Chris Turner (born 3 January 1987) is a Northern Irish

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 lea ...

. He has been capped at under-19 and under-21 level by Northern Ireland.

Club career

Turner began his career at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

but moved to Ireland to join

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

in December 2005 after the club returned to the top flight by winning the First Division title a month earlier. Turner helped Sligo to fifth position in their first season back in the big time and remained at the Showgrounds for the opening half of the 2007 season before signing for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

in the July transfer window. At

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

, Turner made his club debut in an

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

win over Malahide United on 19 August 2007. However, after

Sean Connor Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who is the head coach at Botswana Premier League club Jwaneng Galaxy. He had a brief playing career which included spells at Distillery, Port Vale, Maccle ...

departed at the end of that season, Turner found himself out of favour under

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...

and he left the Gypsies by mutual consent in July 2008. He eventually signed for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. He had had a trial at

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before signing for Partick. He was released by the Firhill outfit midway through the 2008–09 campaign, however, and he returned to Ireland and signed for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. He made his debut for the Lilywhites in the opening night defeat by Bohemians at Oriel Park on 6 March 2009 and scored his first club goals a fortnight later with two penalties in a 3–0 win at home to Drogheda United. He was nominated for the PFAI Players' Player of the Year and made the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

Team of the Year. Despite apparently signing again for Sligo he was on the verge of quitting without playing a game. Turner signed for Shamrock Rovers on 29 January 2010, but Sligo lodged an appeal against the signing. In March 2010, Turner was declared a free agent. He made his Rovers debut at

Morton Stadium Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry Demesne, Santry in Ireland. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Dublin city and the home track of Clonliffe Harriers. Manag ...

on 5 April. He scored in the second round of qualifications for the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

in a match with Flora Tallinn at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

, and contributed to the first victory for Shamrock Rovers in the elite competition. On 29 August 2012, Turner left The Hoops by mutual consent citing personal reasons. His last appearance for Rovers ended in a sending off. He scored a total of 12 goals in 94 total appearances for Rovers. These included 13 appearances in European competitions including the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

group stages. On 30 August 2012, he signed for

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

side

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

until the end of the season. He turned down a new contract with the club in May 2015 Turner signed for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

in June 2015. He left Hamilton by mutual consent in December 2015. Following a short spell at

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, Turner returned to his native Northern Ireland to sign for Glenavon.

International career

Turner has appeared for Northern Ireland at many underage levels and was a regular in the under-21 side.

Honours

;Shamrock Rovers *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

(2):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football (soccer), football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from ...

(1):

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Chris Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers League of Ireland players Scottish Football League players Derby County F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Ballymoney Men's association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players Hamilton Academical F.C. players A Championship players