Ross Turnbull

1.1. Childhood and education

Ross Turnbull was born on January 4, 1985, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. He attended Byerley Park Primary School and Woodham Community Technology College. As a child, he was a supporter of Newcastle United. He initially played as a midfielder for his hometown team, Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre AFC. His coach, Arthur Vickerstaff, was instrumental in converting him into a goalkeeper. Turnbull underwent trials with other North-East clubs, including Darlington and Sunderland, but ultimately chose to join Middlesbrough's Academy.

1.2. Youth career at Middlesbrough

Turnbull joined the Middlesbrough Academy and progressed through the club's youth ranks. In 2002, he signed a professional contract with Middlesbrough. He was part of the Middlesbrough youth team that reached the 2002-03 FA Youth Cup final, where they were defeated by Manchester United. His talent also saw him represent the England U20 national team at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

2.1. Middlesbrough (2002-2009)

After signing a professional contract in 2002, Turnbull spent several years on loan to various clubs to gain first-team experience before making his breakthrough at Middlesbrough and competing for the starting goalkeeper role.

2.1.2. First team breakthrough

After being recalled from Cardiff City, Turnbull played in two of Middlesbrough's games due to an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who had broken his thumb in training. One notable match was a 2-1 home victory against Arsenal at the Riverside Stadium on December 9, 2007.

Following Mark Schwarzer's departure to Fulham in the summer of 2008, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate decided against signing a new goalkeeper, allowing Turnbull and Jones to compete for the number one position. Although Jones started the first game of the season, Turnbull took over the following week in Middlesbrough's 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, after Jones injured himself during the warm-up. Turnbull eventually established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper, featuring in the team's last game of the season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a match they lost 2-0, with Salomon Kalou scoring twice. He also played in a 5-0 victory at Riverside against Chelsea.

In June 2009, Turnbull rejected a contract offer from Middlesbrough, informing the club of his decision to leave when his contract expired at the end of the month. In total, he made 29 appearances for Middlesbrough and 67 appearances across his various loan spells.

2.2. Chelsea (2009-2013)

On July 2, 2009, Ross Turnbull joined Chelsea on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract. He stated his intention to compete for the first-team place rather than remain a permanent backup to regular starting goalkeeper Petr Čech.

Turnbull's first involvement with the first team was as a substitute in Chelsea's opening game of the 2009-10 season against Hull City, which Chelsea won 2-1. However, his debut for the Chelsea reserves was less successful, as he made several blunders in a 4-0 loss to Aston Villa.

His first-team debut came on October 28, 2009, in a League Cup match against Bolton Wanderers, where he came on as a substitute for the injured Henrique Hilário after 23 minutes, in a game Chelsea won 4-0. Turnbull made his first start in the UEFA Champions League on December 8, 2009, in a 2-2 draw against APOEL, where he made a good save from a close-range shot within the first five minutes, despite conceding two goals.

On March 13, 2010, he made his Premier League debut in a 4-1 victory against West Ham United, filling in due to injuries to both Petr Čech and Henrique Hilário. Despite conceding a goal from Scott Parker, Turnbull played well. Three days later, he started against Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League Round of 16. Chelsea lost 1-0 and were eliminated, though Turnbull had a decent performance, saving a shot from Samuel Eto'o. His final Premier League appearance of the season was in a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers on March 21, 2010, where his slow reaction to a header by El Hadji Diouf contributed to the goal.

Although not part of the matchday squad, Turnbull received a winner's medal for Chelsea's 2010 FA Cup final victory over Portsmouth. However, he did not play enough games to earn a Premier League medal for the 2009-10 season.

In the 2010-11 season, Turnbull made his first appearance in the League Cup third round, a 4-3 loss to Newcastle United, where he was seen as a factor in Chelsea's defeat. On November 23, 2010, he played in a Champions League group stage match against Slovakian side MŠK Žilina, which Chelsea won 2-1 after coming from behind. For most of the season, Turnbull remained the second-choice goalkeeper behind Čech.

The 2011-12 season saw Turnbull receive more playing time. His first appearance was in the League Cup third round against Fulham. The game finished 0-0 after extra time, with Chelsea winning 4-3 on penalties. During regular play, Turnbull saved a penalty from Pajtim Kasami. In the shootout, he saved two more penalties from Mousa Dembélé and Bryan Ruiz, becoming a key player in Chelsea's progression. His next League Cup appearance, against Everton, resulted in a red card for a foul on Tim Cahill inside the penalty area. Čech replaced Romelu Lukaku and saved the subsequent penalty. In the League Cup quarter-final against Liverpool, Turnbull saved a penalty from Andy Carroll, but Chelsea still lost 2-0. With the Premier League season nearing its end, Turnbull played Chelsea's final two league games against Liverpool (a 4-1 loss) and Blackburn (a 2-1 win), as Čech was rested for the Champions League final. The match against Liverpool was his first league appearance in two years; his poor clearance directly led to a goal from Jonjo Shelvey. Turnbull was an unused substitute in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, for which he received a winner's medal.

For the 2012-13 season, Turnbull continued to have limited playing opportunities. After his release from Chelsea, Turnbull underwent a trial with Dutch club RKC Waalwijk, even featuring in a pre-season friendly against Rot-Weiss Oberhausen on July 20, 2013.

On June 30, 2013, Turnbull was released by Chelsea, concluding his four-year association with the club, during which he made a total of seven league appearances.

2.3. Doncaster Rovers (2013-2014)

On July 31, 2013, Ross Turnbull signed a one-year deal with newly promoted Championship side Doncaster Rovers. He made his debut for the club in the season's opening game, a 3-1 loss against Blackpool, conceding three goals. Notably, the third goal came after he went into the Blackpool penalty area for a corner in the final minute, an unusual move so early in the season. Despite this, Turnbull went on to deliver a string of impressive performances for Doncaster throughout 2013, including saving a penalty in a South Yorkshire derby against Barnsley on November 9, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

In early February 2015, reports indicated that Turnbull was suffering from injuries in both calves, requiring a recommended rest period of three to four weeks. He made his comeback in a reserve game against Scunthorpe United on March 18, 2015, which resulted in a 4-0 victory, and was subsequently named on the bench for Rovers' game against Sheffield Wednesday on March 22, 2015. However, due to the strong performances of on-loan goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, who was brought in as cover, Turnbull did not feature again for Doncaster towards the end of the 2013-14 season. In May 2014, Turnbull was one of eight players offered a contract extension by the club.

2.4. Barnsley (2014-2015)

On July 23, 2014, Ross Turnbull turned down the opportunity to extend his contract at Doncaster to sign a two-year deal with League One side Barnsley, marking his third spell at Oakwell. After a period out with injury, Turnbull finally made his debut on September 20, 2014, in an away match against Port Vale. He was sent off in a game against Leyton Orient on December 20, 2014, for handling the ball outside the penalty area, though Barnsley still managed a 2-0 victory. On February 14, 2015, Turnbull conceded five goals against struggling Crawley Town, a result that equaled Barnsley's seventh straight away defeat in the league.

Turnbull missed the remainder of the 2014-15 season due to a back injury, for which he underwent successful surgery in March 2015. In May 2015, Barnsley manager Lee Johnson expressed his anticipation for the competition between goalkeepers Turnbull, Christian Dibble, and Adam Davies for the number one spot in the upcoming 2015-16 season. On July 6, 2015, Turnbull was linked with a move to local rivals Leeds United.

2.5. Leeds United (2015-2017)

Ross Turnbull signed a two-year contract with Leeds United on July 15, 2015. Upon joining, Turnbull stated his intention to challenge Marco Silvestri for the number one shirt. On July 31, 2015, he was assigned the number 22 shirt for the upcoming 2015-16 season. Turnbull made his Leeds debut on August 12, 2015, against his former club Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Leeds exiting the cup after a 4-2 defeat in the penalty shootout. His season was cut short on October 14, 2015, after it was revealed he had broken his ankle in training.

By September 24, 2016, Turnbull had fallen out of favor and was no longer listed as a member of the squad in the Leeds United match programme, along with Toumani Diagouraga and Luke Murphy. All three players were training with the under-23 team. On May 17, 2017, Leeds United announced that Turnbull had been released, as his contract was not extended. This marked the end of his professional playing career.

3.1. Leeds United (analyst)

After concluding his playing career, Turnbull took up a position with Leeds United as their opposition goalkeeper analyst. He remained in this role for a year.

3.2. Chelsea (analyst and scout)

In 2017, Turnbull left Leeds United to take up a similar analytical role with his former club, Chelsea. Following his stint at Hartlepool United, he returned to Chelsea to take on a scouting role.

3.3. Hartlepool United (goalkeeper coach)

In March 2018, Turnbull joined the coaching staff at Hartlepool United as a voluntary goalkeeper coach. Following the appointment of Matthew Bates as first-team manager in May 2018, Turnbull's position became a full-time paid role. At the end of the 2020-21 season, after the club achieved promotion, Turnbull departed Hartlepool United to take up a scouting role with his former club, Chelsea.