Robin David Turner (born 10 September 1955) 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 le ...

who played as 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 ...

. An England youth international, he began his career at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. After being part of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

winning squad of 1973, he made his first-team debut in October 1975. Despite failing to become a first-team regular, he remained at the club until 1985 when he signed for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. He scored twice on his home debut for his new club, equalling the number of league goals that he had scored in nine seasons at Ipswich, but left later in the year to return to East Anglia when he signed for Colchester United. At the end of the 1985–86 season he dropped into non-League football with

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meetin ...

Playing career

Ipswich Town

Born in the Harraby suburb of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, Turner was one of several players spotted in the Carlisle area by renowned

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

John Carruthers and recommended to

's Bobby Robson, alongside

Kevin Beattie Thomas Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich ...

David Geddis David Geddis (born 12 March 1958) is a football coach and scout, a former professional football player and England youth international. As a player, he scored 77 goals from 264 appearances in the Football League. Biography Playing career Whe ...

and

Steve McCall Stephen Harold McCall (born 15 October 1960) is an English retired footballer who now works as a Scout for Carlisle United. A defensive midfielder during his playing days, McCall built a reputation as a cultured midfield player, with immacula ...

.Revealed: the hidden treasures of Carlisle's great football talent-spotter John Carruthers
News & Star, 22 March 2017 After joining Ipswich as an apprentice in May 1971, he became part of the team that won the

in 1973 against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, playing alongside George Burley,

David McKellar David Norwood McKellar (born 22 May 1956) is a Scottish retired professional footballer, best remembered for his time as a goalkeeper in the Football League with Carlisle United, for whom he made 160 appearances for the club over two spells. In ...

Tommy Parkin Thomas Aitchison Parkin (born 1 February 1956) is an English retired professional football midfielder. His nephews, Jacob Murphy and Josh Murphy, also became professional footballers. Career Born in Gateshead, Parkin spent his youth career w ...

, John Peddelty, Dale Roberts,

Gary Russo Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

John Stirk John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at yout ...

and

Les Tibbott Leslie Tibbott (born 25 August 1955) is a Welsh former footballer who played primarily as a left back. Born in Oswestry, England, Tibbott came through the Ipswich Town youth team before making his league debut in 1976. Tibbott contributed to Ipsw ...

; Turner scored the third goal in a 3–0 win in the first leg of the final at Portman Road, before a 1–1 draw in the second leg saw Town win the trophy for the first time. He also scored nine goals in 15 matches for the reserve team,Robin Turner
Pride of Anglia including scoring on his reserve team debut against Norwich City. His record at Ipswich led to him being called up for the England youth team. After signing a professional contract in April 1973, Turner became a regular in the reserve team over the next two seasons, scoring six goals in 19 matches in 1973–74 and fourteen in 27 games in 1974–75. He made his first-team debut on 4 October 1975 as a substitute for

Roger Osborne Roger Charles Osborne (born 9 March 1950) is a former professional association football, footballer who is best known for scoring the winning goal in the 1978 FA Cup Final. Biography Born in Otley, Suffolk, Otley, East Suffolk (county), East S ...

in a 1–0 First Division defeat at Derby County. However, that was to be his only first team appearance of the season. In 1975–76 Turner made his second first-team appearance as a substitute in a 5–2 defeat at

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 ...

, but started the next game against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup, with Town losing 2–1. He kept his place for the next two games, but did not make another appearance until playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 3 January 1977.Games played by Robin Turner in 1976–77
Pride of Anglia The 1977–78 season was to be Turner's most productive at Ipswich. With an injury crisis affecting the club, he played in fourteen league matches, although it was 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 ...

where he made his greatest contribution. Ipswich were drawn away to Second Division Bristol Rovers in the fifth round, and the game was played on a snow-covered pitch. Turner scored his first-ever goal for Ipswich in the first half to give them the lead, and then netted the equaliser four minutes before the end of the match time as the teams drew 2–2. Turner played in the replay as Ipswich won 3–0 and also in the quarter-final win over Millwall. Although he was in the team that beat West Brom 3–1 in the semi-finals, he was not included in the squad for the final as Robson brought David Geddis into the team to counteract the threat of

Sammy Nelson Samuel Nelson (born 1 April 1949) is a former footballer who played as a left back in the Football League for Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion. He was capped 51 times for Northern Ireland and played at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Club career Ars ...

, with

Mick Lambert Michael Arnold Lambert (born 20 May 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a winger. He started his career with Newmarket Town before becoming a professional and played for both Ipswich Town and Peterborough United. Lambert was a ...

as the only substitute. However, following the final, Turner was awarded the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Carlisle alongside teammates Geddis and

. Despite missing out on a

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

appearance in the FA Cup, Turner was named as a substitute for the 1978 Charity Shield match at Wembley at the start of the following season and came on for

Trevor Whymark Trevor Whymark (born 4 May 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with Ipswich Town. He is currently (2016) the team's sixth highest goal scorer. Ipswich Town Whyma ...

as Ipswich lost 5–0 to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Turner did not make another first-team appearance during the 1978–79 season as Alan Brazil started coming into the side. However, he returned to first-team action the following season, also making his European debut as he played in and scored a goal in a 3–1 win over Skeid Oslo in the first round of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

.Games played by Robin Turner in 1979–80
Pride of Anglia He was a substitute in the return leg at Portman Road, and then played in seven league matches in September and October 1979, as well as a friendly against the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 1980 he took part in filming '' Escape to Victory'' alongside several Ipswich teammates, appearing as a German player. The 1980–81 season saw Ipswich competing for the league title, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. Turner made three appearances in November, before playing in two matches towards the end of the season as an increasingly patched-up Ipswich team missed out on the league and FA Cup, but won the UEFA Cup. In the following season Turner played only four matches, starting just one game away at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He had been transfer listed during the season, but a proposed loan move to

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 ...

failed to materialise. Turner joined Dutch second division club MVV Maastricht on loan early during the 1982–83 season, before returning to Ipswich in April. Upon returning to Ipswich he scored his first-ever league goal in a home match against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 23 April as Ipswich won 4–1, making five league appearances, all as substitute, by the end of the season. The 1983–84 season saw Turner score a second league goal in his first league appearance on 6 September as Ipswich beat Everton 3–0 at Portman Road. However, despite playing nine more first-team games that season, he failed to score again. His final match for Ipswich was on 14 April 1984, a 2–2 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road, and he did not make a first-team appearance for the club during the 1984–85 season.

Swansea City

In March 1985 Turner joined

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

on a free transfer. He made his Swansea home debut against Preston North End on 30 March and scored twice,Past Players Q–T
Swansea City A.F.C. equalling the number of league goals he had scored for Ipswich in nine seasons. Swansea went on to win six of their last eleven matches as they narrowly avoided relegation to the Fourth Division. However, after scoring eight goals in twenty matches, Turner returned to East Anglia to sign on loan for Colchester United on 8 November 1985.Robin Turner
The Archive Database for Colchester United

Colchester United

At the time of Turner's signing, Colchester were managed by

Cyril Lea Cyril Lea (born 5 August 1934) is a Welsh former footballer. He was born in Wrexham, and was capped on two occasions by Wales. He played for Leyton Orient and Ipswich Town, and was responsible for team selection at Portman Road for two months b ...

, who had been assistant to Bobby Robson at Ipswich during Turner's time at the club. Turner made his Colchester debut on 8 November 1985 in a 1–0 defeat at home to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He signed for the club permanently in December, but failed to score in fourteen league and cup appearances. His final match for Colchester was a 2–2 draw with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 6 May 1986, after which he left the club, later signing for

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

club

Post-football

After retiring from professional football, Turner worked as a PE teacher and moved to the Republic of Ireland, becoming a teacher at the Our Lady's Secondary School in

Belmullet Belmullet (, IPA: �bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony (Ireland), barony of Erris, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the commercial and cul ...

and coaching the school's football team. Turner also played a part in Ipswich signing Irish player Ronan Murray in 2007 after spotting him playing whilst refereeing.Irishman Joins Academy
TWTD, 4 July 2011

Honours

: 1973

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Robin 1955 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Ipswich Town F.C. players MVV Maastricht players Swansea City A.F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Bury Town F.C. players English Football League players Eastern Counties Football League players Schoolteachers from Cumbria English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands