Turner Arthur “Archie” Image 1 Southampton 1902

Description

Farnborough, Hampshire born outside right Arthur “Archie” Turner began his football career with Aldershot North End in 1892 and joined South Farnborough Athletic in 1894, then Camberley St Michael’s in 1896. After trials with Brentford and Reading he joined Southern League Champions Southampton in May 1899, making his debut at Millwall that October, soon establishing himself as their number one right winger. In his first season at The Dell, The Saints failed to defend their championship, finishing third, but reached the FA Cup Final for the first time in their history. Unfortunately for Turner, the Cup Final was a great disappointment as Saints were swept aside 4-0 by Bury at The Crystal Palace. Turner was the only Hampshire born player to appear in Saints FA Cup final team. He also achieved the then unique distinction of being called up for England in his first season in first class football,  becoming the first Hampshire born player to represent England, when he played against Ireland in a 2-0 victory at Lansdowne Road, Dublin in March 1900.

His rapid rise to prominence made him a target for opposing full-backs and he received some rough treatment. Despite this, he continued to produce exciting wing play down the right-hand side. According to Holley & Chalk’s The Alphabet of the Saints, “he was a master of delivering accurate centres; if he had a fault it was a reluctance to shoot, preferring instead to find a colleague who perhaps would not be in such a promising position.”

In 1900-01, Southampton won the Southern League Championship, Turner scoring 7 goals in 20 appearances during the campaign. Turner was capped for the second and final time in a 3-0 win over Ireland at The Dell in March 1901, although he had to go off injured after 20 minutes. The 1901-02 season followed a similar pattern to 1899-1900 with Saints finishing in third place in the Southern League, reaching their second FA Cup Final, where they narrowly lost to Sheffield United after a replay at The Crystal Palace.

In May 1902, he was tempted to join Derby County where he played alongside the famous England inside right Steve Bloomer, making his Football League debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers that September. His sojourn at Derby was brief and after a single goal in 21 appearances he moved on to Newcastle United in January 1903, where he scored once in 13 matches and then briefly to Tottenham Hotspur in February 1904, where he scored 5 goals in 6 appearances, including 4 in his second match against Kettering Town in April 1904, before returning to Southampton in the summer of 1904. By now his career was nearly over and he only made 13 League appearances in the 1904-05 season, with Charles Webb competing with him for his position. He quit the professional game at the end of the season having scored 30 goals in 98 appearances for The Saints across his two spells at the club.

His younger brother, Harry Turner, also played for Southampton between December 1903 and January 1905, and indeed they played together on three occasions for the first team. Harry also played for Reading.