Robbie Simpson (born 15 March 1985 in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, Dorset) is an English semi-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 plays 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 ...

. Simpson is currently manager at

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

. His previous clubs include Cambridge City,

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

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 ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

Playing career

Norwich City

Simpson began his footballing career with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

at the age of nine where he spent six years on schoolboy terms. He was signed by

Jez George Jeremy "Jez" George (born 24 January 1970) is a former English football manager who was Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge United in the Football League Two. He was also a prominent figure in the Cambridge United Youth & Community Trust. He has ...

, then head of youth development at Cambridge City, following his release by Norwich.

Cambridge City

Simpson went to Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City until he was 16. Whilst playing for Cambridge City, Simpson obtained good

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

, and decided to follow this by studying for a degree in Sports Science and Mathematics at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

(graduating in 2007) whilst remaining tied to the club though coaching in their 'Youth in the Community' scheme. Robbie won the British Universities Sport Association trophy all three years when he was there playing for the student team, now Loughborough University F.C.In Focus – Robbie Simpson
cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2007 Simpson made his first team debut for Cambridge City in October 2002. He made 154 appearances and scored 42 goals over five seasons with the Lilywhites. When City offered him terms of re-engagement at the end of 2005/06, it was discovered that his original contract had been secretly amended in February 2006 by Jez George. The effect was to allow Simpson and two other players ( Josh Simpson and

Michael Gash Michael Edward Gash (born 3 September 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Southern League Pemier Central side Peterborough Sports, where he plays as a striker. Gash's nomadic career has seen him play primarily in the Football Confer ...

) a free transfer at the end of the season, instead of the usual position where City would have been entitled to a fee under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

requirements for players under the age of 24. The contract amendments were discovered by new Directors (from the Cambridge City Supporters Trust) who had taken over after George and other Directors resigned amidst wider accusations of financial impropriety, which were later to lead to a High Court case. George subsequently moved to Cambridge United and City received no compensation for the three players.

Cambridge United

Simpson signed for

in June 2006. Despite an inauspicious start to his United career, hampered by studying full-time in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

and a knee injury, he eventually became a fans' favourite due to his all-action style and goal scoring ability. By the end of the 2006–07 season he had 17 goals from 33 appearances, 15 of which came in the second half of the season. The end of the season saw Simpson win a multitude of club awards, including the Supporters' Player of the Year,

Cambridge Evening News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average dai ...

Player of the Year and official website goal of the season. Although Cambridge offered Simpson a new contract at the end of the season, this was turned down amid interest from a number of larger clubs.

Coventry City

Simpson joined

at the start of the 2007–08 season along with a host of other new players for the Sky Blues, and was immediately touted as a future star by manager

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

. Simpson scored five minutes into his competitive debut for the club in a

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 ...

tie against

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 ...

on 14 August 2007. Ex-Coventry assistant manager

Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Stratford Town. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers w ...

praised the youngster's performance, describing his acquisition from Cambridge as "a bargain" and tipping him to be a success at the club.

Huddersfield Town

On 18 June 2009, after intensive speculation, Simpson joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

for a fee believed to be around £300,000 on a three-year deal. He made his debut in the 2–2 draw against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

on 8 August 2009. On 1 September 2009, he scored his first goal for the Terriers, the second goal in Town's 2–1 win over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

. Most of Simpson's first season with the Terriers was disrupted by injury.

Brentford (loan)

Simpson joined Brentford on loan for the entire 2010–11 season on 6 August 2010, making 18 starts, scoring 8 goals.

Oldham Athletic (loan)

After being isolated from the Huddersfield squad at the start of the following season, Simpson joined

on loan on 10 September 2011. Simpson made his debut for the club coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. Simpson scored his first goal for the club on his 13th appearance, with a free kick that was fumbled by the

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

goalkeeper in a 3–1 win for the Latics in the first round of 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 ...

. Simpson scored a hat-trick the following game in a League One game against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in a 5–2 win for the Latics. His loan ended on 12 December 2011, but Huddersfield allowed him to stay there in a training capacity and he later signed on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move. He signed just in time to play against

in a 1–1 draw,

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...

scoring the equaliser. Simpson's permanent move was pretty much completed in the same week, Simpson himself stating that he is close to completing the move on Twitter, as well as

Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and Lee Clark both stating that the permanent deal was near completion. On 6 January 2012, Simpson scored a spectacular volleyed strike from 25 yards against Premier League

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in an FA Cup 3rd Round encounter. The lead lasted just 67 seconds before Jonjo Shelvey's shot deflected off of Craig Bellamy and into the net. Liverpool went on to win the game 5–1.

Oldham Athletic

On 30 January 2012, Simpson joined the club on a permanent deal until the end of the season. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Simpson was released by the club along with 4 other players.

Leyton Orient

On 11 November 2013, Simpson joined League One club

on a two-month deal. His contract was extended to the end of the season, but he was unable to score during his time at the club. At the end of the season, after appearing on the bench for the 2014 Football League One play-off Final, he was released by Orient along with four other players.

Cambridge United

On 9 June 2014, Simpson re-joined newly promoted League Two side Cambridge United on a two-year deal. Simpson left Cambridge United by mutual consent at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Exeter City

On 25 May 2016 Simpson signed with

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

. He was released by Exeter at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 9 July 2018, Simpson signed a short-term deal to join newly-relegated League Two club

. He scored his first goal for the club within a minute of coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home league fixture against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

on 21 August 2018. On 22 November 2018 manager Paul Tisdale revealed Simpson's contract with the club had been extended until the end of the season. Simpson was later one of ten players released by the club at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Chelmsford City

On 15 August 2019, Simpson signed for

club

. On 30 January 2020, Simpson was confirmed as interim manager of Chelmsford following the sacking of Rod Stringer. On 11 March 2020, Simpson was appointed manager of Chelmsford City on a permanent basis.

Career statistics

Honours

Milton Keynes Dons *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

third-place promotion: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Robbie 1985 births Sportspeople from Poole Living people English footballers Association football forwards Cambridge City F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Alumni of Loughborough University Exeter City F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Association football defenders English football managers Chelmsford City F.C. managers Association football player-managers Association football coaches