[3] Townsend initially joined hometown First Division club Brentford as an amateur during the second half of the 1936–37 season and signed a professional contract at the end of the campaign.
[4] With the first team struggling in the First Division during the first half of the 1938–39 season, manager Harry Curtis gave Townsend his professional debut for a match versus Huddersfield Town on Christmas Eve 1938 and he scored the winner in a 2–1 victory.
[5] The subsequent signing of Tommy Cheetham limited Townsend's chances of making a breakthrough into the first team,[4] but he finished the 1938–39 season with four goals in five appearances.
[6] He also guested for a number of clubs and returned to Football League action in the 1946–47 season,[4][7][8][9] scoring 9 goals in 33 games in a disastrous campaign, which saw the Bees relegated to the Second Division.
[5] Townsend departed Brentford in May 1947, after making 41 appearances and scoring 14 goals in competitive matches while at Griffin Park.
[4] Townsend and Brentford teammates Dai Hopkins and Frank Clack signed for Third Division South club Bristol City in June 1947.
[4][8] He formed a formidable goalscoring partnership with Don Clark, though the pair's exploits failed to bring any success in the league.
[10][11] Townsend joined Third Division South club Millwall in July 1949 and made just five appearances and scored one goal during the 1949–50 season.