John Robson (soccer player)

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John Robson
Personnel
Surname John Dixon Robson
birthday July 15, 1950
place of birth Consett ,  England
date of death May 12, 2004
Place of death Sutton Coldfield ,  England
position Full-back
Juniors
Years station
Birtley YC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1967-1972 Derby County 171 (3)
1972-1988 Aston Villa 144 (1)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1970-1973 England U-23 7 (1)
1 Only league games are given.

John Dixon Robson (born July 15, 1950 in Consett , † May 12, 2004 in Sutton Coldfield ) was an English football player . As a full-back , who could occasionally also be used in midfield , he won the English championship with Derby County in 1972 and two league cup editions with Aston Villa in the mid-1970s ( 1975 , 1977 ) before retiring in old age after suffering from MS of only 28 years.

Athletic career

Derby County (1967-1972)

While Robson was playing football for the Birtley Community Center Youth Club in his north-east England homeland in his youth , he caught the eye of Peter Taylor - Kotrainer, talent scout and right-hand man of head coach Brian Clough at Derby County . Taylor piloted the talent in the newly built team in September 1967 and equipped the 17-year-old with a full-time contract. On March 2, 1968 Robson completed his second division debut for the "Rams" against Ipswich Town (2: 3) and in the last of four appearances in the 1967/68 season he shot against Blackpool FC (1: 3) on the last day of the game first competitive goal.

With the commitment of the experienced Dave Mackay for the season 1968/69, the coaching team Clough-Taylor brought stability to the defensive network, from which Robson also benefited. Mackay formed a safe defense center with Roy McFarland and Robson dodged the left full-back position, where he became a regular. He did not miss a single of the 42 league games of the season and after only five defeats Derby County rose to the top division. Robson's style of play was characterized by consistency and reliability and less by tough duels. The sporting development was rapid in the top English league and on the way to surprising fourth place in the 1969/70 season he helped the team to some notable successes, including a 5-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur . After a good start in the following season 1970/71 prevented a bad phase in the fall of 1971 a better result than a midfield place and Robson lost his place in the team briefly after the commitment of Colin Todd . It was only when Mackay left the club in the summer of 1971 and Todd succeeded him in the defense center at McFarland's side that Robson got his left-back role back. This conversion paid off in the end and with only 33 goals conceded, the defense was a guarantee that the English championship could be won in 1972 . Robson had contributed two goals in 41 league games and against Nottingham Forest (2-0) and Coventry City (1-0).

After a bad start to the 1972/73 season, Clough felt compelled to enter the transfer market. His attention fell on David Nish of Leicester City , whom he dumped for the then record British transfer fee of 225,000 pounds. As left-back Robson, who had also become a fixture in the English U-23 team, he quickly sidelined. As early as December 1972, Derby County had Robson move to second division Aston Villa for £ 90,000 after Nish had been granted eligibility to play for the European Cup .

Aston Villa (1972-1978)

In the "Villans" coached by Vic Crowe , Robson was immediately an integral part of the team, although now mostly used on the right defensive side. In the following season 1973/74 he ousted the aspiring John Gidman from his post and with just twelve league appearances he was only very sporadic in midfield. Under Crowe's successor Ron Saunders , Robson regained his regular place in the team. In the 1974/75 promotion season , he operated first in midfield and when Gidman suffered a serious eye injury in November 1974 (as a result of an accident while handling fireworks), he switched back to the right full-back position. On March 1, 1975 Robson also won the league cup with a final victory over Norwich City (1-0) .

He repeated the cup success two years later when he and his team prevailed after two repeat finals against FC Everton (0-0, 1-1, 3-2). By the end of that period, Robson had mostly dodged to the left after the departure of regular left-back Charlie Aitken and Gidman's return. In his final season, 1977/78, he only played four competitive games before he had to end his professional career at the age of just 28. The reason for this was an illness from multiple sclerosis .

After football

After his active career, Robson ran a newspaper shop in Erdington for some time before he gave up this activity again after increasing physical problems. The abrupt end of the football career also had a very negative financial impact and the income from a charity game dedicated to him by Aston Villa ("Testimonial Match") in October 1978 did not last long.

Finally, at the age of 53, he died almost destitute in a hospice in Sutton Coldfield on May 12, 2004.

Title / Awards

Web links

literature

  • Gerald Mortimer: Derby County - The Complete Record . Breedon Books, Derby, 2006, ISBN 978-1-85983-517-3 , pp. 100 f .
  • Rob Bishop / Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 266 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - U-23 International Results- Details" (RSSSF)
  2. ↑ "John Robson: Derby County FC" (Sporting Heroes)
  3. ^ "Former Aston Villa and Derby County star John Robson died virtually penniless, says Birmingham-born son" (Birmingham Mail)
personal data
SURNAME Robson, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robson, John Dixon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Consett
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 2004
Place of death Sutton Coldfield