Paul Turnbull

Paul Daniel Turnbull (born 23 January 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently player manager of Stockport Town.

Paul Turnbull

Turnbull lifting the National League North trophy in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Paul Daniel Turnbull
Date of birth	(1989-01-23) 23 January 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth	Handforth, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Stockport Town
Youth career
2000–2005	Stockport County
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2011	Stockport County	125	(7)
2008	→ Altrincham (loan)	6	(0)
2011–2013	Northampton Town	14	(0)
2012	→ Stockport County (loan)	14	(0)
2012	→ Stockport County (loan)	12	(2)
2013	→ Lincoln City (loan)	15	(0)
2013–2016	Macclesfield Town	112	(9)
2016–2017	Barrow	31	(3)
2017–2018	Chester	21	(0)
2018–2020	Stockport County	66	(3)
2020–2021	Curzon Ashton	15	(0)
2021–	Stockport Town	95	(10)
Managerial career
2022–	Stockport Town
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:52, 23 September 2024 (UTC)

Club career

Stockport County

Born in Handforth, Cheshire, Turnbull progressed through the Stockport County Centre of Excellence youth system where he trained as a striker, although he later adapted to playing in the centre of midfield . He became the youngest player to play league football in Stockport County's history, when he came off the bench against Wrexham on 30 April 2005, aged 16 years 97 days and still a school student at Wilmslow High School.^[2][3]

On 21 December 2007, Turnbull extended his contract at Edgeley Park until summer 2009, following a number of regular first team appearances.^[4] He started 16 games for Stockport in the 2007–08 season before joining Conference National club Altrincham on loan in March 2008,^[5] where he made six appearances.^[2] He returned from loan and impressed manager Jim Gannon so much that he played all of the clubs playoff games at the end of the season, including the final at Wembley Stadium.

Turnbull became a regular in the 2008–09 season and scored the first senior goal of his career in Stockport's 3–1 victory over Oldham Athletic on 3 October 2008.^[6]

In the 2010–11 season he was made club captain by Stockport manager Paul Simpson at the age of 21.^[7]

Northampton Town

In May 2011 he was offered a new one-year deal by the club^[8] although in June 2011 Stockport agreed a fee with Northampton Town and agreed permission for Turnbull to talk to the club, with a view to agreeing personal terms^[9] and on 29 June the club confirmed he had signed for Northampton.^[10]

On 23 January 2012 he rejoined Stockport County on loan. On 21 September 2012 he rejoined Stockport County again on loan until 22 December. In January 2013, he joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the season.^[11]

Macclesfield Town

In July 2013 he joined Macclesfield Town after being released by Northampton Town.^[12]

Barrow

After refusing a new contract at Macclesfield Town, Turnbull joined Barrow on 7 June 2016.^[13]

Chester

In July 2017 he joined Chester on a two-year deal, but off the field money issues at Chester meant Paul cut his spell there short.^[14]

Stockport County

Paul rejoined his boyhood team Stockport County and was a crucial part of their 2018/2019 National League North winning campaign.

Later career

After leaving Stockport County, Paul joined National League North Curzon Ashton for the 2020/21 season,^[15] before joining Stockport Town in North West Counties Division One South in July 2021.^[16] He is currently player manager of Stockport Town and an academy coach at Stockport County.^[17][18]

Career statistics

As of 22 September 2024^[19]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stockport County	2004–05[20]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2005–06[21]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2006–07[22]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2007–08[23]	League Two	19	0	2	0	0	0	6[a]	0	27	0
	2008–09[24]	League One	34	2	1	0	1	0	2[b]	0	38	2
	2009–10[25]	League One	30	0	2	2	1	0	2[b]	0	35	2
	2010–11[26]	League Two	41	5	2	0	1	0	1[b]	0	45	5
	Total		125	7	7	2	3	0	11	0	146	9
Altrincham (loan)	2007–08[23]	Conference Premier	6	0	—		—		0	0	6	0
Northampton Town	2011–12[27]	League Two	14	0	1	0	2	1	1[b]	0	18	1
	2012–13[28]	League Two	0	0	—		0	0	1[b]	0	1	0
	Total		14	0	1	0	2	1	2	0	19	1
Stockport County (loan)	2011–12[27]	Conference Premier	14	0	—		—		0	0	14	0
	2012–13[28]	Conference Premier	12	2	1	0	—		0	0	13	2
	Total		26	2	1	0	—		0	0	27	2
Lincoln City (loan)	2012–13[28]	Conference Premier	15	0	—		—		0	0	15	0
Macclesfield Town	2013–14[29]	Conference Premier	37	4	5	0	—		0	0	42	4
	2014–15[30]	Conference Premier	37	4	2	1	—		0	0	39	5
	2015–16[31]	National League	38	1	2	1	—		4[c]	0	44	2
	Total		112	9	9	2	—		4	0	125	11
Barrow	2016–17[32]	National League	31	2	1	1	—		3[c]	0	35	3
Chester	2017–18[33]	National League	21	0	1	0	—		3[d]	0	25	0
Stockport County	2017–18[1]	National League North	9	0	—		—		1[e]	0	10	0
	2018–19[1]	National League North	27	2	0	0	—		6[c]	0	33	2
	2019–20[1]	National League	30	1	1	0	—		3[c]	0	34	1
	Total		66	3	1	0	—		10	0	77	3
Curzon Ashton	2020–21[1]	National League North	15	0	0	0	—		1[c]	0	16	0
Stockport Town	2021–22[34]	NWCFL Division One South	28	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	5
	2022–23[35]	NWCFL Division One South	37	4	0	0	1	0	2[f]	1	40	5
	2023–24[36]	NWCFL Division One South	26	1	1	0	0	0	4[g]	1	31	2
	2024–25[37]	NWCFL Premier Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	1[h]	0	5	0
	Total		95	10	1	0	1	0	7	2	104	12
Career total			526	33	22	5	6	1	41	2	595	41

1. Three appearances in Football League Trophy, three appearances in League Two play-offs
2. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
4. Two appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance in Cheshire Senior Cup
5. Appearance(s) in National League North play-offs
6. One appearance in FA Vase, one appearance in NWCFL First Division Challenge Cup
7. One appearance and one goal in FA Vase, one appearance in Cheshire Senior Cup, two appearances in NWCFL Division One South play-offs
8. Appearance(s) in FA Vase

Managerial statistics

As of match played 22 September 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Stockport Town	28 January 2022	present	120	69	21	30	057.5	[38][39][40][41]
Total			120	69	21	30	057.5

Honours

Stockport County

• Football League Two play-offs: 2008^[42]
• National League North: 2018–19