Dean Furman

Chelsea

Furman began his footballing career at nine years of age as a youth team player at Premier League club Chelsea, leaving at 18 years of age.

Rangers

He signed for Scottish Premiership side Rangers on 10 May 2006. Furman was a regular in the reserve side and captained the Under-19 team to the Scottish Youth Cup final in 2007, where they beat Old Firm rivals Celtic. He signed a new two-year contract on 24 October 2007. Furman made his professional debut in a 3–1 Scottish Premier League win at Ibrox against Dundee United on 10 May 2008, as a 52nd-minute substitute for Kevin Thomson. He played for three years for Rangers.

Bradford City

On 27 August 2008, he joined English League Two side Bradford City, managed by former Rangers midfielder Stuart McCall, on loan until January. He made his debut for Bradford City as a late substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to Aldershot Town three days after his signing before he made his first start in a Football League Trophy game with Leeds United and first league start at Shrewsbury Town, all of which ended in defeats for Bradford. After playing 12 league games for Bradford, he pulled his hamstring, which kept him out for more than a month before he returned to action in a reserve game against Hartlepool United on 16 December. His first game back in the first team was as a late substitute in a 0–0 draw with Lincoln City ten days later. Having returned to fitness, Furman also extended his loan spell with Bradford…

Furman received his first international call-up for South Africa for a friendly on 19 August 2008 against Australia. He was an unused substitute in that match. Furman earned his first cap for South Africa in a friendly against Brazil on 8 September 2012. Furman earned his first man of the match award in the country's 2–0 defeat of Mozambique on 11 September 2012. Furman was selected for the final squad of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournament hosted by his home country. In the second group match of the tournament, the Bafana Bafana convincingly defeated Angola 2–0 and Furman was named as Man of the Match. Furman played the full 90 in South Africa's final group game, a 2–2 draw with Morocco, that secured Bafana Bafana top spot in the group and ensured their first passage to the quarter-finals of the competition since 2002. The quarter-final game against Mali on 2 February ended 1–1 after extra time and Furman had his penalty kick saved by Soumaila Diakité, as Mali won 3–1 in the penalty shoot-out. Furman was named captain of Bafana Bafana ahead of 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sudan in Durban on 15 November 2014. He replaced former captain Senzo Meyiwa, who died earlier after being shot at his girlfriend's home. He played every minute of the finals in Equatorial Guinea, a group stage exit. He won his 50th cap for South Africa on 24 March 2019 during a 2–1 win over Libya which secured the nation's qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Fans…

International

As of matches played on 16 November 2020

International goals

Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.

Furman is Jewish and of English descent. He said in 2020: "I would love to see more Jewish players.... I hope parents and young Jewish players are looking up to me, Joe Jacobson and Nicky Blackman." He was born in the Camps Bay suburb of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, to South African parents Ronnie and Carol Furman. His family relocated to England when Furman was five years old. He grew up in Edgware in North London, and attended JFS Jewish mixed comprehensive school, where he was a classmate of footballer Josh Kennet, and later lived in Manchester. His younger brother Jake has represented Maccabi GB at two Maccabiah Games, and he hopes to represent Maccabi GB at a future Maccabiah Games alongside his brother. His uncle is former Hellenic left back Marc Reingold. Furman has a four-year degree in sports science from Manchester Metropolitan University. His wife Natasha (Tash) Howarth is from Manchester, England, and the couple, who married at a synagogue in England in June 2018, has a daughter born in June 2020.