Robert Fleming Archibald (6 November 1894 – 27 November 1966) was a

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

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Archibald played for a number of Scottish clubs before joining

in 1925. He helped Stoke win the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

in 1926–27 and became a consistent performer for Stoke at outside-left. He racked up 276 appearances for Stoke in seven seasons and he scored 40 goals. He ended his career with

and later became an insurance agent in

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 ...

and a scout for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Early life and family

Archibald was born in

Larkhall Larkhall (, ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the Avon Water to the West. Larkhall ...

, the son of John Archibald, a baker, and Elizabeth (''née'' Hamilton). His younger brother Jock was also a footballer.

Career

Archibald played for Rutherglen Glencairn, Albion Rovers, Third Lanark before joining

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 ...

in 1914. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he played for

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 ...

(Rangers player) Archibald, Robert
FitbaStats and his army regiment in France and Denmark. On 25 August 1925 at the age of 29 he joined English side

and made a fine impression scoring on his debut against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

on the opening day of the 1925–26, but a new look Stoke side failed to gel together and the side agonisingly slipped towards relegation to the Third Division. Archibald was a small player at just 5 ft 4in tall and weighing just 10 stone, His physique enabled him to become a fast player and his skill on the wings marked him out as one of the few class acts in the side relegated from the Second Division for the first time. He was renowned for his consistency, from his debut he played 58 consecutive matches before pulling a muscle against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

in November 1927 and missed just six matches in the next six seasons. His fine footwork proved to be too much for Third Division full backs as he set up numerous chances for Charlie Wilson to score his 25 goals as Stoke won the

title. After six years of fine service he was awarded a benefit match, he chose the final home match of the 1930–31 season against

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 ...

. The second highest crowd of the season, 26,064 paid £1,540 6s 2d to bid farewell to Archibald. He spent one more season at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

during which the now 38-year-old lost his place to Harold Taylor. Once manager

Tom Mather Thomas Mather (1888–1957), was an English football manager who managed in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Stoke City and Southend United. Career Mather was assistant secretary of both Manche ...

had brought in Joe Johnson in April 1932 he allowed Archibald to join

. He played just eight matches for the "Tykes" and after spending several seasons in the reserves he retired in May 1937 at the age of 42.

Personal life

At the end of his career he returned to his native

where he became an insurance agent and scouted from time to time for

manager Fred Westgarth. Archibald was a very modern man for his generation who always required the latest gadget; he would constantly use his wireless set in the dressing room for hours and was one of the few Stoke players to own his own car. Archibald died at his home in

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

of lung cancer in 1966, age 72.

Career statistics

Honours

;Stoke City *

Champions: 1926–27

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archibald, Bobby 1894 births 1966 deaths Scottish men's footballers Rutherglen Glencairn F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Hibernian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards Scottish Junior Football Association players British Army personnel of World War I Deaths from lung cancer in Scotland Footballers from Larkhall 20th-century Scottish sportsmen