Frederick Arthur Turner (28 February 1930 – 9 July 1955) was an English

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 at right back for Southampton in the 1950s, before his death from

Stomach Cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

Career

Turner was born in Southampton, the son of Mr. W. Turner, a

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

director. After playing local league football, he joined the "Saints" as an amateur in July 1948, signing professional papers in February 1950. Although he played regularly for the reserve team, including in the semi-final of the Combination Cup in 1950. In 1951, he was called up to do his National Service in Devon. During his period in the Army, he was loaned to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, but only made one appearance before he was demobbed, returning to Southampton in March 1953. On his return to The Dell, Turner played regularly in the reserves, scoring the occasional goal, and developed into an outstanding full-back. He eventually broke into the first team when he made two appearances in late 1953, replacing Ellerington, before Jack Gregory moved across from the left. In the following season, Turner's form in the reserves enabled manager

George Roughton William George Roughton (11 December 1909 – 7 June 1989) was a professional footballer who played for Huddersfield Town and Manchester United in the 1930s and was subsequently manager of Exeter City and Southampton. Club career Roughton wa ...

to move

Len Wilkins Leonard Wilkins (20 September 1925 – August 2003) was a professional footballer who played his entire career (at half-back) for Southampton from 1945 to 1958. In 1958, he emigrated to Canada and played in the National Soccer League The ...

to centre half, with Turner coming in at right back. After a run of seventeen games, in which his "quiet, thoughtful play" enabled him to establish himself in the side, illness forced him to quit playing in February 1955. The illness was soon diagnosed as leukemia and Turner died in July 1955, aged 25.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Fred 1930 births Footballers from Southampton 1955 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Deaths from leukemia in England Men's association football fullbacks