Brian Alfred Turner (born 31 July 1949 in England), was a New Zealand

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player, who was a prominent squad member during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, in

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. He was assistant coach for the New Zealand national team that played in the

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Clubs coached

Turner has served on the coaching staffs of Wellington Phoenix FC, Auckland Manukau United, Onehunga Sports, and Fencibles AFC 2013.

Club career

Turner was born in England and moved to New Zealand at an early age. He began his senior playing career in New Zealand with Ponsonby and Eden before returning to England in 1968 where he joined Chelsea FC for a season, but failed to make a 1st team appearance. He then moved to Portsmouth FC for a short stint and ultimately to

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where he spent 2 and a half seasons. Turner returned to New Zealand in 1972 where he spent 8 seasons with Mt Wellington. In 1981 Turner moved to Australia, playing first with

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then Wollongong Wolves before once again returning to his adopted country to play for Gisborne City,

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and Mt Wellington again.

International career

He made his A-International debut in a 3–5 loss against trans-Tasman rival

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on 5 November 1967 in the

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and went on to earn 59 A-international caps in which he scored a credible 21 goals. His international career spanned a then national record 102 appearances in the All White strip including unofficial matches. Turner was an integral member of the New Zealand side that qualified for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

in Spain, playing in all but 3 qualifying matches. However, his only appearance at the finals was as a late substitute in the 0–4 loss to Brazil. It was to be his last game for his adopted country, Turner announcing his international retirement after their elimination following group stage losses against Scotland, USSR and Brazil. Turner continued to play domestically in New Zealand through his thirties before continuing his football involvement in coaching roles. Brian's achievements earned him three Player of the Year titles, and in 1995 he was inducted into the New Zealand Soccer

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Administration career

In 2013, Turner founded the independent group Friends of Football

Honours

Individual

*New Zealand Player of the Year: 1974, 1979, 1980 *NZSMA Hall of Fame: 1995 *Friends of Football Medal of Excellence 2015

Club

Mt Wellington * National League: 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980 * Chatham Cup: 1973, 1980

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third-place promotion: 1971–72

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Brian 1949 births Living people New Zealand association footballers New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand international footballers English footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Mount Albert-Ponsonby players Three Kings United players Chelsea F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Brentford F.C. players University-Mount Wellington players Blacktown City FC players Wollongong Wolves FC players Gisborne City AFC players Papatoetoe AFC players Bay Olympic players English Football League players 1973 Oceania Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players