Robert Herdman Ross (born 18 May 1942) is a Scottish retired professional

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and

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, best remembered for his six years as a player at

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 ...

, for whom he made 323 appearances. He spent over two decades working in the youth system at Queens Park Rangers, retiring in 2008. He is a member of the Brentford

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Playing career

Heart of Midlothian

Growing up in

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Ross began his career at local junior clubs Tynecastle Athletic and Musselburgh Athletic, before signing for reigning

Scottish League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

champions Heart of Midlothian in November 1960. His professional debut came on 1 April 1961, when aged just 18, he appeared in a 1–1 draw with Raith Rovers. Ross made two further appearances towards the end of the 1960–61 season. Still just 18, Ross began to force his way into the first team during the 1961–62 season and made 20 appearances, scoring three goals. He also made his first

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appearance for the club, playing in a 3–1

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first round first leg victory over

Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jo ...

on 27 September 1961. Ross was frequently left out of the team during the 1962–63 season and made just 9 appearances. He departed the club in June 1963, after 32 appearances and scoring four goals during his three seasons with Hearts.

Shrewsbury Town

Ross moved to

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and joined

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club Shrewsbury Town in June 1963. He made 39 appearances and scored five goals during the 1963–64 season. He improved his stats during the 1964–65 season, missing just two league games and scoring 19 goals, though his form couldn't help the Shrews improve on another mid-table finish. 1965–66 was another mid-table season for the Shrews, with Ross scoring five goals in 16 appearances. He departed the club in March 1966, after making 99 league appearances and scoring 29 goals for Shrewsbury Town during his two and a half seasons with the club.

Brentford

Ross joined Third Division club

in a £9,500 double deal with Shrewsbury Town teammate John Regan in March 1966. In a troubled period for the West

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club, Ross' time with the Bees got off to a bad start, failing to score in 17 league appearances and suffering relegation to the

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at the end of the campaign. In the Fourth Division, Ross quickly established himself as regular first team player, making 53 appearances and scoring 9 league goals during the 1966–67 season and winning the

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. He was placed on the transfer list at his own request in 1968, but the matter was resolved during the 1968–69

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. Ross registered his first double-digit tally of goals for the club during the 1969–70 season, scoring 13 league goals and appearing in all 46 league games. Remarkably durable, a spell of 162 consecutive appearances meant that Ross continues to remain in second-place on the Brentford record consecutive appearances list. Ross' greatest moment in a Brentford shirt came towards the end of the 1971–72 season, when he coolly converted a

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against Exeter City to seal promotion back to the Third Division. He made only 9 appearances during the 1972–73 season before departing the club in October 1972, after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. Ross made 323 appearances during his six years with the Bees and scored 56 goals. He spent much of his time as club

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. Ross was recognised for his achievements in December 2013, when he was added to the Brentford

Cambridge United

Ross dropped back down to the Fourth Division to sign for Cambridge United on a free transfer in October 1972. He was an immediate hit with the club, making 32 league appearances and scoring 9 goals on the way to the club's first ever promotion to the third tier. Back in the Third Division, Ross made 33 league appearances and scored five goals during the 1973–74 season and he left the club after their relegation straight back to the Fourth Division was confirmed at the end of the campaign. He made 65 league appearances and scored 14 goals for the Us.

Hayes

Ross returned to London to sign for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

First Division club

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during the 1974 off-season. Moving back into midfield, he made 121 appearances and scored 19 goals in four years with the club and retired at the end of the 1977–78 season.

Managerial and coaching career

Hayes

Ross took up coaching when he became player-assistant manager to

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Allan Harris Allan Harris (28 December 1942 – 23 November 2017) was a footballer who played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers. His brother Ron was also a professional footballer. Harris was a full-back and began his career with Chelsea ...

at Hayes in 1974. He remained in the role after Harris departed in March 1975, serving under Bob Gibbs until October 1976, when he became Hayes' player-manager. He narrowly staved off relegation to the Isthmian League Second Division during the 1976–77 season and achieved a mid-table finish in the new Isthmian League Premier Division in 1977–78. Ross was sacked in April 1978, only to be reinstated and sacked again two months later.

Queens Park Rangers

Ross joined Queens Park Rangers' Centre Of Excellence as a coach in 1978. When Rangers moved up to Academy status, Ross became Schoolboy Development Officer and also assisted at the club's training ground in his later years. He retired from football in August 2008.

Personal life

During the 1970s, Ross lived in Southall and worked at Associated Equipment Company as a

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inspector.

Career statistics

Honours

Cambridge United *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

third-place promotion: 1972–73 Brentford * Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1971–72 *

: 1966–67 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year (2): 1969–70, 1970–71 * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Bobby 1942 births Scottish footballers Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Hayes F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Isthmian League players Isthmian League managers Cambridge United F.C. players Musselburgh Athletic F.C. players Living people Association football forwards Association football midfielders Scottish football managers