Robert Victor Howlett (born 12 December 1948) is an English former

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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as a defender for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and

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 ...

. He began his career at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

where he failed to make a first-team appearance.

Career

Born in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, Howlett signed for

as a youth, prior to signing for

. He failed to make an appearance at Chelsea, and played in just six league games for Southend between 1967 and 1969, starting four league games and coming on as a substitute for the other two, also making one

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 ...

start. Howlett signed for

rivals

in July 1969, and made his debut on 9 August 1969 at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

during a 3–3 draw with Lincoln City. He made a further 15 league appearances for the U's. On 18 April 1970, Howlett was to play his last professional game, after coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for

Ray Whittaker Ray Whittaker (born 15 January 1945 in Bow, London) is an English former footballer. Career Whittaker started his career as a youth team player at Arsenal before moving to Luton Town, where he made 170 appearances and scored 40 goals. He share ...

, he suffered a career-ending broken leg in a challenge with

Peter Gelson Peter William John Gelson (18 October 1941 – 26 April 2021) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Brentford as a centre back and wing half. A cult hero amongst the club's supporters, he is third on the ...

in the 88th minute of a 2–0 away defeat to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He was forced to retire on medical grounds after this injury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Bobby 1948 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from West Ham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chelsea F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players