Graham Turner

Graham Turner

Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is fourth behind only Alex Ferguson, Neil Warnock and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a 19-year career as a central defender in the lower divisions, he became manager of Shrewsbury Town. After winning the Third Division, he oversaw five seasons in the Second Division before being appointed manager of Aston Villa. With little success in two years, he was sacked and went to Wolves whom he took from the Fourth Division to the Second Division, winning the Football League Trophy along the way. He left in 1994 and had a year out of football before his arrival at Hereford United. A run to the Division Three play-offs was a false dawn, and a year later the Bulls were relegated to the Conference. Having initially resigned, Turner ended up buying the majority shareholding and becoming chairman in 1998. Five financially troubled seasons followed in non-league football, before he led the Bulls to three consecutive runners-up spots and promotion in 2006. After a mid-table finish in the 2006–07 season, Turner delivered another promotion the following season with a third-place finish in League Two; notably making full use of the loan system. Turner was voted League Two Manager of the Year by the League Managers Association, but was unable to lead the Bulls to survival in League One. He subsequently stepped down as manager of Hereford on 24 April 2009, after 13 years 8 months and 723 matches in charge, and resumed the role after the sacking of his successor 11 months later.

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