Player Profile

Trowbridge-born defender Turnbull was first on Swindon’s books as a Centre of Excellence player at the age of eight for three years, before joining Southampton in 2007. Twenty-year-old Turnbull returned to Swindon in August 2014, signing a season long loan from the Saints alongside Jack Stevens. The two would form an almost unbroken defensive trio with Nathan Thompson throughout the season in which Town made it all the way to the playoff final at Wembley.

Turnbull’s debut was a winning one - the Town running out 3-1 victors over Scunthorpe on the opening day. The defensive unit gelled well, and with all three comfortable on the ball, Town’s attacking play benefited hugely whilst still remaining miserly at the back - except, of course, away at Cheltenham Town, where Town managed their usual defeat with some aplomb, conceding five in their FA Cup first round exit. Turnbull scored his only Town goal at Walsall in March, rather impressively with the back of his head as he jumped for a cross.

Towards the end of the season, Town’s defence started to show signs of being more porous than it had been through the first three quarters of the season. After 36 games, Town had conceded only 38 goals, but the long season seemed to get to the young defenders a little as their level dropped, conceding three goals three times - against MK Dons, Walsall and Preston - over the last ten games of the normal season. The warning signs were certainly there, especially with Nathan Thompson carrying an injury, but it was still a shock when Town conceded (and scored) five in the playoff second leg against Sheffield United before conceding (this time unanswered) four more against Preston in the final.

Despite the way the season ended, Turnbull was voted Town’s Player of the Year by readers of the Swindon Advertiser - and in one of the strongest fields for many years too. As a result, Town fans were delighted by his return for a second season-long loan in 2015/16, and it did start well - Town running out 4-1 winners on the opening day thanks to a Nathan Byrne hat-trick with Turnbull partnering Raphael Rossi Branco in defence. That was more or less the high point of the season however, with Byrne sold shortly afterwards and Town limping to a 15th place finish as replacements for key players of the previous season proving well short of the required standard. Turnbull played 42 of Town’s 46 league games, missing three due to suspension after being sent off for a very mild act of ‘violent conduct’ against Oxford in the Football League Trophy.

That suspension meant that Turnbull just missed out on being the first player ever to make 100 appearances for Swindon without ever being a permanent Town player - he played his 98th and final game for Town in the 3-0 win over Shrewsbury Town on the final day of the season.

After finishing at Town, Turnbull joined Coventry City on a permanent deal and later played for Northampton and Salford.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Swindon Town Swindon	August 22nd, 2003 (schoolboy)
Melksham Town Melksham Town	2005/6 (schoolboy)
Southampton Southampton	2007 (academy) June 26th, 2013 (signed professional contract); transferred out (August 15th, 2016)
Swindon Town Swindon	August 8th, 2014 (loan); expired (rptd May 25th, 2015)
Swindon Town Swindon	August 4th, 2015 (loan); expired (rptd May 11th, 2016)
Coventry City Coventry City	August 15th, 2016 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); transferred out (January 11th, 2018)
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle	rptd July 31st, 2017 (loan); recalled from loan (rptd January 10th, 2018)
Northampton Town Northampton Town	January 11th, 2018 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); released (rptd July 2nd, 2020)
Salford City Salford	July 28th, 2020 (unattached); released (June 30th, 2022)
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers	July 26th, 2022 (unattached)