Tupling was born in 1964 in
Wensleydale, which was then in the
North Riding of Yorkshire. He began his football career with
Middlesbrough, but never played league football for the club, and then played in the
Football League for
Carlisle United,
Darlington (two spells),
Newport County,
Cardiff City,
Torquay United,
Exeter City (both
on loan), and
Hartlepool United. He played
non-League football for
Gateshead after his second spell with Darlington.
Hartlepool United Tupling made his
Hartlepool United debut on 26 December 1989 in a 4–1 home win against
Scarborough. In the
1989–90 season he started 26 games and scored once, in a 2–1 home win against
Rochdale on 10 March 1990. The following season he started 40 league games and scored twice, in the first game of the season in a 3–2 win away at
Chesterfield and in the reverse fixture in January 1991, and helped the club gain
promotion from the
Fourth Division. In the
Third Division, Tupling started only 17 league games and did not score; his last game for Hartlepool was also the last game of the
1991–92 season, a 1–0 win at home to
AFC Bournemouth. ==References==