[1][2] Warhurst was signed as an amateur by Football League Third Division North club Nelson in October 1926 after playing for the local British Legion team.
[2] He made his first senior appearance for the club on 24 September 1927 in the 2–1 win against Durham City at Seedhill, taking the place of John Stoneham who had kept goal in the first five games of the season.
[3] Warhurst retained his starting place for the following two matches as Nelson suffered consecutive away defeats at Barrow and Wrexham, before being replaced by William Bossons for the visit of Chesterfield on 8 October 1927.
[4] Bossons and Stoneham were among those released by Nelson in 1928, and Des Fawcett was brought in from Darlington to compete with Warhurst for the goalkeeper position.
He was one of four goalkeepers to appear in the opening four games of the campaign, along with James Mangham and new arrivals Lewis Botto and Peter Shevlin.
Neither Mangham nor Botto ever played for Nelson again, but Shevlin kept his place in the team for most of the remainder of the season, and Warhurst was restricted to only three games.
Over the rest of the season Warhurst played 24 times for the first team, sharing goalkeeping duties with Shevlin and Charlie Hillam, who made 18 and 3 appearances respectively.
[9] The outbreak of the Second World War necessitated the abandonment of the 1939–40 season after three matches, signalling the end of Warhurst's professional career.