Alexander Turnbull (30 July 1884 – 3 May 1917) was a Scottish

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 ...

for both

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

and

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 ...

in the early 20th century.

Football career

Born in

Hurlford Hurlford (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Àtha Cliath'') is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford. The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing ...

to James and Jessie Turnbull of 1 Gibson Street,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Turnbull started his football career with his hometown club, Hurlford Thistle. He later moved to

. In 1905, City was found guilty of malpractice relating to payments of its players, and the entire squad was suspended from playing football. When the ban was lifted on 31 December 1906, Turnbull moved to City's crosstown rivals

, along with

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

Herbert Burgess Herbert Larry Burgess (25 February 1883 – 1954) was an English footballer. Born in Openshaw, Manchester, Burgess began his football career with Glossop North End, but soon signed for Manchester City. He made his debut for City on 5 September ...

and

Jimmy Bannister James Bannister (20 September 1880 – 18 December 1953) was an English footballer. Bannister was purchased by Manchester United from Manchester City in 1906. He helped the club win the 1908 league championship. He left United in 1909 to go to ...

. His first game for United came on the next day, 1 January 1907, 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 ...

. Along with Meredith, he helped the club to their first championship in 1908 and the 1909

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 ...

, scoring the only goal in the final, against Bristol City. In 1908 alone, he would score 27 goals in 25 games. On 19 February 1910, Turnbull scored the first ever goal at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, in a 4–3 loss against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He would go on to score 100 goals for the club in 245 games. His final game for the Reds came against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in 1915.

Military career

Turnbull enlisted in the 23rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment (2nd Football) during the First World War before being transferred to the 8th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. After being promoted to the rank of lance-sergeant, Turnbull was killed during the Battle of Arras on 3 May 1917 aged 32. Turnbull's body, if recovered, was never identified. He is commemorated on the Arras memorial.

Match fixing

Turnbull received a lifelong ban from football in 1915 along with several others players after being found guilty of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

. He was posthumously re-instated in 1919.

Family

Turnbull was married and had four children. Two of Turnbull's sons, Alexander Jr. and Ronald, signed amateur forms with Manchester United in August 1932, but neither managed to follow in their father's footsteps and they were released before making an appearance for the club.

Honours

Club

;Manchester City *

1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

;Manchester United * First Division: 1907–08, 1910–11 *

: 1908–09

References

External links

Sandy Turnbull Profile
Football and the First World War

at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Sandy 1884 births 1917 deaths Footballers from East Ayrshire Scottish footballers Manchester City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players East Surrey Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Association football inside forwards English Football League players Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Middlesex Regiment soldiers FA Cup Final players Military personnel from East Ayrshire