Blair Turgott

Blair Sebastian Turgott (born 22 May 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Halmstad. He has previously played for West Ham United and Coventry City and has had loan spells with Bradford City, Colchester United, Rotherham United and Dagenham & Redbridge. Born in England, he represents the Jamaica national team.

Career

West Ham United

Turgott joined West Ham United aged 8 becoming a youth and development squad player. He made his West Ham debut on 5 January 2014 in a 5–0 FA Cup defeat by Nottingham Forest. This was his only appearance for West Ham before being released in 2015.

Loan spells

He moved on loan from West Ham United to Bradford City in November 2012, and made his professional debut in the FA Cup in a 1–1 draw against Brentford on 30 November 2012. Turgott stated in December 2012 that he hoped the loan move would toughen him up. On 4 March 2013, he returned to West Ham after his loan spell ended, having made 11 appearances for the club.

Turgott signed an initial one-month loan deal with Colchester United on 28 November 2013. Turgott made his Colchester United debut on 14 December 2013, coming on as a half time substitute in a 4–0 home defeat by Notts County. He scored his first club career goal on 26 December 2013, the opener in a 4–0 home win over Stevenage. Turgott returned to West Ham at the end of his loan having played four times and scoring once for Colchester.

On 17 January 2014, Turgott joined Rotherham United on an initial one-month loan. He made his Rotherham debut a day later in a 3–0 away win against Shrewsbury Town coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Ben Pringle.
This was his only appearance for Rotherham before he was recalled by West Ham in February 2014.

On 27 March 2014, Turgott joined League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Turgott made his Dagenham & Redbridge two days after signing for the club, making his first start for them, in a 1–0 win over Oxford United. Turgott went on to make five appearances for the club.

Coventry City

Having been released from his contract by West Ham United, on 2 February 2015, Turgott signed for Coventry City on a short-term deal.

Turgott made his Coventry City debut on 3 March 2015, coming on as a substitute for Adam Barton in the second half, in a 1–0 loss against Barnsley. Turgott scored his only Coventry goal on 28 March in a 0–1 away win against Peterborough United following-up a shot from Sanmi Odelusi. He was released by Coventry at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Leyton Orient

Turgott joined League Two club Leyton Orient on a one-year contract on 19 June 2015. He made his debut as a substitute on the opening day of the season, coming on for Jay Simpson in the 2–0 home win over Barnet, and scored his first goal for the club in the 3–0 win over Stevenage on 18 August. His opening goal for Leyton Orient was described as a "stunning goal" by their manager, Ian Hendon. Meeting a right-wing cross from Sean Clohessy, Turgott hit a first-time volley from past the Stevenage goalkeeper, Chris Day. In May 2016, he was released from Leyton Orient when it was announced that he would not be retained when his contract expired.

Bromley

On 4 August 2016, after a successful pre-season in which he had scored four goals, it was announced that Turgott had signed for hometown club Bromley.

Stevenage and Boreham Wood

After attending the V9 Academy, on 27 June 2017, Turgott joined League Two side Stevenage. After a single appearance for the Boro, as a second-half substitute in an EFL Cup loss at Millwall, he was loaned to Boreham Wood on 8 September 2017. He played the full 90 minutes against former club Leyton Orient the following day. On 21 December 2017, Stevenage announced that Turgott's contract had been terminated, following which he returned to Boreham Wood on a permanent deal.

Maidstone United

After Turgott scored during a short three-match loan spell at Maidstone, the Stones signed him for the 2018 - 19 season. Turgott went on to score 17 goals in 43 appearances, his most prolific period as a striker so far in his career.

Sweden

In July 2019, Turgott left England and signed with Allsvenskan side Östersund.

It wasn't until on 10 August 2019 when he made his debut for the club against GIF Sundsvall, coming on as a 43rd-minute substitute and won the penalty, which teammate Dino Islamović successfully converted the penalty, in a 1–1 draw. Two weeks later on 25 August 2019, Turgott scored his first goal for Östersunds FK, in a 3–1 lost against AIK. At the end of the 2019 season, he went on to make sixteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

At the start of the 2021 season, Turgott helped Östersund when he scored three times in the Svenska Cupen's group stage matches, including a brace against Landskrona BoIS and saw the club reach through the group stage. Turgott scored his first hat–trick of his Östersund's career, in a 5–0 win against Örebro SK on 18 April 2021. He then scored his second hat–trick of his Östersund's career, in a 3–1 win against IF Elfsborg on 19 September 2021. However, he was unable to help the club avoid relegation after they lost 3–0 against Varbergs BoIS. Despite this, Turgott finished as Östersund's top–scorer with thirteen goals in a total of twenty–nine appearances in the 2021 season.

On 5 May 2022, Turgott joined Allsvenskan side BK Häcken on a two-year deal. He won the 2022 Allsvenskan in his first season with BK Häcken, scoring in the title deciding match against IFK Goteborg in October 2022.

On 20 June 2024, Turgott signed for fellow Allsvenskan side Halmstad on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

International career

He has represented England up to under-19 level. He scored in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup against Canada and helped England to top their group. He scored his first goal at under-19 level during 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification in a 3–0 win against Estonia. He also scored twice in the 6–0 win against Faroe Islands, helping England finish top of their qualification group which also contained Ukraine.

Turgott was called up to represent the Jamaica national team for a pair of friendlies in June 2021. On 7 June 2021, he made his senior international debut for Jamaica in a 1–1 draw against Serbia.

Personal life

In April 2017, Turgott was charged with offences relating to fraud and money laundering. He was subsequently cleared of a charge of converting criminal property, while a jury failed to reach a verdict on the other charge of fraud.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Bradford City
*Football League Cup runner-up: 2012–13

BK Häcken
*Allsvenskan: 2022

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turgott, Blair
1994 births
Living people
Footballers from the London Borough of Bromley
People from Bromley
Jamaican men's footballers
21st-century Jamaican sportsmen
Jamaica men's international footballers
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
English people of Jamaican descent
Sportspeople of Jamaican descent
West Ham United F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
English Football League players
Black British sportsmen
21st-century Black British people
Men's association football midfielders
Colchester United F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Bromley F.C. players
Stevenage F.C. players
National League (English football) players
England men's semi-pro international footballers
Boreham Wood F.C. players
Maidstone United F.C. players
Östersunds FK players
BK Häcken players
Halmstads BK players
Allsvenskan players
V9 Academy players
2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden
English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
21st-century English sportsmen