James Walter "Jock" Robertson (21 February 1898 – 29 December 1970) was an English association

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 le ...

who played professionally for Gillingham. He joined the club while it was still playing

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

and went on to set a club record for the most matches 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, making over 350 appearances.

Career

Robertson was born in

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

and shortly after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

played for local team Chatham Centrals. Upon his demobilisation from the Army in November 1919 he signed for professional club Gillingham, at the time playing in the Southern League, but had to wait until the following April to make his debut for the team, which came in an away match against Southend United. He played in seven of the team's final eight matches of the season. At the end of the 1919–20 season, the Southern League Division One was absorbed into

to form the new

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, and Robertson played in the club's first ever Football League match against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 28 August 1920. Over the next thirteen seasons he made over 350

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances, a club record which stood for over 30 years. At the end of the 1932–33 season he left

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has ...

to join non-league club Canterbury Waverley. Details of his career beyond that point are unknown. He died in Rochester in 1970.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Jock 1898 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Chatham, Kent English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Canterbury Waverley F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Men's association football defenders