Sligo Rovers manager who guided club to 1970 FAI Cup Final passes away
FORMER Sligo Rovers manager, Ken Turner who took over the team during a tumultuous spell in the early 1970’ s has passed away in his native Barnsley.
Ken Turner ( 76) was both a player and later became manager of the club having signed fulltime during one of the club’s professional periods.
He was full- back on the team that was involved in one of the biggest FAI Cup upsets in the club’s history, going down 2- 0 to then non- league Longford Town in 1969 in a team managed by Tony Bartley.
When Bartley left the club three weeks after the defeat, Turner took over, saved the club from relegation winning four of their final six matches and he guided them to the FAI Cup final in 1970 against Bohemians where they lost after two replays. In an interview with Michael Moran of The Sligo Champion in 2004, Ken recalled of that 1970 heartbreak:
“We were all gutted afterwards. We knew just how much it meant to the people of Sligo. I would say up to eighty per cent of the crowd at those finals were from Sligo and it was very, very disappointing to lose,” he said.
Turner, born in Great Houghton, had arrived at Sligo Rovers at the start of the 1968/ 69 season, having missed just four games in two years at York City and went on to make a total of one hundred and eight appearances, scoring four goals in three seasons.
“I came over and met Jimmy Gilmartin and Tony Bartley and while they showed me the wonderful scenery and sights around Sligo, they never actually took me to The Showgrounds at first
“Nevertheless, I signed and I have to say it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I enjoyed my time in Sligo and made many fantastic friends,” he said.
Turner’s debut came on August 18th 1968 in a home Shield fixture against St. Patrick’s Athletic, Rovers winning 2- 1. Of that season’s cup loss to Longford he recalled: “We put them under a lot of pressure, but couldn’t score. It was very frustrating, for both players and supporters alike. We fell victims to a typical cup shock, but it was very depressing,” he admitted.
However the next season saw Rovers reach the Cup final after wins over St. Patrick’s Athletic, Rialto and Cork Hibs.
Ken recounted: “The first game against Bohemians was very very tight, there were chances in the second match for both teams. The next replay was a bit of a disaster for us. Stennie ( Tony Stenson) got injured and had to be carried off and later David Pugh collided with Kevin Fallon and spent the remainder of the game up front.
“We managed to go in front, but they scored twice and by the end I feel we were a beaten side. We had nothing left and it was demoralising,” the former manager recounted.
“Sligo had been buzzing in the run up to the final. Personally, I was gutted and that was one of my worst memories in football,” Turner said.
The 1970-’ 71 season was to be Turner’s last, Rovers precarious financial problems again lurking in the background.
“The previous Christmas I had gone home to England and I was Patrick’s Athletic in the next round, but this tie came after a crisis meeting at which the financial difficulties were explained. There were also rumblings of discontent over cup bonuses, but Rovers lost 2- 1 and it was then decided that the wages would be halved.
“It was a very difficult time and I think I remained for just one more league match. It was a bit of a wrench to have to leave, but I really had no option,” he said.
After spending thirteen weeks looking for employment , Ken applied for a position in the Post Office in both York and Barnsley and got a job in his native area. He had worked for thirty years in the Post Office when he retired at 60.
Sligo was never far from ken’s thoughts he told The Champion. “My daughter was born there and she wants to come, while my son spent some of his early childhood in the town.
“Sligo was a big part of my life and that of my family and it is great to think that more than three decades on, we can still talk about it with affection,” Ken added.