George Turner (1887–1958) 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 for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

from 1908 to 1915. He was born in Stoke-upon-Trent.

Career

Turner joined Stoke at a time when it seemed that football in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

was coming to an end with both professional clubs,

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

both suffering financial meltdown and resignation from the Football League. Stoke's problem had been a disaster waiting to happen after a number of years of financial mismanagement and in 1907–08 season the club had lost the backing from their supporters who boycotted attending matches at the Victoria Ground. Chairman William Cowlishaw tried in vain to rally support and after admitting to failure he pulled Stoke out of the league and into

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. It was then the local interest returned to just two months later in June 1908 the club had been saved and a new board of directors had been appointed with Alfred Barker being made manager. After failing to gain a belated entrance in the Football League, Stoke had to start again in the Birmingham & District League. Stoke re-branded themselves at Stoke F.C. (1908) in an attempt of re-ignite the local interest of football. Turner symbolised the rekindling of the interest of football in the city having had ambitions to become a gymnast at Halmer End Athletic Club Turner decided to play football instead, and joined Stoke, his decision was reported in the local newspaper, ''The Sentinel'' and his story was used as a marketing tool to get supporters back through the gates. He became a vital member of the club's revival as more player's joined the club and local interest in Stoke grew. For the club's first home match of the 1908–09 season against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Reserves around 12,000 fans turned up and thus Stoke were able to continue with the safe knowledge that they still had the local support. Turner became a firm fan favourite and club captain and he want of to amass 176 league appearances for the club and helping them to re-claim their league status in 1915. Despite being a defender Turner was the regular penalty taker and scored 17 goals most from the spot. He was widely expected to retain the captaincy for Stoke's return to the league in 1919 but during World War I he suffered a bad wound on his leg which had to be amputated after infection set in.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, George English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players 1887 births 1958 deaths Men's association football defenders British military personnel of World War I English amputees English disabled sportspeople Association football players with limb difference Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent Military personnel from Stoke-on-Trent