Former Australian national team goalkeeper Michael Turnbull is riding the FFA Cup wave with the Brisbane Strikers to help the National Premier League side to Cup glory and achieve 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 Australian representation at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has been in fine form in the NPL since being recruited by the Strikers to make a football comeback.
The 33-year-old has played a key role in the Strikers reaching the round of 16 of the inaugural FFA Cup, where they will face Adelaide City in Adelaide on Tuesday, September 16.
Turnbull’s time so far with the Strikers has inspired him to look beyond the current contract with hopes of securing a deal with an A-League club.
“I have already turned down several offers from Europe’s top leagues because my passion is to return to the A-League,” Turnbull said.
“I feel being in Australia will place me in a better position if an opportunity with an A-League club becomes available.
“I will be flying to Sydney weekly to train with my former NSL goalkeeper coach Jim Fraser to maintain my fitness over the NPL off season should an opportunity arise in the A-League.”
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 [played] limited football over recent years in 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.
“People say I have another eight to 10 years left in the game. I want to prove them right.”
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