David Robertson (born 23 September 1986 in

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

) is a Scottish former association footballer, who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

, Selkirk and

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

. He won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and represented the Scotland under-21 team. Robertson retired from football in January 2017 after being found in a civil trial to have committed rape with fellow footballer

David Goodwillie David Goodwillie (born 28 March 1989) is a Scottish professional football player. Goodwillie came through the Dundee United youth system and he won the SPFA and SFWA Young Player of the Year awards for the 2010–11 season. His performances ...

Career

Dundee United

-born Robertson joined

as a youth player and was the top scorer in the 2004–05

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

Youth League, despite playing from midfield. Robertson made his debut for United in January 2006, in the 1–1 draw against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, when he came off the bench in the last few minutes to replace player/manager

Craig Brewster Craig James Brown Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, Du ...

who was injured while making his second debut. Robertson scored his first goal three months later in 3–1 league defeat to

, and his late

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

winner sent United through to the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

third round at the start of the following season. Further league goals came against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

(twice) and

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, with a cup strike against St Mirren ensuring that Robertson's goals in 2006–07 saw him never finish on the losing side. Indeed, Robertson's form saw him sign a new two-year contract during February of that season. In September 2007, Robertson won his first Scotland under-21 cap and later that season came on as an

substitute in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, missing one of United's penalties in the defeat. In January 2009, Robertson signed a further extension to his contract, committing himself to the club until May 2011. On 24 March 2010, Robertson scored a vital last minute winner against Rangers in the quarter-final of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010 Scottish Cup Final The 2010 Scottish Cup Final was the 125th final of the Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010, at Hampden Park, Glasgow and was contested by first time finalists Ross Coun ...

Robertson played as a substitute.

St Johnstone

Despite being offered a new contract by United in 2011, Robertson opted instead to sign for

. Robertson made his debut for St Johnstone in a league game against Aberdeen on 23 July 2011. On 28 November 2012, Robertson was injured during St Johnstone's match against Hibernian and the following day, it was confirmed by the club's manager

Steve Lomas Stephen Martin Lomas (born 18 January 1974) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, Lomas was a midfielder from 1991 to 2010. He had spells in the Premier League for both Manchester City and West Ha ...

that Robertson had broken his leg. On 13 December 2013, St Johnstone announced that Robertson would not be given a new contract when his current deal expired. In December 2013, Robertson went on trial at

Greenock Morton

On 3 January 2014, Robertson signed for

. Robertson's father

Dougie The Dougie ( ) is a hip hop dance generally performed by moving one's body in a shimmy style and passing a hand through or near the hair on one's own head. The dance originated in Dallas, Texas, where it took its name from similar moves perfo ...

played almost 200 games for Morton between 1983 and 1990.

Livingston and Ayr United

In the summer of 2014 Robertson left Morton to sign for

. He scored on his competitive debut for the club, coming on in the 112th minute against Queen of the South and scoring just minutes later to secure the extra-time victory. After seven months with Livingston, Robertson transferred to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side

on a short-term deal. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Robertson was released by ''The Honest Men''.

Selkirk and Cowdenbeath

On 18 December 2015, Robertson signed for

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

club Selkirk. After six months with Selkirk, Robertson returned to the

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As we ...

, signing for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

side

in June 2016. Robertson retired from football in January 2017, after a judge ruled that he had raped a woman.

Rape judgement

Robertson and

, who was then a teammate of Robertson at

, were accused of raping a woman in January 2011. Goodwillie was charged with rape, but the Scottish legal authorities decided not pursue a criminal prosecution. The woman then took a civil action against Robertson and Goodwillie. On 17 January 2017, Robertson and Goodwillie were ruled to be rapists and ordered to pay £100,000 in compensation. The civil case was judged on the balance of probabilities and did not need

corroboration Corroborating evidence, also referred to as corroboration, is a type of evidence in law. Types and uses Corroborating evidence tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence, therefore confirming the propositio ...

of evidence, unlike in a Scottish criminal case. Robertson's club,

, issued a statement indicating that he would not be considered for selection until further information had been received and considered. Robertson subsequently announced his retirement from football. In November 2017, three appeal judges at the Court of Session upheld the ruling. They avoided paying any of the compensation due by declaring bankruptcy.

Career statistics

Honours

Dundee United *

: runner-up 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, David 1986 births Dundee United F.C. players Living people Scottish footballers Scottish Premier League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Sportspeople from Livingston, West Lothian Association football midfielders St Johnstone F.C. players Scotland youth international footballers Footballers from West Lothian Scottish Professional Football League players Greenock Morton F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Selkirk F.C. players Lowland Football League players Rape in Scotland