 Turnbull is a central midfield player.He captained the Hartlepool youth team during the Dallas Cup in 2005 where they achieved third place, and made 22 appearances for the first team the following season, earning his first professional contract.He joined Bury on loan in 2006, where he was picked by manager Chris Casper for their 3–1 FA Cup second round replay win at Chester City on 12 December; he was ineligible to play and Bury were therefore thrown out of the tournament.