Starting alongside
World Cup-winner
Christophe Dugarry late in the season, the pair formed "an unlikely combination, brilliance from Bordeaux alongside a brickie from Barnsley, but Horsfield's robust approach has complemented Dugarry's more delicate touches"; their partnership produced four wins and a draw from the last six games. He scored on his debut for Wigan, in a 4–2 win against
Wimbledon on 13 September 2003.
West Bromwich Albion {{Quote box Horsfield made his Albion debut in a 1–0 defeat away to
Coventry City on 20 December 2003. It was the first of three goals he scored during January 2004, earning him the PFA First Division Player-of-the-Month award. In all he scored seven goals for Albion during
2003–04, The team struggled in their first season back in the top division, while Horsfield scored just three goals in 29 league appearances. His contribution on the final day of the season against
Portsmouth however, proved vital to the club's survival. Coming on as a second-half substitute, he scored with his first touch, before setting up a goal for teammate
Kieran Richardson. Combined with results from other matches, the 2–0 win ensured Albion's escape from relegation as the first club to survive in the Premier League after being bottom at Christmas. Horsfield said of the achievement, "Even though I have been promoted with every club I have been at this is the best moment of my career." Horsfield enjoyed a good start to
2005–06, signing a new two-year contract and scoring twice in each of Albion's first two home games, but these proved to be the last goals he would score for the club. He made a total of 20 appearances in league and cup during his final season at West Bromwich Albion. but appeared in just three games under manager
Neil Warnock in the four months. Horsfield and Warnock wanted to terminate the loan prematurely, but West Bromwich Albion had already agreed to sell the player to United at the end of the season and refused to return on the deal. The permanent transfer went through in May 2006 for a fee of £1.2 million, with Horsfield commenting that he and Warnock had resolved their differences. On 3 August 2006, Horsfield signed for
Championship club
Leeds United on loan until Christmas with a view to a permanent move. He made his debut on the opening day of the season, against
Norwich at
Elland Road, and scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw away at
Queens Park Rangers three days later. When
Dennis Wise took over as Leeds manager, Horsfield was in and out of the side, and his loan was terminated in January 2007. At the end of the January 2007
transfer window,
Leicester City took Horsfield on loan for the rest of the season. He made his debut for the club in their 1–1 draw with
Luton Town on 3 February and scored his first goals for them in their 3–0 victory over local rivals
Coventry City two weeks later. He went straight into the Scunthorpe squad and made his debut against
Charlton Athletic at
Glanford Park; the team won 1–0 and Horsfield won the sponsors' "
man of the match" award. He played twelve games while on loan and was released by Sheffield United at the end of the season. Horsfield had a trial at
Chesterfield during the summer of 2008 but rejected a move to
Saltergate because he wanted to join a club closer to his home in
Leicester. He then had a trial with
Kettering Town and in September began training with
Walsall.
Lincoln City On 10 October 2008, Horsfield revealed that he had been diagnosed with
testicular cancer, and was advised that his playing career was finished. By December, after receiving successful treatment, he was reported to be considering a return to football, either as a player or in a
coaching role. He linked up with
Lincoln City, managed by former Halifax Town teammate
Peter Jackson, for a week's training to assess his fitness levels, and after an extended trial period, signed a short-term playing contract to run from 2 January 2009 until the end of the season. He would also be involved with coaching the
reserve team. Horsfield made his debut on 12 January against
Brentford, setting up the equaliser for fellow debutant
Anthony Elding in a 2–2 draw. After the game, he declared he was "glad to be back playing". He scored his first goal for the club on 27 January 2009, in a 2–1 win against
Gillingham, describing the long-range
shot "one of my sweetest strikes". Horsfield played regularly during his time with Lincoln, but scored only that one goal, and at the end of the season the club decided not to renew his contract.
Port Vale In July 2009,
Port Vale's
Micky Adams appointed Horsfield as
player-assistant manager. He aimed to play a majority of Vale's games in the
2009–10 season while learning the ropes of management. He played in the opening four games of the season despite needing
painkillers for a
cracked rib and a cracked bone in his hand, the first
broken bones he had ever suffered. The club reached the third round of the League Cup, but after three consecutive defeats, Adams placed the entire squad on the transfer list. He suffered from niggling injuries, in addition to a
tore hamstring, which limited his appearances. This caused him to consider his retirement in the summer of 2010. Port Vale did not offer him a new playing contract, but did retain him on the coaching staff.
Alvechurch In March 2013, he joined
Midland Football Alliance side
Alvechurch after agreeing to an offer from the Alvechurch chairman to play until the end of the season. ==Coaching career==