Carl Robinson (born 13 October 1976) is a retired Welsh international

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 central

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is currently the assistant coach for Major League Soccer club D.C. United.

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Robinson started his career as a trainee with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He was promoted to the first-team for the 1995–96 season.

Loan to Shrewsbury Town

On 28 March 1996, Robinson was sent on loan to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

for the remainder of the season to gain first-team experience. Two days later, Robinson made his

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

debut against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

in a 1–1 draw at

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and t ...

in front of 2,346 supporters. He made five appearances for The Shrews: four in the league and one 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 Le ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

at Wembley Stadium in a 2–1 defeat against

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 ...

on 14 April 1996.

Return to Wolves

Following his loan spell at Shrewsbury Town, Robinson returned to Wolves for the 1996–97 season, making his club debut that year. He would go on to become a regular with the first-team over the next six seasons as the club challenged regularly for promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and made a memorable run to the semifinals of the 1997–98 FA Cup, losing to eventual champions Arsenal. Robinson was released by Wolves in June 2002 at the expiry of his contract.

Portsmouth

After over 180 appearances for Wolves over six seasons, he moved to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in July 2002 under the Bosman ruling. He played 15 league games for Portsmouth in the first half of their

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 system ...

season before finishing the season with loan spells at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

(where he scored once against future club Norwich) and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, where he scored once against Bradford. The following season he was loaned out again, this time to Rotherham,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and Sunderland. However between these loan spells he did return to Portsmouth to make one

appearance against

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 ...

Sunderland

After impressing at Sunderland he signed a three-year deal in June 2004. He then went on to collect another championship winners medal as they gained promotion during a season in which he played 42 of 46 matches to become a fan’s favourite.

Norwich City

After a loan spell 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 ...

, he signed for The Canaries permanently on a 2.5 year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2006. Robinson scored his first goal for Norwich in a 5–1 win against Barnsley on 26 August 2006.

Toronto FC

On 31 January 2007, Robinson joined

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

from Norwich after just over a year at Carrow Road, even though he still had 18 months remaining on his deal with Norwich. He scored his first MLS goal when he netted Toronto's third in a 4–0 win against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

on 17 June 2007. He was voted team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in his first year and repeated in his second year at the club.

New York Red Bulls

In March 2010 he was traded from Toronto FC to the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

to join Hans Backe for a fourth-round pick in the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consiste ...

. On 20 March 2010, Robinson started for New York in a 3–1 victory against

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...

, which was the first match played at the new Red Bull Arena. On 21 August 2010, he scored his first goal for New York Red Bulls in a 4–1 road victory against his old club Toronto FC and refused to celebrate due to his relationship with the supporters. During his time at New York Red Bulls he became a player coach.

International career

A Wales international player, Robinson made his debut against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in 1999, winning the man of the match award. His 50th cap came in the 2–0 World Cup Qualifier victory over Liechtenstein. On 1 April 2009, Robinson announced his retirement from international football at the age of 32 with 52 caps after Wales suffered two consecutive defeats, making it virtually impossible for them to qualify for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Managerial career

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

In January 2012, Robinson retired as a player and joined the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

as an assistant coach. He took over as the head coach of the club in December 2013. The club parted ways with Robinson on 25 September with 5 games remaining in the 2018 season after just under 5 years. He amassed just under 200 games as Caps boss in his stay.

Newcastle Jets

In February 2020, Robinson signed a three-and-a-half-year contract as the head coach of Australian A-League club

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

. On 14 October 2020, the Jets announced that Robinson was in talks with

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 15 October 2020,

announced the signing of Robinson from Newcastle Jets. On 30 January 2022 Wanderers relieved Robinson of his duties and thanked him for his time at the club.

Career statistics

Playing career

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Club

Shrewsbury Town *

runner-up: 1995–96 Portsmouth * Championship winner / Promotion to Premier League – 2001/2 Sunderland * Championship winner / Promotion to Premier League – 2004/5

Individual

* Red Patch Boys Player of the Year: 2007 & 2008 *Sunderland Fans player of year 2004

Manager

Vancouver Whitecaps *2014 – Western conference playoffs *2015 – Runner up Western Conference / Western conference semifinals *2015 – Coach of year candidate *2015 – Canadian Voyageurs Cup winner *2016 – Concacaf Champions league semifinals *2016 – Canadian Voyageurs Cup runner-up *2017 – Western Conference semifinals *2017 – Coach of year candidate *2018 – Canadian Voyageurs Cup runner-up Newcastle Jets * Coach of year candidate: 2020

References

External links

* *
Biography
at BBC Mid-Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Carl 1976 births Living people People from Llandrindod Wells Sportspeople from Powys Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders Major League Soccer players Norwich City F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Premier League players New York Red Bulls players Rotherham United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Toronto FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC coaches Newcastle Jets FC managers Western Sydney Wanderers FC managers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Walsall F.C. players Welsh expatriate football managers Welsh expatriate footballers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Canada Welsh football managers Welsh footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps FC non-playing staff Welsh expatriate sportspeople in the United States