A former reality TV star who was previously shamed over his wild claims is now insisting he owns two international football clubs.
Bachelorette contestant Michael Turnbull previously made the false claim to be a Socceroo who played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was also embroiled in a row over a fake Rolex.
He has now proudly boasted he’s the owner of football clubs Club Deportivo Leganés in Spain and Cancun FC in Mexico on social media
Turnbull, 43, lists himself as the owner of both the teams on his Instagram bio and repeats the claim of owning Deportivo on his professional LinkedIn profile.
Both clubs are actually owned by investor group Blue Crow Sports Group, headed by US sports tycoon Jeff Luchow.
But despite the documented ownership structure of the clubs, Turnbull refused to back down when confronted by Daily Mail Australia.
He conceded he wasn’t sole owner – despite the claims of his online profiles – but insisted: ‘I am in the ownership group for Leganes and Cancun.
‘But there are several owners across the teams.’
Former reality TV star Michael Turnbull (pictured) who was previously shamed over his wild claims is now insisting he owns two international football clubs
He has now listed himself on LinkedIn as owner of football clubs Club Deportivo Leganés in Spain and adds ownership of Cancun FC in Mexico on his Instagram profile (pictured above)
Turnbull insisted he owns a shareholding in Blue Crow Sports – but he declined to say exactly how much. He doesn’t feature on their website or social media posts.
‘My group owns a percentage of Blue Crow Sports and Jeff [Lunhow] is the CEO,’ he added.
Blue Crow Sports has developed a multi-club ownership business model which gives investors a stake in multiple teams at once.
Their investment model involves buying football clubs in lower-tier leagues with the intention of developing them to play in higher leagues.
Turnbull, a former A-League goalkeeper who played six games for the short-lived New Zealand Knights in 2006/7, made headlines for his tall tales during his stint on The Bachelorette in 2015.
Despite his claims to have represented Australia at the highest level, his biggest claim to fame was remaining on the bench for the under-23 side at the 2000 Olympics.
He was an unused substitute in all three games against Italy, Honduras and Nigeria, who was kept out the side by former Leeds United goalkeeper Danny Milosevic.
He never played for the Socceroos, and only ever made it on the pitch for just one match for the U23s, but not at the Olympics.
Despite that, he bragged on The Bachelorette: ‘The highlight of my career was playing for Australia and the Socceroos and also the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.’
His career was largely spent at amateur and semi-pro level with clubs like Marconi Stallions in Sydney and Oakleigh Cannons in Melbourne.
Bachelorette contestant Michael Turnbull previously made the false claim to be a Socceroo who played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was also embroiled in a row over a fake Rolex.
Turbull’s bogus lavish lifestyle also came unstuck after Daily Mail Australia revealed he was donning a fake Rolex watch
More bogus claims also came unstuck when Daily Mail Australia revealed he was wearing a fake Rolex watch on the show.
Daily Mail Australia uncovered Turnbull’s Rolex was a knock-off imitation after an appraisal from a Sydney-based established watchmaker in October 2015.
‘It’s a fake and it’s an ugly fake,’ the expert said. ‘Rolex don’t make ugly, and that’s ugly.’
More than a year and a half later, he insisted the watch was real and belatedly produced a certificate of authenticity on Instagram.
It’s unclear why Turnbull didn’t show the receipts back in 2015 when A Current Affair quizzed him about the Daily Mail Australia’s exclusive that the Rolex was a replica.
‘Regardless whether it’s fake or real, it was given to me by someone very special,’ he said at the time.
The same year, he was caught flaunting $1,000 worth of Cristal champagne on Instagram, which turned out to be a random stock image he’d taken from the internet.
He later invited A Current Affair into his home, who found some affordable Mumm champagne in his linen closet, but no Cristal.
Ex reality star did represent Australia on three occasions, but at youth level and did not play in the Sydney Olympics. He briefly joined Melbourne Victory in 2015 but never played for them
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