Brian Turner (footballer, Born 1949)
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Brian Alfred Turner (born 31 July 1949 in England) is a
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
former player, who was a prominent squad member during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
, in
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
. He was assistant coach for the New Zealand national team that played in the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
.


Clubs coached

Turner has served on the coaching staffs of Wellington Phoenix FC, Auckland Manukau United, Onehunga Sports, and Fencibles AFC 2013.


Club career

Turner was born in England and moved to New Zealand at an early age. He began his senior playing career in New Zealand with Ponsonby and Eden before returning to England in 1968 where he joined
Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...
for a season, but failed to make a 1st team appearance. He then moved to
Portsmouth FC Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The team is currently competing in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system in the 2024–25 ...
for a short stint and ultimately to
Brentford FC Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, England. The team competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Nicknamed "The Bees", the club was found ...
where he spent seasons. Turner returned to New Zealand in 1972 where he spent 8 seasons with Mt Wellington. In 1981 Turner moved to Australia, playing first with
Blacktown City Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1906 as the Blacktow ...
then
Wollongong Wolves Wollongong Wolves Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW, the second-tier of soccer in Austral ...
before once again returning to his adopted country to play for Gisborne City,
Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...
and Mt Wellington again.


International career

He made his A-International debut in a 3–5 loss against trans-Tasman rival
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on 5 November 1967 in the 1967 South Vietnam Independence Cup and went on to earn 59 A-international
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in which he scored a credible 21 goals. His international career spanned a then national record 102 appearances in the All White strip including unofficial matches. Turner was an integral member of the New Zealand side that qualified for the
1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...
in Spain, playing in all but 3 qualifying matches. However, his only appearance at the finals was as a late substitute in the 0–4 loss to
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. It was to be his last game for his adopted country, Turner announcing his international retirement after their elimination following group stage losses against
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
,
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and Brazil. Turner continued to play domestically in New Zealand through his thirties before continuing his football involvement in coaching roles. Brian's achievements earned him three Player of the Year titles, and in 1995 he was inducted into the New Zealand Soccer
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...


Administration career

In 2013, Turner founded the independent group Friends of Football


Honours


Player

Mt Wellington *
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
: 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980 *
Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are Wellington Olymp ...
: 1973, 1980 Brentford *
Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...
third-place promotion: 1971–72 New Zealand *
OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...
:
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...


Individual

*New Zealand Player of the Year: 1974, 1979, 1980 *NZSMA Hall of Fame: 1995 *Friends of Football Medal of Excellence 2015


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Brian 1949 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand men's international footballers English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Mount Albert-Ponsonby players Three Kings United players Chelsea F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Uni-Mount Bohemian AFC players Blacktown City FC players Wollongong Wolves FC players Gisborne City AFC players Papatoetoe AFC players Bay Olympic players English Football League players 1973 Oceania Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players 1982 FIFA World Cup players 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen