Charlton Athletic Born in
Lewisham,
London, Turner started his career at
Charlton Athletic.
Brentford In August 2004, Turner joined
Brentford on an initial one-month loan, which was later extended to two, then three, months. At the end of his loan spell, in November 2004, Brentford signed Turner permanently, on a two-and-a-half-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.
Hull City In July 2006, Turner joined
Hull City, for a fee of £350,000, on a three-year contract. Turner was
Phil Parkinson's first signing for the Tigers, during his short spell in charge. Parkinson said of the signing: "He's a player that I've watched for a number of years, firstly with Charlton reserves and then obviously with Brentford. I like him a lot and believe he'll be an excellent signing for us because he's ready to play
Championship football. Michael was the best central defender in
League One last season and is ready to step up." in 2009 After a very disappointing start to the
2006–07 season, Turner's form significantly improved, and he finished the season as one of the club's successes of the year. He was voted
Hull City's Player of the Year in their promotion-winning
2007–08 season. His good form was rewarded, as he signed a new three-year deal with Hull in April 2008. Turner scored his first
Premier League goal in September 2008 during a 2–2 draw at home to
Everton. Turner scored his second goal of the
2008–09 season against
West Ham United in October, which proved to be the winning goal of the match with the game ending 1–0 to Hull City at the
KC Stadium. Turner played every minute of every Premier League game for Hull in
2008–09, and was one of only two outfield players to do so, the other being
Portsmouth's
Sylvain Distin. At the end of the season Turner was named as the Official Supporters Club's player of the year for the third season in a row, as well as the club's official player of the year for the second season in a row. On 31 August 2009, after Turner had been repeatedly linked with
Liverpool and
Manchester City, amongst other clubs, a bid was finally accepted from
Sunderland after Hull City manager
Phil Brown claimed that offers currently tabled for Turner were "getting towards a ridiculous valuation".
Sunderland in 2011 Sunderland completed the signing of Turner on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee initially thought to be at least £6 million, but later revealed to be just £4 million, with
Charlton receiving part of the transfer fee as a sell-on-clause. Turner made his Sunderland debut against former club Hull City. Turner thought he had scored on his debut against his former club, but the goal, Sunderland's fourth, was later credited as a
Kamil Zayatte own goal. Turner scored his first Sunderland goal and completed the full 90 minutes against
Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on 27 September 2009 in a 5–2 victory. On 19 December 2009 Turner was sent off during Sunderland's 4–3 defeat at
Manchester City. Sunderland appealed the decision, but it was rejected, and Turner controversially had his suspension increased to four matches. Turner played his first game of the
2010–11 season against
Colchester United in the
League Cup 2nd round tie at the
Stadium of Light. On 29 August 2010, he started his first Premier League match of the season against
Manchester City but had to be replaced through injury at half-time by
Phil Bardsley in a 1–0 win at the
Stadium of Light. He did not make his return to the first team until 25 September 2010 against
Liverpool at
Anfield, when he completed the full 90 minutes alongside
Titus Bramble in the 2–2 draw. On 2 October, Turner played the full 90 minutes against
Manchester United in a 0–0 draw at the
Stadium of Light. On 18 October 2010, he started and played the full 90 minutes against
Blackburn Rovers at
Ewood Park in a 0–0 draw. In November, Turner sustained a knee injury making a goal-line clearance in Sunderland's 2–2 draw with Everton. The injury ruled Turner out for several months, and although he returned to action in March, his form dropped and he continued to struggle for fitness. After returning to full fitness, Turner started his first game of the
2011–12 season on 1 October 2011, a 2–2 draw with
West Bromwich. He retained his place in the next three games, a defeat at
Arsenal, an away win at
Bolton and a home draw with
Aston Villa, before suffering a re-occurrence of his injury. He returned to action on 14 January 2012 away to
Chelsea, replacing
Matthew Kilgallon who had himself suffered an injury, as Sunderland lost 1–0. He started for the Black Cats in their back to back wins against
Norwich and
Stoke, helping keep clean sheets in the process. Turner also started in Sunderland's
FA Cup fourth round replay at
Middlesbrough, and was widely blamed for
Lukas Jutkiewicz's equaliser, although Sunderland went on to win in extra time.
Norwich City On 27 July 2012, Norwich City manager
Chris Hughton revealed that the club had signed Sunderland's Michael Turner on a 2-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for the club on 27 October with a late header to earn Norwich a point in a 1–1 draw away to
Aston Villa. In April 2013, he scored in back-to-back games, in a 2–2 draw against
Swansea City and a 1–3 loss against
Arsenal.
Fulham (loan) On 12 March 2015, Turner joined
Fulham on loan and scored on 25 April 2015 against
Middlesbrough at
Craven Cottage. He made his debut on 19 September 2015 in a 3–2 home win over former side
Fulham in which he scored the 3rd goal. On 14 December, he expressed his desire for a permanent move to Wednesday as he had no longer featured in his parent club
Norwich City since February.
Southend United On 11 July 2017, Turner joined
League One team
Southend United. He made 65 appearances and scored five goals before his release at the end of the
2018–19 season. ==International career==