N.V.C. Turner
Noel Vernon Cyril Turner: (Engineer and Goalkeeper)
Turner was born into an engineering family in Derbyshire that made railway rolling stock and colliery engineering. The family firm employed over 800 people and in the small town of Langley Mill, the Turner family were well known. He was born in 1887 and was one of three Old Reptonians in the squad that left on August 24th. He played for Nottinghamshire in both soccer and cricket, winning the County Championship with Notts in 1907, played for Corinthian on both sides of the War, notching up over thirty appearances as goalkeeper and was in the 1913 tour party to Brazil. He played in the 1915 Corinthian-Under-Arms team against the Aldershot Command and Felixstowe Garrison alongside J.C.D. Tetley and C.E.Brisley.
When the War began, Turner enlisted in the City of London (Rough Riders) Territorial Force Yeomanry and was appointed to 2nd Lieutenant in September 1914. He relinquished his command in July 1916 due to ill-health but was later cancelled, “but without pay and allowances”. No reason given, but was gazetted to acting Captain in Sept 1916, and later relinquished the temporary rank in July 1917 returning to the rank of Lieutenant. In Sept 1917 he became a full Captain became a company commander, later relinquishing this and becoming aide-de-camp on the Personnel Staff of General Sir Cecil Romer. He relinquished his appointment in March 1919 remaining in the military until September 1921.
Turner was in the first match the Corinthians played after the War against Charterhouse in October 1919 and later that year went on a northern Tour with Corinth, playing alongside I.E. Snell and H.G. Yates, both from the abandoned 1914 tour.
In 1920, after 6 years of disruption caused by the War, the English team was selected to play Belgium, and Turner was selected to play as goalkeeper. He was one of eleven debutants! To the surprise of the footballing world, England were beaten 3-1. In the same year he was elected to the post of honorary secretary of the Arthur Dunn Cup.
Noel married Margaret Julie Astbury, daughter of the politician and judge, Sir John Meir Astbury, but while holidaying in Le Touquet, France, a car they were travelling in veered to miss a cyclist, hitting an tree killing his ‘Peggy’. Noel was driving. John Astbury never got over the loss of his only daughter and disappeared from public view, dying alone in 1939.
When the war ended, focus returned to the healing of the ‘Split’ and as a token of the improved relationship between the FA and the AFA, the FA allowed a public school representative into the FA Council, and in 1924, N.V.C Turner was elected to the role.
Turner remained as a Director of G.R. Turner Ltd until his death in June 13, 1941, in Hungerford Park, Berkshire, aged 54. He made a speech about the state of amateur football in 1922 when he said, "...the fact that the result of the game was not the only thing that mattered - it was the spirit...."