Ian Turner, the custodian who played a key role in the historic Saints 1976 FA Cup victory over Manchester United, is offering to sell the medal he received that day at Wembley. He made a number of early saves to keep United from taking the lead, and in the 83rd minute, Bobby Stokes’ goal gave Southampton a historic triumph.The medal, inscribed on the reverse with The Football Association Challenge Cup Winner Ian Turner Southampton FC 1975-76 and in its original case, could be a good sale at this time, especially with Saints riding high following their most recent Wembley appearance where they secured promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The sale of the winner’s medal of Hugh Fisher, an unused substitute, was recently sold for £12,000 by the same auctioneer, and the auction is scheduled to begin on Tuesday of next week. Turner’s medal has already received a pre-bid of £4,000, and auctioneer Graham Budd Auctions Ltd. predicts that during the course of the auction’s 24-hour live period, bidding will likely reach between £7,000 and £10,000.The bidding may go much higher because other 1976 Saints winners medals have sold for about £25,000 in previous auctions. Turner, 71, began his career as center-half for his hometown team, South Bank, which is located close to Middlesbrough. In 1970, Ian Greaves, the manager of Huddersfield Town, hired Turner while he was playing a reserve game in goal.
After moving to Grimsby Town in March 1972, he met Lawrie McMenemy there. McMenemy signed him in March 1974 to take the position of long-serving keeper Eric Martin.For the next few seasons, he was the starting goalie of choice, turning away Gordon Hill and Gerry Daly on that memorable May 1976 day. A courageous and dependable custodian, he had a knee injury shortly after the cup final and only played sporadically following surgery, playing in three different countries. Turner played for Fort Lauderdale after leaving Southampton in the summer of 1978, and he went on to manage two teams in Romsey Town, Brockenhurst, and AFC Totton.He appeared in 107 games for the first squad during his five years at The Dell.