Lee Turnbull (born 27 September 1967) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who could play in either midfield or attack. He is currently chief operating officer and acting chairman at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Playing career

Turnbull started his career as an apprentice in 1984 with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

before signing professional forms in 1985. He played a part in the club's comeback from liquidation in 1986, making his debut in a cup game away at

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

in November 1985 before a league debut off the bench against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and a league start away to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, but witnessed the club's relegation from the Championship. Turnbull made 21 appearances in league and cup in total for The Boro, scoring five goals, in the promotion winning season 1986–87. He left Middlesbrough in 1987, joining

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

for a £50,000 fee. He was one of

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln ...

's first signings. He left Villa without any appearances to his name, featuring only once on the bench against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, and went on to play for various lower league teams. During his spell at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, he made 150 league and cup appearances. He scored two hat-tricks for Rovers, including a hat-trick of headers against Aldershot in a 3–0 win. He went on to play for Chesterfield and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

before joining

, initially on loan from Wycombe in 1994. He was club captain at Scunthorpe. He ended his professional career at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. His moves represented combined transfer fees of over £100,000 in a career of around 400 appearances and 70 goals in league and cup.

Football management and other roles

Turnbull retired from full-time professional football through injury at Darlington, joining Halifax then

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

as player coach during 1998–99.

Barrow

Turnbull joined Barrow as assistant manager in 1999 and took over from

Kenny Lowe Kenny Lowe (born 6 November 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is the manager of Australian side Perth SC. Kenny played for ten clubs in England, and had a stint in Australia also. He later managed Gateshead F.C., Gateshea ...

as manager in April 2003. The club achieved second and third-place finishes during his time at the club, as well as three cup final victories. Players such as Grant Holt and Glenn Murray played for Barrow whilst Turnbull was at Holker Street. He was sacked in November 2005 after six and a half years at the club.

Short-term appointments

He went on to work as assistant manager at

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, where he helped secure Conference status alongside manager Liam Watson, as head of recruitment and scouting at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, and, for three months in 2016, was head of recruitment at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Scunthorpe United

Turnbull served as former club Scunthorpe United's head of community for 17 years from 1998. He was the club's chief scout between 2006 and 2011, and again between 2014 and 2015. He rejoined the club as head of recruitment in September 2016. Turnbull identified and helped recruit several players for Scunthorpe who went on to be sold for seven-figure sums. These include Gary Hooper (£2.4 million),

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Doncaster Rovers. Sharp has played for Sheffield United, Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Re ...

(£2 million) and Martin Paterson (£1 million). He left the club in June 2020.

Short-term appointments

In November 2020, Turnbull joined Chesterfield in an advisory role. In December 2020 it was announced that Turnbull had begun working for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

as recruitment director. He left the club in September 2021, and in December 2021, joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in a consulting capacity to lead the scouting and recruitment of the club.

Return to Scunthorpe United

With the Iron bottom of League Two, ten points from safety, Turnbull returned to Scunthorpe, as chief operating officer, in March 2022, when Peter Swann stood down as the club's chairman.

References

External links