Herbert Gwyn Turner (19 June 1909 – 8 June 1981) was a Welsh international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a full back for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. He was best known for scoring for both sides in the 1946 FA Cup Final, becoming the first player to do so.

Football career

Turner was born in

Brithdir, Caerphilly Brithdir is a small village in the northern part of the Rhymney Valley near New Tredegar, in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, and within the historic boundaries of Glamorgan. It was formed in the early twentieth century to provid ...

and, after school, he joined the Welch Regiment where he had a reputation as an all-round sportsman winning medals for rugby, athletics and hockey with Army teams, as well as playing football. On leaving the army, he returned to his place of birth where he made four appearances for the village team before a trial with

. Turner signed in August 1933 and made his first team debut in the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

, with twenty appearances at centre half in the 1933–34 season as Charlton finished fifth in the table. In the next season, he started off at centre half, playing alongside Bill Dodgin and

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

before the arrival of

Don Welsh Donald Welsh (25 February 1911 – 2 February 1990) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47. Playing career Welsh j ...

in February led to him being moved to

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. The team that manager

Jimmy Seed James Marshall Seed (25 March 1895 – 16 July 1966) was an English footballer and football manager. Despite being born in Blackhill, Seed was brought up in the village of Whitburn on the coast just to the north of Sunderland, the family movin ...

had assembled went on to claim the Division title at the end of the season, and finished as runners-up in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, thus achieving back-to-back promotions. In their first season in

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, Charlton finished in the runners-up spot, missing the League title by only three points to champions

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, with the meanest defence in the division conceding only 49 goals. Turner continued to play regularly for Charlton up to the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as Charlton consolidated their place in the top flight with fourth place and third-place finishes in the next two seasons. By now, Turner's club form had brought him to the notice of the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

selectors and he made his international debut at Ninian Park on 17 October 1936 in a 2–1 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Wales followed this with victories over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

(2–1) and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

(4–1) to comfortably claim the

1937 British Home Championship Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...

. Turner made a total of eight appearances for Wales prior to the war, with five victories and three defeats. He continued to turn out regularly for Wales during the early part of the war, making a further eight appearances in wartime internationals. During the war he was a guest-player for Lovell's Athletic, the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

for Lovell's sweet factory in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. After the cessation of hostilities, there was no League football in 1945–46. The

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

was the main competition to be played this season; to make up for the lack of quality matches, all FA Cup rounds from round one up to and including the quarter-finals were made two-legged ties (rather than the traditional single matches) with the aggregate score determining who went through to the next round. After easy victories over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, Charlton met

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. Bolton were still suffering from the after-effects of the Burnden Park disaster in which 33 spectators were killed as a result of overcrowding. Charlton won the semi-final comfortably to set up a Cup Final against Derby County. The

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

was played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 27 April 1946. The game was goalless until the 85th minute, when

Jackie Stamps John David Stamps (2 December 1918 – 19 November 1991) was an English footballer who scored two goals in the 1946 FA Cup Final for Derby County in a 4–1 win against Charlton Athletic. This is Derby's only FA Cup triumph. Stamps came close ...

and a Charlton defender jumped up to head a centre from the right. As the ball was nodded out it went straight to

Dally Duncan Douglas "Dally" Duncan (14 October 1909 – 2 January 1990) was a Scottish football player and manager. A left-winger, Duncan joined Hull City from Aberdeen Richmond in 1928 and spent his entire professional career in English football. He joined ...

, who shot goalwards. Turner tried to kick the ball clear, but only managed to turn the ball into his own net. In the next minute Turner scored for his own side when he took a free-kick from the edge of the Rams' penalty area, and although goalkeeper Vic Woodley appeared to have the shot well covered, the ball struck a Derby player and was deflected past Woodley into the opposite corner of the net to which he was diving. Turner thus became the first player to score for both sides in an FA Cup Final, a feat subsequently repeated by

Tommy Hutchison Thomas Hutchison (born 22 September 1947) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 1,100 appearances, including 314 in the Football League alone for Coventry City, and more than 160 apiece in the competition f ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

Gary Mabbutt Gary Vincent Mabbutt (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made more than 750 professional appearances, first playing for Bristol Rovers and going on to play 619 games for Tottenham Hotspur, despite being diagnosed with type ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. At the age of 36 years 312 days, Turner also became the oldest player to score in an FA Cup Final. The match finished level after 90 minutes, but in extra time Derby County scored three goals to win the match 4–1. Turner played one more season with Charlton, but was no longer a regular choice, and was used as cover for

Peter Croker Peter Harry Lewis Croker (21 December 1921 – 7 December 2011) was an English footballer, who played as a full-back in the Football League for Charlton Athletic and Watford and in non-league football for Bromley and Gravesend & Northfleet. Pr ...

at right back or Herbert Johnson at right-half. Turner retired in 1947 after a 14-year Charlton career in which he played 196 matches. Apart from the cup-final goal, his only other goals were two penalties.

Coaching career

He moved to Dartford as player-coach 1947 and 1950 he spent a year in the Netherlands coaching Dortrecht FC. He then left for Sweden where he coached

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

and Kalmar FF.

Later career

In 1956, he returned to England, where he became a licensee in Manston, Kent, until 1980.

Family

His elder brother,

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman ...

was a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

with

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the 1920s. Bert married Ena James 18 May 1937 and so became brother-in-law to Dai Astley (footballer) who was married to Ena's sister Muriel. In 1938 Ena gave birth to a daughter Jillian, who later lived in SwedenInterview with Jillian and Marriage Certificate from Holy Trinity Church in Woolwich

Honours

As a player

Charlton Athletic *

runners-up:

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

champions: 1934–35 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

runners-up: 1935–36 *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runners-up: 1936–37 Wales *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

winners:

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

As a manager

Malmö FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

* Svenska Cupen: 1951, 1953

References

External links

Report on 1946 FA Cup Final, with picture of own goal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Bert 1909 births 1981 deaths Welsh military personnel Association football fullbacks Welsh footballers Footballers from Caerphilly English Football League players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Wales international footballers Wales wartime international footballers Welsh football managers Welsh expatriate football managers Malmö FF managers Kalmar FF managers Expatriate football managers in Sweden Welch Regiment soldiers FA Cup Final players Lovell's Athletic F.C. wartime guest players Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Sweden