Robert Cram (19 November 1939 – 14 April 2007) was an English professional

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 le ...

Career

Born in

Hetton-le-Hole Hetton-le-Hole is a town situated in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the historic county of Durham. A182 runs through the town, between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane (the latter borders the County Durham Distri ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, Cram joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

as an amateur in September 1955, at the age of 15. He turned professional in January 1957 but did not make his debut until October 1959 in a 0–0 draw against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He went on to make 163 appearances for The Baggies including the 1966 and 1967 League Cup finals. He was one of the very few defenders to score a hat trick in a top level match v. Stoke City Sept 12th 1964. He is perhaps most remembered for being the captain of the

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

team that beat

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in the 1971

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 ...

, one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history. In 1968 he went on loan with the

Vancouver Royals The Vancouver Royals were a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1967 as the Vancouver Royal Canadians, they were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA), and when the USA an ...

in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. He returned to the NASL in 1974, this time with the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

International

In June 1972, Cram was one of five footballers with English League experience pre-selected by Canadian coach Frank Pike for the CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Germany 1974. Just two months later, however, neither Cram, Bob Lenarduzzi or Les Wilson were available to the Canadian team.

Personal

Cram died in Canada of a heart attack, aged 68, in April 2007. Bobby Cram was also the uncle of athlete

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arr ...

Honours

Club

;West Bromwich Albion ;League Cup Winner 1966 ;

Watney Cup The Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the Watney Cup) was a short-lived English football tournament held in the early 1970s. It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored th ...

Winner (1): 1971

References

1939 births 2007 deaths People from Hetton-le-Hole Footballers from Tyne and Wear English footballers West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Vancouver Royals players Eintracht Vancouver players Colchester United F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Association football fullbacks English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada {{England-footy-defender-1930s-stub