Warhurst was born in Handsworth, Sheffield. He began his football career during the Second World War as a youth with Atlas &amp; Norfolk Works before signing as an as an amateur with Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United, and turned professional with the latter in September 1944. His early career was as a winger, but after he joined Birmingham City for an £8,000 fee in 1950, he was converted to wing half. His forceful style contributed much to the club's Second Division title in the 1954–55 season and to their performances in the First Division and the FA Cup the following season. Warhurst injured a thigh in the sixth-round FA Cup match, and missed the rest of the season, and his absence was considered a significant factor in Birmingham's losing the 1956 Cup Final: teammate Alex Govan was convinced that "if Roy Warhurst had been fit then there would only have been one winner".