| Neil Turner |
 Neil McDougall Turner was born on Monday, 12th October, 1891, in Govan, Glasgow. The forward first appeared as a trialist for George Easton's Thistle in October, 1912. Aged 21, he made his debut appearance on Tuesday, 15th October, 1912, in a 6-1 defeat at home to Clyde in the Glasgow & District Mid-Week League. There were no goals for Neil during his trial spells for Thistle. He played his second and last game for the club on Tuesday, 1st April, 1913, in a 3-2 defeat away to Third Lanark in the Glasgow & District Mid-Week League. His club-list included Benburb, Petershill, Partick Thistle, Rangers, Leeds City, Raith Rovers, St Mirren, Vale of Leven, Kilmarnock, Sunderland, Aberdare Athletic, Dundee, Bethlehem Steel, New Bedford Whalers and Springfield Babes. Neil died on Thursday, 28th January, 1971, in Pinellas County, Florida, aged 79. |
 Benburb were somewhat perturbed when Petershill stole Neil away in February 1912 and this itself was testament to his worth as a centre-forward. Before making it big, Petershill's star-in-the-making flirted with Thistle for around a year, being invited along for a few games. He first appeared (for the Reserves) in April 1912, a fundraiser in aid of (and against) Glasgow Perthshire, the juniors running out 3-1 victors. In October 1912, he got another Firhill run-out in a Glasgow League fixture against Clyde, but the result itself may have damaged his chances; Partick Thistle 1 Clyde 6. Back he came though in April 1913 and, playing under the psuedonym of "Steel" (weirdly Thistle's actual right winger of the day), Neil once again appeared for a Glasgow League fixture, the Jags going down by the odd goal in five to Third Lanark at Cathkin Park. Throughout his career he did actually featue both as a centre forward and as an outside right. Reports mention that he was fast, and he appeared in at least two sports days as a sprinter around this time. Since last turning out for Thistle he'd also featured as a trialist for Rangers, so he was clearly bubbling up towards a big move from the juniors. In September 1913, Neil did indeed get his move, and it was down to England he went, joining Second Division Leeds City, making his Football League debut at Huddersfield Town that November, scoring in a 1-1 draw. First team opportunities were limited to 2 outings in November and two the following April, with Neil scoring again that month in a 1-0 win over Bristol City. In August 1914, he returned to Scotland joining Raith Rovers. During the First World War, Turner played as a guest with Benburb once again, and then moved to St Mirren in December 1916, scoring 4 goals in 11 appearances for The Buddies, from where he joined Vale of Leven in May 1917, moving to Kilmarnock in September 1918, scoring 5 goals in 9 appearances for Killie through to the year end. With the end of the War he joined First Division club Sunderland in 1919 for whom he made his Football League debut at Bradford Park Avenue in April 1920, his only appearance for The Wearsiders in two seasons at Roker Park. He joined Third Division (South) club Aberdare Athletic in 1921, scoring twice in 22 appearances during 1921-22, before returning to Scotland with Dundee, where he made 8 appearances during 1922-23. In October 1923, Turner joined Bethlehem Steel of the nascent American Soccer League as many players were tempted to do at the time, scoring 17 goals in 43 appearances for them over the next two seasons. In 1925, he moved to the New Bedford Whalers, scoring 14 times in 32 appearances, before finishing his career with the Springfield Babes, for whom he scored 6 times in 21 matches during the 1926-1927 season before his retirement. |
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