Ian Turner

Early career

Turner originally played at centre-half for his local team, South Bank. However, during a match against Huddersfield Reserves, he played as a goalkeeper and was noticed by Huddersfield Town manager, Ian Greaves, who signed him as a professional in October 1970. He transferred to Grimsby Town in March 1972 where he first became acquainted with manager Lawrie McMenemy.

Southampton

In March 1974, Southampton were seeking a replacement for long-time goalkeeper, Eric Martin, so McMenemy, who was by now Southampton's manager, went back to his former club, Grimsby, to sign Turner. He was the first choice keeper for the next few seasons, and in May 1976 was part of the Southampton team who beat Manchester United 1–0 in the FA Cup final. Manchester United started stronger, and missed several early goalscoring opportunities, with Turner making a series of impressive saves to deny Gerry Daly and Gordon Hill. He was a brave and reliable keeper, but at the start of the 1976–77 season he injured his left knee and required an operation to remove both cartilages. After his return to fitness he only made occasional appearances, including three appearances in European games against Olympique Marseille (twice) and Napoli. He started the following season as first-choice keeper, but after eight games he lost his place to Peter Wells in October 1977. He left Southampton in the summer of 1978 to play for Fort Lauderdale. In his five years at The Dell, he made 107…

In 1987, Turner became player-manager of Romsey Town before joining Brockenhurst several months later. In 1992, he had a second stint with Romsey Town. He also player-managed AFC Totton in 1993.

As a player

Southampton

FA Cup: 1975–76