Iain Turner

So, if you're a "promising" young goalkeeper... but the Club you have grown up with just allowed your playing contract to expire... and then create an almighty fuss when some Sassenach club from the Premiership comes sniffing around...  Well, what does it all mean?

It means that David Moyes has seen you perform and he sees potential for the future.  And David Moyes is no mean judge of a player.  He brought Iain Turner to Bellefield for a trial in December 2002.  Then he made the effort to capture Turner's registration, and go before a tribunal to agree a nominal fee payable to Stirling Albion for the investment they had made in Iain's development as a goalkeeper. 

That development included 13 games in goal for the Scottish Third Division side — a rather brief spell in the first team.  And it will be a long time, one suspects, before he sees consistent first-team action at Everton.

Iain started playing in the Stirling Under-19s side, but played the role of substitute for Everton Reserves in his first few games for The Blues.  So David Moyes obviously sees something in Iain Turner that is worth investing in and developing. 

"To be honest, I was very surprised to learn that Everton and Charlton were interested in me after only 13 games for Stirling Albion, but with all the facilities available and the coaching down at Everton, it was a move that I could not turn down," he said. "I realise I might have to go from playing first-team football [in Scotland] to the Under-19s at Everton but not many people get the chance to join a Premiership club."

Turner made a strong impression in his first few games with the Reserves, but it was considered unfair to throw him into  the Premiership when Wright and Simonsen were injured, so Nigel Martyn was brought in to cover.  But at least Turner got to warm the bench for four Premiership games — and earned himself a one-year contract extension.

Young Iain then went off to Chester City for a loan spell, where he established a great record of having never lost while playing for the Conference side as he helped them win promotion back to the Football League. 

Turner continued to develop behind the scenes during the 2004-05 season at Everton, and even got on the bench for a few Premiership games when Nigel Martyn got injured.  But in March 2005, David Moyes considered it safe to let him go off again on loan, this time to Doncaster Rovers until the end of the season.  Moyes also brought in John Ruddy from Cambridge United for a bit of competition.

A good sign of Everton's intentions for the youngster came with a three-year contract extension in June 2005.  Turner said: "It is great to be offered a new contract by any club.  But when it is a club the size of Everton with such a great fanbase it is good.

"Hopefully I can come into the first team and do a job.  We now have four keepers at the club but you need that level of competition to push you that little bit further.  It is going to be interesting this season.

"Of course you set personal goals. There is no point playing football if you don't set targets - it is the same in life.  My ambition is to be Everton and Scotland's number one.  But with keepers it is about trying to get your chance.  The two ahead of me will be tough to get ahead of but if I get a chance I will try to take it."

Turner's chance finally came, albeit in bizarre circumstances that have become a remarkable characteristic of his colleague, Wretched 'Calamity Wright, who injured his ankle badly while warming up for the Chelsea FA Cup replay, falling awkwardly on a sign placed inside the goal saying "NOT IN USE"!  Turner looked composed and confident but his defence unfortunately could not contain an ebullient Chelsea side and he ended up on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline.

Another chance to consolidate his new position would come just days later against Blackburn... but that ended in farcical catastrophe for the young lad when he was sent off for handling the ball outside the area after just 8 mins.  He was not denying Blackburn a goalscoring opportunity, as FA Law  requires, but Everton (somewhat surprisingly) failed to appeal this grossly unfair decision. 

That meant Sander Westerveld coming in to deny Turner any further opportunities while Wright and Martyn remained injured.  And he didn't see any first-team action until November 2006, when he went out on loan again — this time to Crystal Palace.

Another loan deal followed in 2007 and very successful it was too.  In eleven games for Sheffield Wednesday, Turner remained undefeated.  He was recalled to play in the Man Utd game on 28 April 2007, with Everton infamously resting Tim Howard as part of a highly dubious "gentleman's agreement".  Turner put in a good performance that helped Everton into a commanding 2-0 lead until he inexplicably dropped an easy corner right at he feet of John O'Shea.  The initiative gifted back to the Red Devils, they went on to bash in four goals past a devastated Everton.  The following week,  the whole Howard transfer saga hit the headlines.

Turner seemed to be having a good pre-season in 2007 but he sustained a back injury in the USA, came back early, and was out of action for virtually the entire season, making the subs' bench on just three occasions.  He was pushed back down the pecking order when Stefan Wessels was brought in as back-up for Tim Howard.

Wessels was not good enough and left in May 2008 but things didn't look much better for Turner in 2008-09, with Carlo Nash joining the club on Deadline Day, specifically to pressurize Tim Howard.  Rumour had it Turner was looking for yet another loan position....

... and it took until March 2008 for that to come to fruition: Nottm Forest for the rest of the season: a nice change from the odd game for the Reserves.

But that was the pattern the follwing season (2009-10), with Carlo Nach the first understudty to Tim Howard, and Turner getting competition from youbng Adam Davies in the Reserves.  As Ruddy went to Norwich City, Nash joined Stoke City, and Howard was on World Cup leave, a good workout in goal for all three games of the 2010 Australia tour proved to be false security, however, with the imminent arrival of Slovakian World Cup star, Jan Mucha.

So it was no surprise that, come the start of the 2010-11 season, Turner was off out on loan, this time to Coventry City. However, it was only an emergency loan, and just for a month. And in his first game, at Watford, Trner came off injured after only 18 mins. He did play one full game, at Wolves, here Coventry lost 3-1. He returned to Everton in mid-September 2010.

After a few reserves appearances, another one-month emergency loan was arranged in January 2011, this time to Preston NE. In March, this was extended through April, despite the goal tender becoming part of a relegated side.

By Michael Kenrick
Last updated May 2011