Bryan Stanley Robson, better known as Pop Robson (born 11 November 1945) is an English former

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 ...

who played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He played for Newcastle United,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, Sunderland,

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 ...

and Carlisle United, and scored 265 goals in 674 league games. He also earned one cap for England under-23s.

Playing career

Early career

Born in Sunderland, County Durham, Robson played for Clara Vale in his youth. His first senior club was Newcastle United, and whilst there he won the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title in 1964–65 and the 1969 Fairs Cup, forming a productive partnership with Welshman Wyn Davies.

West Ham United and Sunderland

In February 1971 he became West Ham United's record purchase when he signed for £120,000. He scored on his debut against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 24 February 1971. He was West Ham's leading scorer in two of his three seasons at Upton Park. He made a return to the North-East to join Sunderland in July 1974 for £145,000. He rejoined West Ham in October 1976. During his two spells at West Ham, he made 254 appearances, scoring 104 goals. He returned to

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated ...

in June 1979 for £45,000, and was to eventually play for Sunderland in three separate stints, his goals twice helping them to promotion, as

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

champions 1976 and runners-up in 1980.

Carlisle and Chelsea

Robson was employed as a player/coach by Carlisle United and Chelsea, and at Sunderland during his third spell there. He even stepped in as caretaker manager for one game during the 1983–84 season before the arrival of

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired a ...

. In 1982 Carlisle managed promotion back to the Second Division with a young Peter Beardsley alongside Robson in attack.

Third spells at Sunderland and Carlisle United

Robson is remembered by the Sunderland fans for the rescue act on the last day of the 1983–84 season at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Recalled to lead the front line at the age of 38 years and 182 days, he scored his last goal for Sunderland in a 2–0 win that saved the team from relegation. In his three stays at the club he amassed 174 appearances (10 from the bench) and 67 goals. He also managed the club as caretaker for a single game in 1984 following the sacking of

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...

. He finished his Football League career with a third spell at Carlisle, and in total he made 674 Football League appearances and scored 265 goals. Robson briefly played for non-league Gateshead after leaving Carlisle, scoring one goal during his stint at the club in 1985–86.

Personal life

Robson is married to the former England international table tennis player Maureen Heppell.

Coaching career

After finishing playing with Carlisle he coached at

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

, Manchester United, Leeds United and finally Sunderland until May 2004. In July 2011, Robson joined his former club Sunderland as the new chief scout. In April 2013,

Ellis Short Ellis Short (born October 6, 1960) American businessman and founder of Kildare Partners, a private equity fund investing in distressed European real estate assets. Short was also the owner and chairman of English football club Sunderland A.F.C. ...

, Sunderland's chairman and owner, sacked Robson along with his entire scouting network.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Pop 1945 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland English footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Newcastle United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers English football managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers Carlisle United F.C. managers English Football League managers Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards