Buckle up, folks – this one is going to hurt. We’ve just had an announcement for the first ever departure from a player who was in the Rhode Island FC starting XI and with us from the start of our inaugural season – and it’s Stephen Turnbull. Turnbull will be departing to join an Eastern Conference rival in Birmingham Legion FC.

Turnbull signed with Rhode Island FC on December 29, 2023, bringing MLS experience to the team when he joined after a season of splitting time between New York City FC and their MLS Next Pro side, New York City FC II.

Turnbull quickly ingratiated himself to the Rhode Island FC faithful with his fiery passion, high work rate, and scrappy play style. Turnbull played the 5th most minutes on the team in 2024, appearing in all 34 league matches and starting in 31 of them. Turnbull is a self-professed right back, but he played the role of right wing back in Coach Khano’s system admirably.

Turnbull felt like a nailed on starter, but throughout the course of the 2024 USL Championship season his minutes did gradually wane. In the middle of the season it felt like nothing more than normal rotation, but by the last month-or-so Turnbull was regularly being subbed off around the 65 – 70th minute.

He did not start in the final game of the season against Miami FC, and then did not start in the first round of the playoffs against Indy Eleven. Turnbull dislocated his shoulder during his brief six minute appearance in the match against Indy Eleven, and it turns out that was the last we would see him play for Rhode Island FC.

Where does this leave us?

Turnbull’s departure leaves Coach Khano with some big decisions to make. There are a few possible ways to address Turnbull’s departure:

1. Frank Nodarse

One of the major developments that led to Turnbull seeing a gradual reduction in minutes – and then continued to develop following his injury – was the emergence of Frank Nodarse at right wing back.

Nodarse was a crucial part of our back three for most of last season, but he showed significant promise as a right wing back late in the season. Frank is quick and comfortable with the ball at his feet and not afraid to make a run forward – which is a good fit for the wingback position. It puts him in a position to continue defending – but he’d be defending more on the wing and around the edge of the box, freeing him from some of the responsibilities that occasionally led to defensive lapses last season.

The addition of Hugo Bacharach, who looks like he could be ready to contribute immediately as either the right or left center back, gives Khano the option to move Nodarse.

2. One of Clay Holstad or Noah Fuson (or a combination)

We also saw appearances from both Clay Holstad and Noah Fuson at wing back positions last season. While it’s not my preferred solution to Turnbull’s departure, it’s not impossible that one of these two players spends significant time at the right wing back position. Not so much because it is a perfect fit for their profile and position, but it helps to solve another problem:

With a fully fit roster and in our 3-5-2 formation, we have four starting-caliber midfielders (Herivaux, Holstad, Rodriguez, and Ybarra) competing for three spots, and three starting-caliber forwards (Dikwa, Fuson, and Williams) competing for two spots. Moving one of Holstad or Fuson – who we learned last year really do need to be on the pitch – to right wingback keeps them in the XI and takes one player out of the potential logjam at the midfield and forward positions.

3. Dani Rovira

The third option is viewing the new signing of Dani Rovira, formerly with Pittsburgh Riverhounds, as a replacement for Stephen Turnbull. Rovira made 138 appearances in Pittsburgh and played primarily as a right wing back. When the news came out, we assumed it was primarily depth and a rotation option for Stephen Turnbull – but perhaps Khano actually intends for Rovira to be our starting right wing back.

I think the most likely outcome is that, at least for the start of the season, we see a combination of all three of these solutions. A right wing back platoon – with some minutes there for each of Nodarse, Fuson, Holstad, and Rovira. Typically I don’t love this approach of not having a clear go-to – but Khano has earned my confidence that he knows how to get the best out of a rotation and make the adjustments according to the match up and game state.

Turnbull’s Legacy

Turnbull was a massively popular player with the fans, and he will be missed sorely. He gave us some special moments during the regular season – and I’ll let them do the talking:

His first goal with the club was an equalizing goal deep in extra time during our first-ever US Open Cup match:

He scored the opening goal in our first win at Las Vegas Lights:

He scored this missile in a great match against Sacramento Republic FC – which should’ve been our first home win:

Turnbull “assisted” Clay Holstad’s iconic banger of a goal that opened the scoring in our tide-changing 5-2 win over – which Turnbull added a second assist later in the match.

Finally – my favorite Turnbull moment of the season. After scoring the opening goal in a big home match against Birmingham Legion, he showed his signature passion and jumped in to the stands with Defiance 1636.

Please join me in saying farewell to Stephen Turnbull – I believe he’ll always be remembered fondly in Rhode Island for his contributions in our inaugural season, and helping to establish a winning mentality and culture here. Turnbull may be a hard man on the pitch – and I suspect we’ll have some questionable moments playing against him at Birmingham Legion in the near future – but there’s plenty of evidence of him being a class act off the pitch during his time in Rhode Island. We wish him all the best (just not against RIFC, of course).