Turnbull: Ross

2015-2017 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Goalkeeper

Born: Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham: 04-01-1985

Debut: v Doncaster Rovers (a): 13-08-2015

6' 3' 13st 3lb (2015)

Born in Bishop Auckland he was brought up in Newton Aycliffe and attended Byerley Park Primary School and Woodham Community Technology College. He started playing football as a midfielder for Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre and it was there that the coach, Arthur Vickerstaff, converted him to a goalkeeper. He had trials, for six weeks with Sunderland when he was twelve, and subsequently with Darlington for ten weeks, but he was then approached by David Parnaby and instead chose to join the Middlesbrough Academy. He made his England Under-Sixteen debut on 11th July 2001, but it was his only cap at that level. He made his debut for the England Under-Seventeens in a 6-0 win over Poland on 22nd November 2001 and went on to gain four caps at that level. The following year he moved up to Under-Eighteens and made his debut on 13th November 2002, in a 0-3 defeat by France at the Stade Saint-Lazare, Limoges, going on to gain five caps at that level. He made his debut for the England Under-Nineteens on 21st August 2003, going on to make eight appearances, with two games in the Group eight UEFA qualifying round in Russia with full games in a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein at the Metallurg Stadium in Samara on 20th September 2003 and in the 1-0 victory over Russia at the Saturn Stadium in Ramenskoye four days later. He then started two friendlies as England defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in De Strokel, Harderwyk on 17th February 2004, when he gave way to Jamie Young and a 1-1 draw with Germany at the Stadtisches Stadion, Celle on 30th March 2004, when he gave way to David Martin. He then played three full games in the UEFA Group Four Under-Nineteen Championship Second Qualifying Round in Slovenia, the first in a 1-2 defeat by Slovenia at Sportni Park, Celje on 28th April 2004, then in a 3-0 win over Denmark at the NK Aluminij Stadion, Kidricevo two days later, and then in a 1-1 draw with Ukraine at Sportni Park, Celje on 2nd May 2004. He was selected for the England squad for the fourteenth FIFA World Youth Championships 2003 in the United Arab Emirates but Andy Lonergan played in all three games as Turnbull sat unused on the bench. He did go on to make one substitute appearance for the England Under-Twenty team when he replaced Luke Steele in the 2-0 win over Russia at The Valley, Charlton on 8th February 2005, however, that proved to be the end of his representative career. He had signed his first professional contract for Middlesbrough in 2002. With Mark Schwartzer firmly entrenched as the Middlesbrough goalkeeper there was little chance of Turnbull gaining first team experience. On 13th November 2003, in an emergency, he was loaned to Darlington for a week and played in the 0-0 home draw with Lincoln City on 15th November 2003. He went on a short term loan to Second Division, Barnsley, on 15th April 2004 and started three of the last four League games of the 2003-04 season for them, making his debut in a 0-2 home defeat by Brentford on 17th April 2004. His next short-tem loan was with League One side, Bradford City, for a month from 6th August 2004. He made his debut the following day in a 1-2 defeat at Hartlepool United and three days later he played a full game in the 2-2 Home draw with Peterborough United before sitting unused on the bench in the 2-0 home win over Doncaster Rovers on 14th August 2004 before returning to Boro at the end of the month. It was not long before he was loaned out again, this time to another League One side, Barnsley, who he joined for the second time, on 6th October 2004, making his debut three days later in a 0-0 home draw with Brentford. He soon established himself as the regular keeper at Oakwell, and remained as that until his final game in a 4-1 home win over Torquay United on 26th February 2005, starting twenty-three League and one F.A. Cup tie before returning to Middlesbrough on 8th May 2005. He was loaned to Championship side, Crewe Alexandra on 2nd August 2005 for the season and, after being on the bench for the first four games of the season, he made his League debut for them on 27th August 2005 in a 0-2 defeat by Southampton at St Mary's Stadium. He had played six games until the 0-0 home draw with Watford on 24th September 2005 when he was injured with five minutes left on the clock. He was sidelined for almost three months, making his return in a 1-2 home defeat by Norwich City on 10th December 2005 and played the rest of the season until 22nd April 2006 in a 0-1 loss to Leeds United at Elland Road, when he brought his total League appearances for Crewe to twenty- nine. He was recalled to the Riverside and made his Premiership debut in a 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on 3rd May 2006 and four days later played his second EPL match in a 0-1 loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage in the final game of the season. With Mark Schwartzer back in goal and Brad Jones as his deputy, there was nothing happening for Turnbull apart from being the unused substitute in one League and two F.A. Cup matches in the 2006-07 season. On 26th July 2007 he signed a season long loan to Championship side, Cardiff City. He was immediately installed as first choice goalkeeper making his debut in the first game of the season in a 0-1 home defeat by Stoke City on 11th August 2007. He played the first six League games of the season and two League Cup ties before, after a series of errors, he was replaced by Michael Oakes and he was on the bench for three League and one League Cup tie, before he was recalled by Middlesbrough after Brad Jones, the deputy to Mark Schwarzer, had been injured. Turnbull stood in for Mark Schwarzer after he broke his thumb in training playing in the 1-1 draw at Reading on 1st December 2007 and the 2-1 home win over Arsenal eight days later and he also stood in on 19th April 2008 in the 0-1 home defeat by Bolton Wanderers. For the rest of the League and F.A. Cup games he was unused on the bench as Mark Schwarzer had the gloves. He was chosen as the Middlesbrough Young Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season. The 2008-09 season saw the long-serving Mark Schwarzer leave Tees-side for Fulham during the pre-season period. It left Brad Jones and Turnbull to vie for the top spot. It was Jones that initially got the nod and played in the first game of the season in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Riverside on 16th August 2008. However, he was injured in the warm up for the game with Liverpool at Anfield a week later and this gave Turnbull the chance he needed and he played twenty-three consecutive appearances, including one in the League Cup, which culminated in a 0-2 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 28th January 2009, after which Brad Jones regained his place for the rest of the season, that saw Middlesbrough relegated from the EPL. His contract ended at the end of the season and Turnbull chose not to renew it and instead signed a four year contract when joined Chelsea on a free transfer on 2nd July 2009. He had been at Middlesbrough for seven seasons since signing professional and had started twenty-seven League games and two in the League Cup. At Chelsea he was in a similar situation with long time incumbent, Petr Cech, as he had been with Mark Schwarzer at Middlesbrough. He also had stiff opposition from Portuguese International Henrique Hilario but started off as the keeper on the bench in the first game of the season against Hull City at Stamford Bridge on 15th August 2009, but a poor performance in a 0-4 defeat by Aston Villa in the Reserve fixture at Stamford Bridge ten days later, in which he was at fault on several occasions did his prospects no good as he became the third choice keeper. He did, however, make his debut on 28th October 2009, in a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at home in the League Cup, after starting on the bench, when Hilario was injured in the twenty-third minute and Turnbull was called upon to replace him. His starting debut came in the Champions League, in a 2-2 home draw with Apoel Nicosia, when he was preferred to Hilario in Cech's absence on 8th December 2009. He made his League debut on 13th March 2010 in a 4-1 home win against West Ham United, when both Cech and Hilario were injured. He also started in the 0-1 home defeat by Inter Milan three days later and in the 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on 21st March 2010. Despite not being in the squad for F.A. Cup final win over Portsmouth, he received a winners' medal but did not play sufficient games to qualify for a championship medal as Chelsea won the EPL that season. The 2010-11 season saw Turnbull firmly establish himself as number two to Petr Cech, sitting unused in all but four of the thirty-eight League games that season, but not making a start. He did, however, make one start in the League Cup, in the Third Round 3-4 home defeat by Newcastle United on 22nd September 2010 and also in the Champions League on 23rd November 2010 in a 2-1 home win over MSK Zilina. He remained Petr Cech's deputy for the 2011-12 season, not being in the squad for just three games, sitting unused on thirty-three occasions in the EPL, but finally making two appearances in the final two games of the season, as Cech was rested prior to the Champions League Final. The games were a 1-4 beating at Anfield by Liverpool on 8th May 2012 and a 2-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers five days later. He also made three appearances in the League Cup, coming on for the injured Petr Cech at half-time in the home Third Round tie with Fulham on 21st September 2011. He had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he had to face a penalty after a foul by Alex which also saw him dismissed. He saved the resulting spot-kick by Pajtim Kasami and the tie finished 0-0, after extra-time. This resulted in a penalty shootout and Turnbull saved two penalties from Mousa Dembele and Bryan Ruiz, as Chelsea went through 5-3 on penalties. In the next round on 26th October 2011 he started against Everton at Goodison Park and with Chelsea leading 1-0 in the fifty-eighth minute he was sent off and conceded a penalty for a foul in the box. Chelsea took off an outfield player, Romelu Lukaku and replaced him with Petr Cech, who saved the Leighton Baines spot-kick and Chelsea went on to win 2-1, after extra-time. In the next round, in which Turnbull played a full game, Chelsea were beaten 0-2 at home by Liverpool, but during the match he saved a penalty from Andy Carroll. He was an unused substitute in the 2-1 F.A. Cup Final win over Liverpool and the UEFA Champions League Final win by 5-4 on penalties over Bayern Munich after the game had finished 0-0, after extra-time and gained winners' medals on both occasions. In his final season for Chelsea in 2012-13 Turnbull's situation remained the same as can be judged from his participation in EPL games for Chelsea in that season. He did not miss a game, starting two, coming on as a substitute in one and being the unused substitute in the other thirty-five. He came on as a substitute for the injured Petr Cech in the 2-1 away win at Everton at half-time when the score was 1-1. Three days later he played a full game in a 0-1 home defeat by Queens Park Rangers and, on 30th January 2013, played a full game in a 2-2 draw at Reading. In the same period in the F.A. Cup he played full games on 5th January 2013 in a 5-1 win at Southampton and on 27th January 2013 in a 2-2 draw at Brentford. On 9th January, during Cech's absence, he also played a full game in the League Cup in a 0-2 home defeat by Swansea City, having already played one game in the same competition, when Cech was rested in a 6-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 25th September 2012. He won a UEFA Europa League winners' medal when he was on the bench when Chelsea beat Benfica 2-1 at the Amsterdam Arena on 15th May 2013 and was also on the bench in the FIFA Club World Cup Final at the Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Japan, when Chelsea were defeated 0-1 by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista of Brazil, and the UEFA SuperCup, on 31st August 2012, when Chelsea were defeated 1-4 by Athletico Madrid at Stade Louis II in Monaco. His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2012-13 and he became a free agent. In his four years at Stamford Bridge he had started six League games and come on as a substitute once, but had started two games in the F.A. Cup, three in the European Cup and five and two games as a substitute in the League Cup. Turnbull went on trial with Dutch club RKC Waalwijk, featuring for them against Rot-Weiss Oberhausen in Germany in a pre-season friendly on 20th July 2013. Turnbull signed for Championship side, Doncaster Rovers, on 31 July 2013 on a one-year Contract. He made his debut for Doncaster, three days later, in the opening game of the season, in a 1-3 home defeat by Blackpool. He maintained his hold on the goalkeeper's jersey for the first twenty-eight games of the season until injury side-lined him for a month. Sam Johnstone, who had been brought in as an emergency loan keeper in his absence, was in fine form and Turnbull had to be content with a place on the bench for the rest of the season. At the end of the season Turnbull was one of just eight players to be offered a new contract, but Turnbull turned it down and signed a two year contract with former club Barnsley, on 23rd July 2014. In his one season at Doncaster Rovers he started twenty-eight games in the League, two in the F.A. Cup and two in the League Cup. In his third spell with the Oakwell who were now in League One, he did not start with the best of luck and was injured for the opening part of the season. He had a couple of games unused on the bench before making his debut on 20th September 2014 in a 1-2 defeat at Port Vale. He went on to start twenty-two League, four F.A. Cup ties and one Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie. He played his final game of the season on 14th February 2015 in a 1-5 defeat at Crawley Town. A back injury caused him to miss the rest of the season, but in March 2015 he had surgery which was successful. There was plenty of competition for the Barnsley goalkeeping jersey in prospect for the 2015-16 season with Christian Dibble and Adam Davies both pressing their claims. on 15 July 2015 Turnbull signed a two-year contract with Leeds United. He made his debut for Leeds in a pre-season friendly at York City the same evening in a 1-1 draw, but it soon became apparent that he was number two to Marco Silvestrie, but made his competitive debut in the League Cup on 13th August 2015 at Doncaster Rovers. That game apart, he sat on the bench in the first ten League games of the season, until he was injured in a behind-doors game when he sustained a broken ankle. The incident had taken place the previous week but on 14th October the club announced that the operation on the injured ankle had been a success but it was long term and would keep him out for the rest of the season as he needed nine screws to repair the damage and suffered from scar tissue as a result. It was a fractured dislocation which also had injured the ligaments. This required a second operation, or "clean-up surgery" which took place towards the end of the 2015-16 season and it was expected that he would be fit for pre-season training. This, in fact, occurred but the arrival of Rob Green from Queens Park Rangers and the emergence of young Bailey Peacock-Farrell, saw Marco Silvestri second in the pecking order to Green and Turnbull looking for a club where he could achieve regular games. He had seen Sol Bamba negotiate a deal whereby he could quit the club and not fulfill his contract. In Turnbull's case he was earning £10,000 per week for the rest of the season. By late September 2016 he was so much on the outer that he, Toumani Diagouraga and Luke Murphy were no longer listed in the club's programme as squad members and had been sent to the Under-Twenty-Three team to carry out their training. So it was that he had to remain with the club until the end of the season, when on 17th May 2017, along with Jordan Botaka, Alex Purver, Michael Taylor, Jack Vann and Billy Whitehouse his contract was not renewed.