Robert Douglas Cummings (17 November 1935 – 26 August 2008) was an English 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 lea ...

who scored 33 goals from 63 appearances in the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

for

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 ...

and 69 goals from 170 appearances 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 ...

playing for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and Hartlepools United. He played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

outside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

. He also played in the South African

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for Port Elizabeth City.

Career

Cummings was born in

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

, Northumberland, in 1935. He began his football career as a youngster with

but was released before reaching the first team and signed for

. The club record he set of 60 goals in 1958–59, as Ashington finished second to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, still stands, and his goalscoring earned him a move to Aberdeen. Cummings first joined Aberdeen on a part-time basis, continuing to work as a coal miner at Bates Colliery, at

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a port town, port and seaside town as well as a civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth, Northumberland, River Blyth. It has a population of 39,731 as of the 2021 cens ...

, to ensure his exemption from

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

. He made his

debut on 1 March 1960 against

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 ...

and a year later, playing at

, he became only the third Aberdeen player, and first Englishman, to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against that club. In the 1962–63 season, he scored 23 goals in all competitions, and ended his Aberdeen career in October 1963 with 47 goals from 87 games in all competitions. In October 1963, Cummings played as a guest and scored for a Newcastle United XI in a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

for Alf McMichael, and five days later he signed for the club for a £5,000 fee. He stayed with Newcastle for two seasons, scoring 14 goals from 44 games. In the 1964–65 season, he was second in the club's scoring charts, with 8 goals behind Ron McGarry's 16, and made a significant contribution to their promotion to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. He played little in the top flight, and in October 1965, dropped down to the Fourth Division to become

's £6,000 record signing. Cummings scored twice on his Darlington debut, in a 3–0 defeat of

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 ...

, and went on to become the club's top scorer for the 1965–66 season as they gained promotion for the first time in more than 40 years. In two-and-a-half seasons he scored 46 goals, but by early 1968 he was not being selected regularly, and was persuaded to return to Division Four with nearby Hartlepools United for a £1,000 fee. His 9 goals from 18 games helped Hartlepools to third place, and consequent promotion to the Third Division. He played regularly at the higher level, but scored only three times, and then went to South Africa to play in the

for Port Elizabeth City. On his return from South Africa he settled back in his native north-east of England, where he collapsed and died in August 2008 at the age of 72.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Bobby 1935 births 2008 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Ashington Men's association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Port Elizabeth City F.C. players Midland Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players National Football League (South Africa) players 20th-century English sportsmen