Robert Barclay (27 October 1906 – 13 July 1969) 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 as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. Born in

Scotswood Benwell and Scotswood is an electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. The ward encompasses the Benwell and Scotswood housing areas, as well as the Newcastle Business Park, which is located on the banks of the River Tyne and h ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Barclay is best remembered for his time at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

for whom he played in the 1936 FA Cup Final, but also had spells for

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

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. Barclay also represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on three occasions, scoring two goals.

Football career

Derby County

Barclay started his career with amateur clubs; Scotswood United Church, Bell's Close Amateurs, Allendale and finally Scotswood before signing for

in 1928 where he became a protégé of George Jobey. He spent two seasons with The Rams scoring 23

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

goals in 61 games.

Sheffield United

In 1931 Barclay signed for

for £3,500. He was cool and methodical in his play, very clever, and was bought to lend inspiration to Jimmy Dunne in attack, although he also provided plenty of openings for the other attacking teammates (like inside-forward Jack Pickering). He remained a stalwart 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 ...

and was an important figure in the Blades

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

side of 1936, appearing in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in which United lost 1–0 to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Barclay scored 67 league goals for The Blades in 231 starts, although it has been said on numerous occasions that he given his apparent unselfishness in front of goal, he should have scored many more.

Huddersfield Town

In March 1937 Barclay was transferred to

along with Eddie Boot for a combined fee of £7,000. He was a regular for Town in the following seasons and once again found himself on the losing side at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

as Huddersfield were beaten 1–0 by

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 ...

in the 1938 FA Cup Final. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the football league was suspended but Town retained Barclay's registration throughout. As was common in this period Barclay made wartime guest appearances 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 ...

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

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 ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and back at his old club

. With the war over Barclay was finally released by Huddersfield in 1946 having scored 19 goals from 74 league appearances.

International career

Barclay's good form with

meant it was no surprise when he was handed his first of 3

England international England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It shares a land border with Scotland to the north and anoth ...

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

in 1932. He made his debut against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 9 April 1932 in a

Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

aged 25 years. Scoring on his debut Barclay found the net again in England's next game later the same year; another Home Championship fixture, this time against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Despite this promising start he was overlooked until 1936 when he won his third and final cap in another Home Championship game against Scotland.

International goals

Honours

FA Cup Runner up

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

Later career

Following his release by Huddersfield, Barclay played for

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, Cumbria, a location * Hurst, Dorset, a location * Hurst, Greater Manchester, a location * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, Somerset, a settlement within the vi ...

in the Cheshire League before returning to Huddersfield Town to act as assistant trainer. He subsequently had a spell as a coach in the Netherlands.

References

Bibliography

*A to Z Encyclopedia. ''Sheffield United matchday programme''. 22 March 1986. *Young, Percy A. (1962). Football in Sheffield. *Clarebrough, Denis. (1989) Sheffield United F.C., The First 100 years. *Clarebrough, Denis. From The Past, Sheffield United matchday programme, 26 December 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Bobby 1906 births 1969 deaths Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Derby County F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. wartime guest players Bradford City A.F.C. wartime guest players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. wartime guest players Crewe Alexandra F.C. wartime guest players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. wartime guest players York City F.C. wartime guest players Ashton United F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen