Turnbull, Ross

Ross Turnbull

Written by Plokoon13 and last updated September 2009

[[fimg]=left]http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/loz1905/Turnbull1.gif[/[fimg]] Following Middlesbrough's relegation at the end of the 2008/09 season, a lot of talented players were suddenly up for grabs, one of whom was the young English keeper, Ross Turnbull, who took advantage of his boyhood team’s plight to reject a contract offer, ending a thirteen-year spell at the club.

Having played at Middlesbrough ever since he was spotted playing for his home town team of youngsters - Newton Aycliffe Youth, he was offered a professional contract at the tender age of 15, his 6ft 4 frame, sharp reflexes and impressive run of form in Middlesbrough‘s run to the 2003 FA Youth Cup final, as well as impressive performances at the 2003 UEFA European Youth Championships helping him steadily rise through the ranks.

During his goalkeeping education, Turnbull was loaned out to various lower league clubs, with varying degrees of success and often only for short spells, (he only appeared in one match for Darlington, three for Barnsley and two for Bradford City), culminating in 2007 with a loan move to Cardiff, where he started the season as first choice goalkeeper. However, after a series of errors in his opening matches, he was dropped from the Cardiff starting lineup, and endured a miserable stay before he was recalled to Middlesbrough in order to step in for the injured Mark Schwarzer, who would go on to announce he was transferring to Fulham at the end of the 2007/08 season. This left manager Gareth Southgate to choose between his two young keepers, Turnbull and Brad Jones. Initially Jones got the nod, but after an injury, Turnbull aptly stepped in until Jones’ return at the end of the calendar year.

[[fimg]=right]http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/loz1905/Turnbull2.gif[/[fimg]] In June 2009, Turnbull’s contract with Middlesbrough expired, and on the second day of the transfer window, he joined Chelsea on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract.

In pre-season he made a brief second half appearance against Inter Milan, in which he kept a clean sheet. As of the beginning of the 2009/10 season, he has been battling Henrique Hilario for the second choice spot in the squad, however Turnbull ambitiously announced he would not be satisfied as Petr Cech’s understudy, and would be fighting for his own first team place. He did not get off to a good start, being at fault for a number of goals as he made his reserve team debut in Chelsea’s 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa