Idwal Robling

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James Idwal Robling (born 1927 in Ynyshir ; † June 9, 2011 in Newport (Gwent) ) was a Welsh amateur football player and sports commentator .

Career

After serving in the Royal Navy at the end of World War II , Robling studied to be a teacher, but after completing his training worked in the local confectionery factory in Newport . With Lovell's Athletic FC , the company's operating team, he competed in the Southern Football League . Because of his good performance, he was appointed to the United Kingdom's national team for the 1952 Summer Olympics , which was supervised by Walter Winterbottom . In the early elimination significant 3: 5 defeat after extra time against Luxembourg in the opening game, the multiple Welsh amateur selection player was not involved.

After the end of his active career, Robling turned increasingly to sports journalism and worked for BBC Wales as a radio journalist. In 1969 he won a place on the team for reporting the 1970 World Cup finals in a competition . He had prevailed against the former Scottish international Ian St. John , who later became a successful TV expert. Decisive for the choice of Robling was allegedly the preference of the English national coach Alf Ramsey, who sits on the selection committee, for his Welsh accent. Robling then became a full-time journalist. In the 1970s and 1980s, in addition to soccer, he also reported on other ball sports such as baseball and rugby , but also boxing . Since he was primarily used for Welsh sports, he was responsible for commenting on one of the most important games in Welsh club football in 1971, the 1-0 success of Cardiff City over multiple European Cup winners Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg of the 1970/71 European Cup Winners' Cup . After a 2-0 defeat in Madrid, the team was eliminated from the competition.

Robling died in the summer of 2011 after a short, serious illness. His grandson Lewis Robling also pursued an athletic career and played rugby union in the Pro12 , the Welsh Premier Division and the RFU Championship .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Will Buckley: The forgotten story of ... the sports broadcasting revolution (and Idwal Robling) , in: The Guardian, October 8, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Robling, Idwal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robling, James Idwal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh football player and sports commentator
DATE OF BIRTH 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Ynyshir , Wales
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 2011
Place of death Newport (Gwent)