He made his league debut for the club in a 3–1 defeat at Sheffield United on 23 April 1938,[6] but did not play again before the outbreak of the Second World War.
In wartime, Attwell appeared as a guest player for Leeds United, making his debut on 21 February 1942 in the 0–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
He went on to play 22 league games during his debut season, as well as six matches in the FA Cup as the side reached the final of the competition.
He was restricted to 17 league games for the side during the 1950–51 season as Jimmy Adamson took the right wing-half slot from February 1951 until the end of the campaign.
After eight years with the club, Attwell made his final appearance for Burnley on 4 September 1954 in the 0–2 loss to Everton at Turf Moor.
[14] With a total of 11 goals in 269 first-team matches for the Clarets, Attwell left Burnley in October 1954 to join Bradford City on a free transfer.