Turner - I want this to be a big season for me

Limerick winger Ian Turner is aiming for a “big season”, having committed his future to the club when penning a deal for 2015 on Monday.

The 25-year-old winger joined the club last July on a loan deal from Cork City and made 15 appearances, scoring two goals, as the Superblues finished well to claim a top-half placing in the Premier Division.

Turner has been training with the squad for the past two weeks and played in the Munster Senior Cup quarter-final win over Leeds.

Now, he has penned a deal ahead of the new campaign, making the switch permanently from Cork where he had been in the first-team setup since 2009.

And he is targeting plenty of game-time under manager Martin Russell again, having enjoyed his spell on Shannonside last term which he felt was “huge” for him.

“I’m delighted to be signed back,” Turner – who spent time training with Macclesfield Town as well as partaking in the PFAI’s trip to Norway over the winter – told LimerickFC.ie.

“It was a strange off-season for me but once I was speaking to Martin at the start of pre-season we got everything sorted and I was delighted to sign back.

“It was a lot different to any other off-season I had but it was a good experience. I got to learn different cultures, play in different teams and play against different teams, so it was good.”

The former Wilton United youngster was part of Cork’s First Division-winning squad in 2011 and then played 51 times in their first two seasons back in the top flight.

However, last season, Turner made just three outings from the bench for the Leesiders before arriving at Limerick where he went on to play in every game possible.

“There was and there wasn’t,” Ian said when asked if there had been an option to return to Cork. “I spoke to the manager at the end of last season once my loan period had finished at Limerick and we had a good chat. We spoke to each other about my plans and his plans.

“I didn’t play there last year and I want this year to be a big season for me. I wanted to make sure I play as many games as I can. It didn’t seem like the best option for my career to go back to Cork.”

Asked if he was disappointed to leave Cork after such a long association with them, Ian added: “Of course, especially when I’m from there.

“But football is a short career and you need to look after yourself and you need to make sure you’re playing. Especially for me, going from the previous couple of seasons where I had been playing a lot and then last season I didn’t play at all there.

“It was important for me to find a club where I was going to get as much game-time as I possibly can and to improve my career.

“Limerick last year was huge for me because, like I said, I had been playing the seasons previous and then last season I went to a situation where I wasn’t playing at all and I wasn’t in the plan.

“To be able to come to Limerick and play 15 games, get a good run in the team and get my match fitness back was really important for me and I really enjoyed it.”

Turner will be part of a much-changed squad to last season at Limerick but he says the players must step up when given the chance.
 

“That’s going to happen every year,” he said. “Players are going to come and go but it’s important for each player that’s here now they have the opportunity; if they’re going to get a chance in the team they have to make sure they take it and then we’ll go from there.”
 

Including last season, Turner has made 69 top-flight appearances (48 starts) over the past three years.
 

Limerick FC can also confirm the signings of striker Kieran Hanlon (19) from Pike Rovers and winger Gavin Dillon (19) from Abbeyfeale United. Both players are returning to the club.
 

Hanlon has made five senior competitive appearances already (two in 2013, three in 2014). He scored on his only first-team start at Ringmahon Rangers in the Munster Senior Cup last February. Dillon was an unused substitute for the FAI Cup tie at Glenville in June 2013.