Robert Barclay (27 October 1906 – 13 July 1969) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Born in

Scotswood Benwell and Scotswood is an electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. The ward encompasses the Benwell and Scotswood housing areas, as well as the Newcastle Business Park, which is located on the banks of the River Tyne and h ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Barclay is best remembered for his time at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

for whom he played in the 1936 FA Cup Final, but also had spells for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

. Barclay also represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on three occasions, scoring two goals.

Football career

Derby County

Barclay started his career with amateur clubs; Scotswood United Church, Bell's Close Amateurs, Allendale and finally Scotswood before signing for

in 1928 where he became a protégé of George Jobey. He spent two seasons with The Rams scoring 23 league goals in 61 games.

Sheffield United

In 1931 Barclay signed for

for £3,500. He was cool and methodical in his play, very clever, and was bought to lend inspiration to

Jimmy Dunne James Dunne (3 September 1905 – 14 November 1949) was an Irish footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Sheffield United, Arsenal and Southampton. Dunne was also a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams: ...

in attack, although he also provided plenty of openings for the other attacking teammates (like inside-forward

Jack Pickering John Pickering (18 December 1908 – 10 May 1977) was an English footballer who played for Sheffield United between 1925 and 1948. He played in the position of inside left. Pickering learned his football at Barnsley Grammar School and Mortom ...

). He remained a stalwart at Bramall Lane and was an important figure in the Blades

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

side of 1936, appearing in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

in which United lost 1–0 to Arsenal. Barclay scored 67 league goals for The Blades in 231 starts, although it has been said on numerous occasions that he given his apparent unselfishness in front of goal, he should have scored many more.

Huddersfield Town

In March 1937 Barclay was transferred to

along with Eddie Boot for a combined fee of £7,000. He was a regular for Town in the following seasons and once again found himself on the losing side at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

as Huddersfield were beaten 1–0 by Preston North End in the

1938 FA Cup Final The 1938 FA Cup Final was contested by Preston North End and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Preston, losing finalists the previous year, won by a single goal. This was their second win in the competition. Background After 29 minutes of ex ...

. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the football league was suspended but Town retained Barclay's registration throughout. As was common in this period Barclay made wartime guest appearances for Barnsley, Bradford Park Avenue,

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

and back at his old club

. With the war over Barclay was finally released by Huddersfield in 1946 having scored 19 goals from 74 league appearances.

International career

Barclay's good form with

meant it was no surprise when he was handed his first of 3

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

in 1932. He made his debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on 9 April 1932 in a Home Championship aged 25 years. Scoring on his debut Barclay found the net again in England's next game later the same year; another Home Championship fixture, this time against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Despite this promising start he was overlooked until 1936 when he won his third and final cap in another Home Championship game against Scotland.

International goals

Honours

FA Cup Runner up

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

: 1938

Later career

Following his release by Huddersfield, Barclay played for

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, a settlement within the village of Martock, Somerset * Hurst, West Sussex, a hamlet * Hurst Spit, a shingle spit in Hampshire ** Hur ...

in the Cheshire League before returning to Huddersfield Town to act as assistant trainer. He subsequently had a spell as a coach in the Netherlands.

References

Bibliography

*A to Z Encyclopedia. ''Sheffield United matchday programme''. 22 March 1986. *Young, Percy A. (1962). Football in Sheffield. *Clarebrough, Denis. (1989) Sheffield United F.C., The First 100 years. *Clarebrough, Denis. From The Past, Sheffield United matchday programme, 26 December 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Bobby 1906 births 1969 deaths Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Derby County F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. wartime guest players Bradford City A.F.C. wartime guest players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. wartime guest players Crewe Alexandra F.C. wartime guest players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. wartime guest players York City F.C. wartime guest players Ashton United F.C. players