David Robinson (1 August 1944 – 29 September 2022) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

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 ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and at club level for Swinton and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, as a or .

Background

Dave Robinson was a pupil at Moorside Secondary Modern School in his hometown of Swinton, near

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Playing career

Robinson signed for Swinton in May 1963, making his first team debut in March 1964 and stayed with the club until January 1970 when he was transferred to Wigan. During this period with Swinton he played in the 11–2 victory over

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

in the 1969 Lancashire Cup Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Saturday 1 November 1969. Robinson spent six years at Wigan including appearing in a

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

final defeat to Castleford in his first season at Wigan and a defeat to St Helens in the Championship Final in the following season. He was part of the team that won the 1973 Lancashire Cup beating

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

19–9 in the Finalat

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, on Saturday 13 October 1973. In February 1976 Robinson returned to Swinton before retiring from the game in March 1977.

International honours

Robinson won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

while at Swinton in 1969 against Wales, and won caps for

while at Swinton in 1965 against New Zealand, in 1966 against France (2 matches), on the

1966 Great Britain Lions tour Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

against Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in 1967 against France (2 matches), Australia (2 matches), and while at Wigan in 1970 against Australia.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, David 1944 births 2022 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Swinton, Greater Manchester Rugby league second-rows Swinton Lions players Wigan Warriors players