Former Australian national team goalkeeper Michael Turnbull has relaunched his professional career.
He will help out National Premier League side the Brisbane Strikers in the hope of claiming the inaugural FFA Cup and pursue his own dreams of a full-time return to top flight football.
Turnbull, whose impressive resume includes stints with Serie A giants AC Roma, Belgium’s Standard Liege and representing Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has signed a short term deal with the Strikers.
The 33-year-old played a key role in last week’s nationally televised 2-1 FFA Cup win by the Strikers over Broadmeadow Magic in Newcastle.
Turnbull’s brief taste of the action in his two games for the Strikers in the NPL and FFA Cup has inspired him to look beyond the current contract with hopes of securing a deal with a A-League club or overseas.
Despite once being among the rising stars of Australian football and playing more than 200 games for Sydney’s Marconi Stallions in the old NSL before continuing his career overseas, Turnbull in recent years has focussed on building his Brisbane real estate business.
But he answered an SOS from the Strikers and the experience has influenced him to once again be a full-time professional footballer.
“Playing with the Strikers has renewed my passion for football and I’m looking at the game from a completely different point of view from when I first broke into senior ranks as a teenager,” he said.
“I’m a lot more mature now and I’m in a mindset to give it a real go. My immediate focus is on doing well with the Strikers, but if an A-League contract did come my way I’d jump at it.”
Brisbane Strikers goalkeeping coach Mark Askew said Turnbull was a great asset for the club and there was no reason why he couldn’t reactivate a full-time career at the top level.
“Michael is a class act and the skill and experience he brings to the Strikers is invaluable,” he said.
“He has many great years left in his career as he is in superb condition and is so focussed. Michael has played at the highest level and you can see that from his recent outstanding performances for us in the FFA Cup, including one of the saves of the tournament so far.”
Turnbull might still be playing in Europe had he not encountered visa issues during a stint with Bristol City in England. When he returned to Australia and the new A-League in 2006, he accepted a deal with the now defunct New Zealand Knights.
“They went bankrupt, the players lost money and I became disillusioned with football,” he said.
“I have mainly concentrated on real estate and have limited football over recent years to short stints with clubs in Sydney, Wollongong and Melbourne.
“But this opportunity with the Strikers is a new chance for me to pursue my true love – a career in top flight football.
“I want to help the Strikers achieve the dream of winning the FFA Cup and I also want to be back in the game permanently.
“Mark Schwarzer has just signed a new contract in the English Premier League with Chelsea at the age of 41.
“People say I have another eight to 10 years left in the game. I want to prove them right.”
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