Alexander "Sandy" Turnbull (30 July 1884 – 3 May 1917) was a Scottish

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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for both

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

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the early 20th century. He was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Football career

Born in

Hurlford Hurlford is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, situated on the outskirts of Kilmarnock, the largest and administrative centre of East Ayrshire and East Ayrshire Council. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlfor ...

to James and Jessie Turnbull of 1 Gibson Street,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, Turnbull started his football career with his hometown club, Hurlford Thistle. He later moved to

. In 1905, City was found guilty of malpractice relating to payments of its players, and the entire squad was suspended from playing football. When the ban was lifted on 31 December 1906, Turnbull moved to City's crosstown rivals

, along with

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

Herbert Burgess Herbert Larry Burgess (25 February 1883 – 23 September 1961) was an English footballer. Born in Openshaw, Manchester, Burgess began his football career with Glossop North End, but soon signed for Manchester City. He made his debut for City o ...

and

Jimmy Bannister James Bannister (20 September 1880 – 18 December 1953) was an English footballer. Bannister was purchased by Manchester United from Manchester City in 1906. He helped the club win the 1908 league championship. He left United in 1909 to go to ...

. His first game for United came on the next day, 1 January 1907, against

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 ...

. Along with Meredith, he helped the club to their first championship in 1908 and the 1909

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, scoring the only goal in the final, against Bristol City. In 1908 alone, he would score 27 goals in 25 games. On 19 February 1910, Turnbull scored the first ever goal at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, in a 4–3 loss against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He would go on to score 100 goals for the club in 245 games. His final game for the Reds came against

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 ...

in 1915. Turnbull received a lifelong ban from football in 1915 along with several others players after being found guilty of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

. He was posthumously re-instated in 1919.

Military career

Turnbull enlisted in the 23rd Battalion of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

( 2nd Football Battalion) during the

before being transferred to the 8th Battalion of the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

. After being promoted to the rank of

lance sergeant Lance sergeant (LSgt or L/Sgt) is a military appointment in the armies of the Commonwealth and formerly also a rank in the United States Army. Commonwealth Lance-sergeant in the armies of the Commonwealth was an appointment given to a corporal ...

, Turnbull was killed during the Battle of Arras on 3 May 1917 aged 32. Turnbull's body, if recovered, was never identified. He is commemorated on the Arras memorial.

Family

Turnbull was married and had four children. Two of Turnbull's sons, Alexander Jr. and Ronald, signed amateur forms with Manchester United in August 1932, but neither managed to follow in their father's footsteps and they were released before making an appearance for the club.

Honours

Club

;Manchester City *

: 1903–04 ;Manchester United *

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

: 1907–08, 1910–11 *

: 1908–09

References

External links

Sandy Turnbull Profile
Football and the First World War

at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Sandy 1884 births 1917 deaths Scottish men's footballers Manchester City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players East Surrey Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Men's association football inside forwards English Football League players Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Middlesex Regiment soldiers Military personnel from East Ayrshire Footballers from Hurlford