Stephen Turnbull (born 7 January 1987) is an English former

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 ...

who last played for

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

, Bury and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Playing career

Turnbull is a central midfield player. He captained the

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

youth team during the Dallas Cup in 2005 where they achieved third place, and made 22 appearances for the first team the following season, earning his first professional contract. He joined Bury on loan in 2006, where he was picked by manager Chris Casper for their 3–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

second round replay win at Chester City on 12 December; he was ineligible to play and Bury were therefore thrown out of the tournament. Danny Wilson recalled Turnbull to Hartlepool soon after this. He spent March 2007 on loan at

, playing in four matches. After leaving Hartlepool at the end of the 2007–08 season, he signed for

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on 2 June 2008, teaming up with his brother. He was released by Gateshead on 14 May 2009 and signed for neighbours

. Whilst at the club he was awarded the 2010–11 Supporters Player of the year award. In May 2011 he joined Harrogate Town, but left in February 2012 to move to Australia. In February 2013, Turnbull returned to England and rejoined Blyth Spartans. He played part-time and worked in the engine room of a cruise ship. He then left Spartans to join

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

at the end of the 2013–14 season. In September 2014, he started his third spell at Blyth. In the 2014–15 season, he scored seven goals for the Spartans, one of them the famous free-kick at Hartlepool United in the second round of the FA Cup. He helped Blyth get to the third round proper as well as win the Northumberland Senior Cup. As of 22 August he has played a total of 150 appearances in three spells at Blyth Spartans. He announced on 1 February 2017, that he'd be ending his playing career to work full-time on the cruise-liner. He stated that, while he'd be back in England from "time-to-time", it was "largely the end" of his playing career.

Personal life

He is the twin brother of fellow

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Phil Turnbull who he played alongside at Hartlepool and Gateshead.

References

External links

Profile
at Blyth Spartans A.F.C.

at Hartlepool United F.C.
Profile
at ''In The Mad Crowd'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Stephen 1987 births Living people Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hartlepool United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Bury F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Shildon A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English twins 21st-century English sportsmen