Paul James Robinson (born 21 February 1971) is an English former 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 ...

who scored six goals from 42 appearances 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 ...

. A striker, he played league football for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

. After a break in his career because of injury, he played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Bromsgrove Rovers and Arnold Town.

Football career

Scarborough

Robinson was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, and began his football career as a youngster with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and then

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. In 1989, as an 18-year-old, he had a trial with

, a Fourth Division club in only their third season in

. Manager Colin Morris said later that he had been "frankly, quite awful", apart from one piece of skill "when he trapped a ball at pace and pinged it 50 yards in one movement out to the wing, from where we scored". Robinson signed for Scarborough on a free transfer. In his fifth competitive game for the club, Scarborough faced

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 ...

, who were then in second place in the First Division, in the second round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. Two goals behind on the night, 3–1 down on aggregate, With 24 minutes to go, Tommy Graham scored with a header. Four minutes later, Robinson scrambled the ball home to bring the scores level. Then after a further four minutes, Steve Norris was fouled in the penalty area. While Chelsea claimed the player had been offside, the referee awarded the

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

Martin Russell Martin Russell is an English recording engineer, record producer, composer, and musician. He has been a core member of the music group Afro Celt Sound System since the recording of the first album '' Volume 1: Sound Magic'' in mid-1995, and has ...

converted to complete the victory on what the '' Scarborough Evening News'' years later labelled "one of the most memorable nights in the club's history". Robinson said afterwards: "Chelsea made the mistake of under-estimating us. We fancied our chances after holding them to a draw at Stamford Bridge. It's a lovely feeling." In the next round, Scarborough lost 7–0 on

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

's plastic pitch, and a few weeks later, Robinson was substituted at half-time as Scarborough lost at home in the

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 ...

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

, three divisions below them in the

league system A league system is a hierarchy of leagues in a sport. They are often called pyramids, due to their tendency to split into an increasing number of regional divisions further down the system. League systems of some sort are used in many sports in ...

. He scored three times in 20 league appearances over the season, at the end of which he moved up to the Second Division with

for a £15,000 fee.

Plymouth Argyle

During Argyle's pre-season tour of Sweden, '' Sunday Independent'' journalist Rupert Metcalf assessed Robinson as more mobile than fellow new arrival, target-man

Robbie Turner Robert Peter Turner (born 18 September 1966) is an English former professional association football, footballer, born in Easington, County Durham, who played as a Forward (association football), striker for Huddersfield Town A.F.C., Huddersfie ...

, and with "genuine potential, although he clearly still has some rough edges to be refined". On his first competitive start, Robinson scored twice in a minute – first a header, then a run followed by a shot from distance – in a 3–2 win against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. This earned him a place in the starting eleven for the next few matches, but he failed to score and lost his place. In the second half of the season he scored once from three starts and one substitute appearance, and returned to the Fourth Division with

for 1991–92. He was reportedly disappointed at being given insufficient opportunity to succeed at the higher level.

Hereford United

Robinson began Hereford's new season in the starting eleven. He scored on his first appearance, in the Herefordshire Senior Cup, and hit a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invol ...

in the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

, but was sent off in his first league match and again in his fifth. He was denied a goal as

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club Atherstone Town held Hereford to a goalless draw in the FA Cup: the goalkeeper turned Andy Theodosiu's header onto the bar, Robinson headed the rebound back into the net, but it was disallowed because Theodosiu was lying on the goalline in an offside position. Robinson played intermittently, making seven league starts and four substitute appearances without scoring, and played his last Football League match on 25 April 1992 at the age of 21.

Non-League football

He moved into non-league football with

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

at the end of the season, and eventually retired from playing because of a back injury. However, in the 1998 close season he felt he had recovered enough to attempt a comeback. He played in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

for Tamworth, but signed for Southern League club Bromsgrove Rovers instead. He played until late October, including a five-week spell out with a broken wrist, but then left the club for personal reasons and signed for Arnold Town.

References

External links

TV footage of Robinson's two goals in a minute for Plymouth Argyle against Millwall
hosted at ''Greens on Screen'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Paul 1971 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Notts County F.C. players Bury F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Arnold Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players