The son of builder/contractor John Joseph Thurgood, and Amelia Mary Thurgood, née Buckland, Albert John Thurgood was born at Errol Street, North Melbourne, on 11 January 1874. He married Ida Alma Mary Thomas at Fairfield on 26 April 1899. They had two daughters: Marjorie Thurgood, and Gwenyth Ida Thurgood. Thurgood died on 8 May 1927 as the result of a car accident. He was buried with Anglican rites in Brighton Cemetery. He is the cousin of former Essendon footballer Jimmy Thurgood, and the great-great uncle of former Hawthorn player Josh Thurgood.
Thurgood played for Essendon in the VFA in 1892–94,. At six feet tall and twelve stone, Thurgood possessed qualities that made him a versatile key position player: he was extraordinarily fast, a superb mark, and very nimble and agile. His greatest asset was his kicking. Usually playing at centre half-forward, he could regularly kick distances up to 65-70 yards and beyond. Thurgood kicked 64 goals in 1893, and 63 in 1894. In the last two games for 1893, he scored 21 goals: nine of Essendon's ten goals against North Melbourne, and twelve of Essendon's fourteen goals against Richmond the following week, all extraordinary feats giving the low scoring of the era. He played 57 VFA games for Essendon and kicked 183 goals.
WAFA
In 1895 he left Essendon to seek work in Western Australia, and played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian Football Association. During his stint there he topped the WAFA goal kicking list on three consecutive occasions between 1895 and 1897, helping the side lift premierships in the first two of those years.
VFL
He returned to Victoria in 1898 and sought to resume his career with Essendon in the newly formed Victorian Football League but the VFL denied him a permit for residential reasons. Forced to sit out of football in 1898, he finally took the field for Essendon in 1899, and headed the club's goalkicking list in 1900 and 1902. While contemporaries noted that Thurgood was slower, heavier and less keen, he produced his finest performance in the 1901 VFL Grand Final against Collingwood when he kicked three of the side's six goals and was a major contributor to Essendon's victory. The same year, he won Essendon's Club Champion award. In 1902, a mysterious player, only identified as "Goodthur", played in two matches for Essendon at the time that Thurgood was serving a three match suspension for striking St Kilda footballers Mick English and Alf Trevillian: in the back-pocket, against Fitzroy on 14 June 1902, and in the ruck, against Melbourne on 5 July 1902. In 1902 there were widespread allegations that he had 'laid down' against Collingwood in the Challenge Final, which Essendon lost by the heavy margin for the time of 33 points. In disgust, Thurgood demanded, and was refused, a clearance to the Magpies, whereupon he decided to retire. He was tempted back to Essendon four years later, but after playing eight games he was forced to retire permanently when he sustained a serious ankle injury. He held four records at his retirement: his 1893 season total was a Victorian record until 1915, his 12 goals in a match until 1919, his career total of 272 goals was an Essendon record until broken in Round 8, 1935 by Keith Forbes, his record place kick of 107 yards, 2 ft 1 in with slight wind assistance at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground22 June 1899 still stands as the longest place kick in history by a footballer of any code.
After football
He was also a solid cricketer, playing three first XI matches for the North Melbourne Cricket Club during the 1890s; he was also an avid golfer. After his retirement from football, Thurgood became active in horse racing—for some years as a bookmaker and subsequently as an owner. He ran a number of successful horses, including Amazonia, which won the Bagot Handicap in 1921 and was placed third in the Melbourne Cup that year. In 1996, Thurgood was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He was named in the Essendon Team of the Century, which was selected in their VFL/AFL centenary year of 1997. Nicknamed "The Great", he was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2004 as an inaugural inductee.
Champions of Essendon
In 2002 an Essendon panel ranked him at 9 in their Champions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.
Honours
The Fremantle Football Club and Essendon Football Club created the "Albert Thurgood Challenge" to be played between the two teams. The first ever meeting was known as D-Day. On 11 February 1995 Fremantle won its first official game of AFL, defeating Essendon by 50 points at East Fremantle Oval.
