Bethell Robinson (1861 – 26 October 1933) was an English

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 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He also played for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

(the season they reached the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

; It is unknown if Harrison played in the Cup run),

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...

, Hyde,

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

1888-1889

Bethell Robinson made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 8 September 1888, as a full-back, at

Pike's Lane Pike's Lane was a football ground in Bolton, England. It was the home ground of Bolton Wanderers between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world. History Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with t ...

, the then home of Bolton Wanderers. The opposition were

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

and Bolton Wanderers lost the match 6–3. When Robinson played at full–back on 20 October 1888 against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

he was approximately 27 years 158 days old; which made him, on the seventh weekend of League football, Bolton Wanderers' oldest player. Robinson played in 16 of the 22 League games played by Bolton Wanderers in season 1888–89. Robinson, as a full-back, played in Bolton Wanderers defence that achieved one League clean-sheet and kept the opposition to one-League-goal-in-a-match on four separate occasions. Even though a Bolton Wanderers player Bethel Robinson appeared for

in the

1888–89 FA Cup The 1888–89 FA Cup was the 18th edition of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. Qualifying rounds The new format for the FA Cup saw 22 teams (the four semi-finalists from the previo ...

. Robinson played full-back including in the semi-final at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

, against "The Invincibles"

. West Bromwich Albion lost the semi-final 1–0. (registration & fee required)

References

1861 births 1933 deaths People from the Borough of Chorley English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Preston North End F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Darwen F.C. (1870) players Bootle F.C. (1879) players English Football League players Footballers from Lancashire Footballers from Fleetwood {{England-footy-defender-1860s-stub