Lee Turner has been a loyal Jack of all trades for his hometown club Garforth Town.
Turner, the older brother of former Farsley twins Lewis and Nathan, has played in over 100 games over them and in nearly every position for them. He’s also scored some spectacular goals such as the rarely-talked about one against Harrogate Railway in 2017.
Aside from Garforth, Turner, was also a member of Paul Lines’ Wakefield FC side who despite no budget performed heroics in the NPL Division One North in the early 2010s.
Name
Lee Turner
Age
32
Current Club
Garforth Town
Previous Clubs
Wakefield FC, Nostell Miners Welfare
Position
Midfield/Striker
Day Job
I work in Commercial Banking
Best mate in football
Hard to pick one out of so many…. I would say Ryan Grant who I played with at Carlton Athletic, Hunslet Club and Wakefield FC, and then James Beaston, Toby Wells and Sam Denton from my time at Garforth.
Team you support
Leeds United
Football Idol
I liked the way Steven Gerrard played when I was a bit younger, didn’t really like Liverpool but thought he had everything as a midfielder and scored some cracking goals.
Biggest influence on football career
I would have to say my dad. He played at a similar level when he was younger at Glasshoughton and other clubs and he was always taking me and my brothers (Lewis and Nathan) all over the place when we were young giving us his advice and thoughts to help us improve.
Career Highlight
Getting to represent my home town club for so long. Last season brought up my 100th game for Garforth and at the time Rob Hunter had given me the armband as James Beaston was injured, so that was a special moment. It is such a great club with friendly people involved which is probably why I have spent the last few seasons here.
Lowest moment in football
I think the moment we are in now is probably the lowest. Not because of performances or how we are doing at Garforth but how frustrating it is with the pandemic. We were on for a really strong finish to the season last year which got null and void and then with us currently up the top end of the table this year it looks like it could have a similar outcome. I might not have too long left in the legs now so it’s frustrating to not be playing for non-football reasons.
Funniest moment in football
I think the Dublin trip at the end of the 16/17 season with Garforth. We had a really good group and we had a great laugh all weekend, flying off after the NCEL GroundHop game on the Bank Holiday.
First semi-professional manager
Paul Lines at Wakefield FC
Non League debut
My first appearance was actually against Garforth as a sub for Wakefield FC at the back end of 11/12 season, but was only 10 mins as a substitute. My full debut was at Belle Vue, first game of the 12/13 where we got beat 2-0 by Skelmersdale.
First Red Card in Non League
Never had one!
First Non League Goal
My first goal was for Wakefield away at Lancaster, I remember we arrived late after hitting traffic travelling up there and kick off was delayed, I scored a header after a couple of minutes and we won the game 2-1 for our first win of the 12/13 season.
What do you want to achieve in football in the future?
Just to play for as long as possible I think, like I mentioned earlier I am not getting any younger and you are a long time retired so I would just like to carry on playing for as long as I can and try to win promotion with Garforth.
Favourite Non League Ground
Probably Darlington or Curzon from my Wakefield days, not necessarily because of the ground itself but because they were the largest crowds I played in front of. Also playing at Guiseley for HT sports in the Carlsberg FA Sunday Cup semi final. I don’t know how many were in the ground but it felt like a big crowd. Unfortunatley we got beat by Oyster Martyrs who went on to win the competition that year.
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