Alfred James "Robbie" Robertson (May 19, 1891 – October 30, 1948) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He spent most of his coaching career at Bradley University in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, where he was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

and head coach in football, basketball, and baseball from 1920 to 1948.

Robertson Memorial Field House Robertson Memorial Field House was a multi-purpose arena on the Bradley University campus in Peoria, Illinois. The arena, built inside two surplus World War II airplane hangars in 1949 for $400,000 ($ in present terms), had a 3-foot (1 meter) rai ...

, the former home basketball venue at Bradley, was named in his honor.

Playing career

A native of

South Haven, Minnesota South Haven is a city in Wright County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 187 at the 2010 census. History South Haven was platted in 1888 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was so named for the fact it is located ...

, Robertson lettered in football, basketball, and track at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

. In 1912, he captained the football team and was named All-State

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

on Carleton's basketball team and as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in baseball. Robertson spent the 1913–14 academic year at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he played on the freshman football and basketball squads. He transferred to the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

in 1914, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball, and track. At Montana, he again played quarterback before graduating in 1916.

Coaching career

Robertson began his coaching career in 1917 at

Kentucky Wesleyan College Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. The college is known for its liberal arts programs. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students. History Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kent ...

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. From January to June 1919, he coached basketball, baseball, and track at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. Robertson spent the 1919–20 academic year at Fort Hays Kansas State Normal School—now known as Fort Hays State University—as

and coach of all sports. He led the 1919 Fort Hays football team to a record of 3–6.

Illness and death

Robertson was hospitalized in October 1948 in

and had surgery for a "rare liver aliment" at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

later that month. He died on October 30, at the Saint Mary's Hospital in Rochester, at the age of 57.

Legacy

was dedicated to Robertson's memory on December 17, 1949. In 2008, Robertson was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame. A bronze statue, sculted by Fisher Stolz, of Robertson on Bradley University's West Campus was unveiled on December 2012.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Alfred J. 1891 births 1948 deaths American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Baseball third basemen Forwards (basketball) Bradley Braves athletic directors Bradley Braves baseball coaches Bradley Braves football coaches Bradley Braves men's basketball coaches Carleton Knights baseball players Carleton Knights football players Carleton Knights men's basketball players College men's track and field athletes in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States Fort Hays State Tigers athletic directors Fort Hays State Tigers football coaches Fort Hays State Tigers men's basketball coaches Georgetown Tigers baseball coaches Georgetown Tigers men's basketball coaches Montana Grizzlies baseball players Montana Grizzlies football players Montana Grizzlies basketball players People from Wright County, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota Baseball coaches from Minnesota Baseball players from Minnesota Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Minnesota Track and field athletes from Minnesota