Not long afterwards, First Division club Leeds United approached him to take over as their manager; though favourite to take the job, the Headington directors matched Leeds' salary offer, and Turner chose to stay. There was no automatic promotion into the Football League in those days; clubs had to be elected, and the likelihood of election depended largely on how the chairmen of other league clubs perceived them. That year, Turner persuaded the directors to change the name of the club to Oxford United, to increase public awareness of the club and to broaden its appeal. He employed more professional players, and brought in young players from top clubs. The likes of Graham Atkinson, Cyril Beavon and Maurice Kyle all joined from junior teams of bigger clubs and each went on to play over 300 games for Oxford United. Turner's key signing, the 20-year-old Ron Atkinson, joined from Aston Villa, was soon appointed captain, and went on to play 560 first team games for the club. The combination of Turner's management and Atkinson's captaincy brought two Southern League titles in two years, and when Accrington Stanley went bankrupt in 1962, Oxford United took their place in the Fourth Division of the Football League. Two years later Turner's team eliminated Blackburn Rovers, who at the time lay second in the First Division, in the fifth round of the FA Cup. They thus became the first Fourth Division side to reach the sixth round. In 1964–65, he led them to promotion from the Fourth Division, and three years later to the championship of the Third. By this time the young players who had been the mainstay of Oxford's rise through the divisions were ageing or retired. Turner had no money to strengthen the side for its Second Division campaign, and struggled with what he had. In April 1969, he became General Manager of the club, leaving the running of the team to Ron Saunders, and in February 1972 he was dismissed when the club admitted they were unable to afford to keep him in post. Turner remained active in football into the 1980s. He was employed as a scout for Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday. He died in Sheffield on 12 January 1994 at the age of 84. Career statistics Source: Honours As player with Stoke City Football League Second Division champions 1933. with Birmingham City Football League South champions 1946. As