John Robert Campbell Robinson (born 29 August 1971) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He made over 400 appearances during his professional career with Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Cardiff City and Gillingham and also won 30 caps for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Early life

Robinson was born in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(now Zimbabwe) to a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-born father and Rhodesian mother. His father's job later moved the family to

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

in South Africa before they settled in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in order for Robinson to pursue his dream of playing professional football.

Club career

After attending the

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

Soccer School, Robinson began his professional career at Brighton & Hove Albion, signing his first deal with the club in 1987. In 1992, he moved to Charlton Athletic for £75,000; he would spend the bulk of his career with the south-east London club. In eleven years at Charlton, he helped the Addicks to two promotions and also enjoyed three seasons of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

football. He played in their dramatic win over Sunderland in the 1998 play-off final, winning 7–6 on penalties after a 4–4 draw, with Robinson himself scoring one of the penalties. Robinson was released at the end of the 2002–03 season and joined Cardiff City following their promotion to Division One, making his debut on the opening day of the 2003–04 season in a 0–0 draw with Rotherham United. In October 2004, Robinson decided to leave Cardiff to sign for Gillingham to be closer to his mother, who was suffering from illness, and family. However, he retired after making just four appearances for the club after becoming disillusioned with professional football, stating "''I haven't fallen out of love with playing football, it's the politics of football and becoming a commodity I don't like.''" He later had short spells with non-league sides

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

before retiring.

International career

After winning 16 caps for the Wales U21 side, Robinson made his debut for the senior team in a match against Albania in 1995. He played 30 games and scored three goals for the senior team before announcing his retirement in 2002. Born in

, Robinson qualified to play for Wales by being a British passport holder – a route to qualification that had been removed by the time he retired from international football.

After retirement

After leaving football, Robinson set up a property business with former Cardiff teammate Martyn Margetson and also runs his own football training school. In 2008, he managed Canterbury School (Ft. Myers, FL) to an unbeaten 15-0-2 season in his first year at the school. On 21 May 2013, Robinson was named the head coach of the SW Florida Adrenaline of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. In 2017 he was elected to the Charlton Athletic Hall of Fame.

Honours

Individual * Welsh Footballer of the Year: 2000 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1997–98 First Division, 1999–2000 First Division

References

External links

*
John Robinson Soccer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, John Living people 1971 births Welsh people of Scottish descent Footballers from Bulawayo Welsh men's footballers Zimbabwean men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Lewes F.C. players White Zimbabwean sportspeople Zimbabwean expatriate men's footballers Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England