Robert Guy Atkinson (born 29 April 1987) 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 ...

who plays as a defender. Atkinson started his professional career with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in 2004, and then spent time on loan with

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, Halifax Town,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. Following three loan spells with Grimsby he joined the club on a permanent basis in 2009 before signing with Fleetwood Town two years later. He later played for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

before dropping into Non-League football in 2015 and has since turned out for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

, Bradford Park Avenue, Spennymoor Town and Grantham Town. He has also been capped twice by the England C football team.

Club career

Barnsley

Born in

North Ferriby North Ferriby is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Humber Estuary "The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of internatio ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, Atkinson has come through the youth ranks with

, making his debut on 6 March 2004. In the 2005–06 season he had a six-month loan spell with

playing 22 league games. He was also loaned out to Halifax Town during the 2006–07 season. After some impressive performances, Atkinson was recalled to Barnsley following injuries to first team players

Bobby Hassell Robert John Francis Hassell (born 4 June 1980) is an English former footballer who played for Mansfield Town, Barnsley and Bharat FC in I-League as a defender. He is an Academy Manager at Barnsley. Career Mansfield Born in Derby, Derbyshire, ...

, Paul Reid and Antony Kay. Atkinson played his first full game for the

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium. While the na ...

based club on

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

2006, in a 1–0 win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. In this game, Atkinson's performance earned him the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award.

Grimsby Town

Rob Atkinson was initially signed for

on loan in November 2007 by

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...

. He was drafted in as a covering defender, and was slotted in at centre back next to Nick Fenton. He scored his first goal for the club against Chester City on 1 January 2008. Atkinson went on to play he full 90 minutes at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

final defeat against MK Dons. Atkinson was singled out by Grimsby fans, as one of their more stronger players in the 2007–08 season, and in May 2008, Buckley revealed his desire to bring Atkinson back to the club on loan or possibly on a permanent deal. However at the time, nothing came of the transfer, and after Buckley signed centre backs Richard Hope and Matthew Heywood in pre-season, the Atkinson deal became dead in the water. On 31 October 2008 he re-signed for Grimsby on another loan deal, initially until January 2009. Town who were now managed by Mike Newell had signed Atkinson along with Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala, who was another former Grimsby player. Both transfers were made in the space of two days. Atkinson made his second debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to

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" ...

when he came on as a substitute for skipper Matthew Heywood in the 30th minute of play. In January 2009 Rob's loan contract with Grimsby expired and he returned to Barnsley. However a day later he joined the club for a third spell, signing on an emergency loan deal to play the league fixture with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on 10 January. A deal was struck between Barnsley and Grimsby for a permanent switch that was completed two days later. Rob went on to cement a first team place at centre back alongside youngster Ryan Bennett, who had become the club's new captain, replacing Matt Heywood, who had been dropped due to poor performances. Atkinson and Bennett both were integral parts of the Grimsby squad that helped stave off relegation out of the Football League. During the 2009–10 season The Mariners suffered an eventual relegation, bowing out on the final day of the season. Atkinson remained with Grimsby for the 2010–11 season, which was the club's first season in Non-League football in over 100 years. Following a pre-season injury, Darran Kempson,

Scott Garner Scott John Garner (born 20 September 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He has previously played for Leicester City, Ilkeston Town, Mansfield Town, Grimsby Town, Alfreton Town, Cambridge United, Linc ...

and Steven Watt shared out the two centre half positions until Atkinson returned and was preferred at the back alongside Kempson. He would also be appointed the club's interim captain when club captain Lee Peacock was not selected in the team, but would go on to depart Grimsby in the summer despite being offered a fresh contract by the club's new managerial duo of Rob Scott and

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he was a left back from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, bar a brief loan spell with Burton Albion i ...

Fleetwood Town

Despite being offered a new contract with Grimsby, Atkinson opted to transfer to fellow

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

side Fleetwood Town on 10 June 2011. In his first season with the club Fleetwood earned promotion to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for the first time in their history. The following season Atkinson spent time on loan with

but following a managerial change at Fleetwood he returned to the club and briefly captained the side. It was announced on 7 May 2013, that Fleetwood would not be offering the defender a new contract, and would therefore be released.

Accrington Stanley

On 16 July 2013 Atkinson returned to Accrington, penning a two-year deal.

Non-League

Atkinson joined

following his release from Stanley. In February 2018 he joined Bradford Park Avenue. On 1 July 2018 Atkinson signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side Spennymoor Town. He left the club by the end of the season. On 3 July 2019, Atkinson joined Grantham Town on a free agent.

International career

On 24 January 2011, Atkinson was called up to the England C squad. Atkinson was again called up for England duty to face

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 19 May 2011 along with fellow Grimsby defender

Career statistics

Honours

Grimsby Town *

runner-up: 2007–08 Fleetwood Town *

: 2011–12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Rob 1987 births Living people People from North Ferriby Footballers from the East Riding of Yorkshire English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football defenders Barnsley F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen