35 Years Of Turner

Graham Turner At Edgar Street In 2004

Whatever ones view of Graham Turner, it's quite something to have been a manager of football clubs for 35 years.

And to celebrate that achievement, BBC Sport have posted a long article on their website of which part is about his time with Hereford United.

"Having left Wolves, after the job I'd done there, I thought I'd have no trouble getting another job. I was out of work for 16 months. I didn't think I'd finish with a club as small as Hereford.
"If there can be devastation at a football club, it was that afternoon when we were relegated from the Football League. I've never seen a dressing room with so many grown men crying. I've never experienced anything like that in my life. I got sacked at Villa, I resigned from Wolves, but this was the worst day of my managerial career.
"The most foolish thing I've ever done was to buy shares in the club. We were in serious financial difficulties. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was only then that the real debts began to come out of the woodwork.
"I remember drawing Martin O'Neill's Leicester City in the Cup and the bank manager was straight round to find out what sort of profits we expected to make. At one time we were seven months behind with the wages. If there was nothing left at the end of the month, my secretary Joan Fennessy and I were the only two who did not get paid.
"But I found out what it was like to run a football club. And to finish up turning the club round, eventually getting back into the Football League, spending six or seven years in profit, and leave a substantial amount of money in the bank, I can look back on that with a lot of pride."

---