John Nicol Robertson (1884 – 23 January 1937) was a Scottish 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 played at half-back for various clubs in the early 20th century, spending most of his career with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Football career

Robertson was born in

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found i ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

and after spending time with

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 ...

in Glasgow, moved to England in April 1902 to join

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

of the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

. At Bolton, he found it hard to break into the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

, making only one appearance at

left-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

in 1903–04. After three years of

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

football, he eventually had a more sustained period in the first team, making 14

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 ...

appearances, generally at

right-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, in 1905–06. Frustrated at not being able to command a regular spot in the Wanderers' side, he moved to

southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

to join

of the Southern League in May 1906. Described in the local press as "''a really classy half-back and an exceedingly capable player''", Robertson made his debut for the "Saints" on 8 September 1906, playing at left-half in a 2–2 draw with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. After his second appearance a fortnight later, he sustained a serious knee injury which put him out of action for several months. He returned to action on 8 December, taking the place of James Bowden at

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for eight matches before switching to right-half for the rest of the season. Another injury caused him to miss the start of the next season, before he returned at the end of October. He made a total of 25 league and five

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 ...

appearances in 1907–08, and as a

Utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

appeared in all five defensive positions as well as playing at

inside-left 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 ...

against

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on 29 February when he scored in a 1–1 draw. In the

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

, he helped Southampton reach the

FA Cup Semi-finals The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutra ...

where they went out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, beating First Division Everton en route. In 1908–09, Robertson was in-and-out of the side, alternating with

Horace Glover Horace Victor Glover (1883 – 28 January 1967) was an English professional footballer who played at left-back for Southampton and West Ham United in the decade prior to World War I. Football career Glover was born in Ashford, Kent and trained ...

at left-back in the early part of the season before a handful of matches in the latter part of the season at half-back. In the following season, he missed only six matches and played in all five defensive roles, as well as making one appearance up front, this time at

outside-left 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 bein ...

. Injury caused him to miss a large part of the 1910–11 season, but he returned in March at left-half, following the transfer of

Bert Trueman Albert Henry Trueman (1882–1961) was an English footballer who played as a half-back for various clubs in the early twentieth century. Football career Trueman was born in Leicester and educated at Holy Trinity School, from where he was sele ...

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 ...

. Following Glover's departure in September 1911, Robertson made the left-back position his own and his form earned him two call-ups to the Southern League representative XI in which he played the Irish League in Belfast and the

Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

. This season saw his longest period of regular first-team football, when he missed only one match before he was sold to

in March 1912, much to the dismay of the Saints' supporters. In his six seasons at The Dell, Robertson made a total of 164 appearances, scoring once. Robertson spent only one full season at Ibrox in which he made sixteen appearances at left-back, 12 in the

Scottish Football 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&nbs ...

which concluded with Rangers as champions, plus four in the

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

when the ''Gers'' defeated local rivals

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3–1 in the final.(Rangers player) Robertson, John
FitbaStats However, Robertson was injured in that final game and suffered a spinal injury, which left him crippled for 24 years. He died at home in

Maybole Maybole (, ) is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is ...

in 1937 after suffering from a cerebral heamorrhage.

Honours

Rangers *

: 1912–13 *

: 1913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, John 1884 births Footballers from East Ayrshire 1937 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football utility players English Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Rangers F.C. players People from Ochiltree