[1] Townsend was born in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, but was raised in Perth, Western Australia.
After growing up in Australia he returned to the UK having earned a place in Burnley's youth development set-up.
Townsend could have stayed at Burnley but they could not extend his contract due to ECU Joondalup (his club in Perth) demanding a large development fee.
Townsend then joined Wanneroo City in the Football West State League, before he was offered a full-time contract with Perth Glory in place of Daniel Vasilevski for the A-League 2006-07 season.
He was released four games before the end of the A-League season after a single appearance and then decided to play in Indonesia with Persiba Balikpapan until 2008.