Derrick Harold Robins (27 June 1914 – 3 May 2004) was an English

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and sports promoter, twice chairman of

Coventry City Football Club Coventry City Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (region), West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, En ...

. He was born in

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

, Kent and became a self-made millionaire running Banbury Buildings, a firm which made pre-fabricated buildings and sheds. Robins played two matches for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in 1947, but did little and never played

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

again. Extraordinarily, his third first-class appearance would come 22 years later, when he appeared for his own "D. H. Robins's XI" against the touring

West Indians A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Ind ...

The Saffrons The Saffrons is a multi-purpose sports ground in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The ground is home to Eastbourne Cricket Club, Eastbourne Town Football Club, Eastbourne Hockey Club and Compton Croquet Club. There is also a sand dressed astroturf pitch ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

. Robins made two further appearances for his own XI, against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1969 and against the Indians in 1971, the latter game coming a few days after his 57th birthday. However, he was better known as the promoter who took several strong sides to

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the 1970s. Between 1972/73 and 1975/76 a D. H. Robins's XI played in the country each winter. In those days there were no sanctions against cricketers who visited South Africa, and Robins's teams included players of high quality, including such names as

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all tim ...

, Brian Close,

Tony Greig Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born cricketer and commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall () all-rounder who bowled both ...

and

Trevor Chappell Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Shi ...

. Detailed accounts of these matches can be found in the International cricket in South Africa from 1971 to 1981 article. In football, he first took charge of Coventry City F.C. in 1959, who were at the time struggling in the lower ranks of the Football League. Together with manager

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

, Robins oversaw what was known as the "Sky Blue Revolution": he changed the team colours from royal-and-white to all-sky blue, adopted innovative marketing and fan engagement practices, rebuilt

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

stadium, invested in a new training ground at

Ryton-on-Dunsmore Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is situated 6 miles (8.8 km) south-east of Coventry and 8 miles (12.1 km) west of Rugby. The 2001 census recorded a population of 1,6 ...

, and built a side that eventually won promotion to the First Division in 1967. He would later return as chairman in the mid-1970s (with Hill, now well-known as the host of ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

'', returning as managing director) as City consolidated their place in the top tier. He also took first-class teams to Sri Lanka in 1977–78 and New Zealand in 1979–80. He died on 3 May 2004.

References

Cricinfo profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robins, Derrick 1914 births English cricketers Warwickshire cricketers English football chairmen and investors Coventry City F.C. directors and chairmen 2004 deaths D. H. Robins' XI cricketers 20th-century English businesspeople