After being discovered playing for village side Blackwell in a Derbyshire Cup tie at Ilkeston Town, Foulke made his debut for Sheffield United against West Bromwich Albion on 1 September 1894 and led the team to three FA Cup finals (winning two) and a League Championship.

[4] However, this is disputed, as a September 2019 article on the BBC Sport website pointed out that the tune to which the chant is sung, "Knees Up Mother Brown", is believed to have originated in 1918, which was some two years after Foulke's death.

At the end of the first match in the 1902 FA Cup Final, Foulke protested to the officials that Southampton's equalising goal should not have been allowed.

Foulke left his dressing room unclothed and pursued the referee, Tom Kirkham, who took refuge in a broom cupboard.

In a short obituary to Foulkes, a Blackpool newspaper reminded its readers that Foulkes had "appeared in a good [sic] scoring side-show on the spare ground, Britannia Place, South Shore, where many a football aspirant tried their goal-scoring prowess against the once noted goalkeeper".

[10] He also owned a beer house in Sheffield along with a shop in Matilda Street and was known to walk around his home town wearing his FA Cup winner's medal around his neck on a homemade chain.