Keith Robson (born 15 November 1953 in

Hetton-le-Hole Hetton-le-Hole is a town and civil parish in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the historic county of Durham. The A182 road, A182 road runs through the town, between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane (the latter bord ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

) is an English former 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 ...

. Robson, who was usually used as a winger or

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 ...

, played 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 ...

youth teams before signing with the first team in 1971. He played only fourteen games over three seasons before signing for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

for £60,000 in 1974. He made his Hammers debut in a League Cup game against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on 18 September 1974. Robson was a member of the team that finished runners-up of the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

in 1976, scoring in the semi-final second leg game against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

and in the final against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. He spent time on loan with

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

team

Team Hawaii Team Hawaii was a soccer team based out of Honolulu that played in the NASL for one season, 1977. Their home field was Aloha Stadium. After two unsuccessful years as the San Antonio Thunder, the franchise moved to Hawai'i in time for the ...

for the franchise's single season under the moniker, playing with former Hammer Yılmaz Orhan. He played his last game for the east London club on 5 March 1977 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Robson moved to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in August 1977, having scored 19 goals in 87 league games for West Ham. However, his time in South Wales was plagued by disciplinary problems and, in December, he was heavily fined by the club and placed on the transfer list with manager Jimmy Andrews commenting he "had problems with the player since he came here". He went on to play for

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 ...

, where he teamed up with ex-West Ham players Alan Taylor, Graham Paddon,

Martin Peters Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English Association football, footballer and manager. As a member of the England national football team, England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second o ...

and

John McDowell John Henry McDowell (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, anci ...

. The £25,000 signing scored 13 goals in 65 games for the

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

club before moving to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He spent time on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

where he played with another former Hammer,

Pop Robson Bryan Stanley Robson, better known as Pop Robson (born 11 November 1945) is an English former footballer who played as a centre-forward. He played for Newcastle United, West Ham United, Sunderland, Chelsea and Carlisle United, and scored 265 g ...

. After a short spell in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

playing with the South China Athletic Association, Robson worked at Impress Metal Packing Co. and played for Norwich Busmen, Corinthian-Casuals and

Wroxham Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres, and in 2001, had a population of 1,532 in 666 households. A reduced population of 1,502 in 653 household ...

, where he became assistant manager in 1993–94.

References

External links

*
Keith Robson
''Flown From the Nest'', retrieved 20 January 2007

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Keith 1953 births Living people Men's association football wingers Cardiff City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Leicester City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Norwich City F.C. players Footballers from Hetton-le-Hole South China AA players Team Hawaii players Wroxham F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States