David John Turner (born 7 September 1943) is an English former professional

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 lea ...

who made more than 300 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

playing as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Life and career

Turner was born in

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. He played schools football for his county, and joined

straight from school. He turned professional in 1960, and was a member of the team that won the 1961–62 FA Youth Cup. He made his first-team debut on the last day of the

1961–62 Football League The 1961–62 season was the 63rd completed season of The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football ...

season, a 3–0 defeat at home to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

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 ...

, and appeared twice more before moving on to

in December 1963 for a £4,500 fee. He soon established himself in the team, and settled so well that he was appointed captain during the 1966–67 season. Despite knee injuries that affected his last couple of seasons with the club, and a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

while Brian Bromley was on loan the other way, he took his totals to 30 goals from exactly 300 appearances in the

, 34 from 338 in all first-team competitions. He was given a free transfer at the end of the 1971–72 season, and spent two years at

before the knee problems forced his retirement.

Managerial career

Turner spent time on the coaching staff of

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

and

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

before moving to Canada in 1979 where he coached at the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

, assisting both

Keith Eddy Keith Eddy (23 October 1944 – 10 October 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Barrow, Watford and Sheffield United in England, as well as the New York Cosmos in the United States. He went on to manage th ...

and Bobby Houghton. In 1981, he replaced

as the interim head coach for Toronto Blizzard. In 1985, he managed in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

with Toronto Dinamo, and secured the NSL Cup. In 1986, he served as the head coach for

in the National Soccer League, and the following season in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

. In his debut season in the National Soccer League he achieved the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

for Toronto. In 1988, Toronto appointed him as the coaching advisor for scouting operations, and

Hector Marinaro, Sr. In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

succeed him as head coach. He returned to England 1990 and rejoined Aldershot's staff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Dave 1943 births Living people Sportspeople from Retford Footballers from Nottinghamshire English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Newcastle United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches Canadian National Soccer League coaches