David Alexander Robertson BEM (born 17 October 1968) is a Scottish former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and coach, who was most recently the manager of
Scottish League One
The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...
club
Peterhead
Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...
.
Robertson played as a
left back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categ ...
for
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
,
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
I-League
The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...
club Real Kashmir, before being appointed manager of
Peterhead
Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...
in November 2022.
Playing career
Robertson began playing football with Deeside Boys Club (now
Banks O' Dee FC
Banks o' Dee Football Club is a Scottish Football (soccer), football club from the city of Aberdeen that plays in the .
Their home ground is Spain Park, by the banks of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee. In 2009, Banks o' Dee were among ...
) before he started his football career by signing an "s" form with local club Aberdeen, where he won the
Scottish Youth Cup
The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,Joe Miller, Paul Wright and
Stevie Gray
Stephen Gray (7 February 1967 – 19 September 2009) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a right winger. Gray made 85 appearances in the Scottish Football League for Aberdeen and Airdrieonians between 1985 and 1993. Gray also re ...
. After becoming a first team regular aged 17, he won a
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...
winner's medal against
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
in
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
and a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
against
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
in a match which ended with a thrilling
penalty shoot out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
(9–8, Robertson scoring his kick).
Robertson moved to
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
for £970,000 in 1991. With the Ibrox club, he helped the club to the last six of their joint-record nine
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
titles in a row, as well as adding three more Scottish Cups and three more League Cups to his collection. He only received one red card during his spell, for a brutal bodycheck on his friend Joe Miller in the opening minutes of the
Old Firm
The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...
1992 Scottish Cup semi-final, which broke the Celtic winger's ribs (Miller played on, Rangers still won the match with ten men and Robertson appeared in the final after suspension). During his time at the ''Gers'', he won three full international caps for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
After exactly 250 games for Rangers, Robertson signed for
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
in 1997 for £500,000, but recurring injury problems curtailed his spell in England and he played only 26 league matches in four years at
Elland Road
Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
(all in the first season).
Robertson retired from football in 2001 but was back playing in 2002 when he was appointed player/assistant manager of
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
club Montrose. He scored his first and only goal for Montrose in a 3–2 defeat at
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath () 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 1890. According to a 20 ...
in the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...
. His playing career with Montrose was cut short, however, due to one of his Achilles tendons snapping during a match against Greenock Morton in the same year.
Coaching career
In September 2006, Robertson was appointed manager of Montrose but he resigned just four months later. He moved to
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
and worked as a director of boy's coaching at the Sereno Soccer Club. Robertson was head coach of
USL Pro
The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...
In January 2017 Robertson was appointed as the head coach of Indian
I-League 2nd Division
The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...
side Real Kashmir. Under his tenure Real Kashmir won the promotion to Indian top flight football, thus becoming the first team from
Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
to be promoted to the I-League. Robertson also signed his son Mason to play for the club.
Robertson's management of Real Kashmir was featured in two documentaries made for
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
, ''Real Kashmir FC'' and ''Return to Real Kashmir FC'', which won best documentary at Scottish BAFTAs, the UK Broadcast awards, and the European Sports Awards in Rotterdam where it additionally won the best director award for its director Greg Clark. He was awarded the
British Empire Medal
The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
(BEM) in the
2021 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to the community in Kashmir and UK-India relations. He left the club in September, and was succeeded by Mehrajuddin Wadoo.
Peterhead
On 29 November 2022, Robertson was named as the new manager of
Scottish League One
The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...
club
Peterhead
Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...
, marking his first managerial role in Scotland in 15 years. He left the position in March 2023, following a run of results that the Peterhead chairman described as "embarrassing".
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1989–90
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...
North of Scotland Cup
The North of Scotland Cup is a knock-out tournament, knock-out tournament for association football, football teams in membership of the North of Scotland Football Association. The teams involved are based in the Highland, Highlands and Moray an ...
: 2003–04
Real Kashmir
*
I-League 2nd Division
The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...
IFA Shield
The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...
:
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
,
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...