Samson Alfie Philip Robinson (born 9 January 2002) is an English 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 for club

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

. A former England youth international, he joined Port Vale from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in January 2022. He helped the club to win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of League Two via the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in four months later. Released by the Vale in June 2023, he joined

non-League Non-League football describes association football, 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 ...

side

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

three months later. He signed with

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

in July 2024 and was named the club's Player of the Year for the 2024–25 campaign. He joined Buxton in June 2025.

Club career

Early career

After playing for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, Robinson joined

at the age of 14. He was originally a striker at Leeds, was then moved to

centre-back 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 ...

at Manchester City and then later to

central midfield 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. ...

, before he finally settled at right-back. He represented the Manchester City Academy team in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

on 24 September 2019, in a 2–1 win at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

. He was promoted to the Elite Development Squad in January 2020. He was given the

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

77. He was sidelined after picking up what

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Brian Barry-Murphy Brian Barry-Murphy (born 27 July 1978) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Cardiff City. He began his career at his hometown club Cork City. I ...

described as a "really bad injury" in August 2020. He made a total of 16 appearances in the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

, scoring one goal and providing two assists.

Port Vale

Robinson signed an 18-month

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

with League Two club

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

on 31 January 2022, after

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

needed cover for the injured

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

and with

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...

; director of football

David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry Flitcroft. A midfielder, Flitcroft began his career a ...

cited a desire to build a relationship with Manchester City; City retained a sell-on clause. He made his debut at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

on 20 March, coming on as a substitute for

David Worrall David Richard Worrall (born 12 June 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Barrow, where he is a player-coach, as well as joint coach of Curzon Ashton Juniors Whites U13’s. He is a versatile, aggressi ...

in a 2–0 win over

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. He was an unused substitute as Vale secured

out of the

with victory over

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

in the final 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 ...

. He made his full debut on 6 August, in a 4–0 defeat at fellow League One newcomers

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, and despite giving away a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

he received praise from Clarke, who said Robinson was "unfairly penalised". Speaking three months later, Robinson said his focus was on improving the defensive aspect of his game. On 15 April, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for two bookable offences in a 3–2 defeat at Lincoln City despite only coming on as a

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

substitute; he was defended by opposition manager Mark Kennedy, who said that Robinson had been a "little bit emotional and rash" but that "he has had a really tough start in his life and he is an incredible person". Flitcroft confirmed that the player's contract would not be renewed beyond June 2023.

Kidderminster Harriers

On 29 September 2023, Robinson joined

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. He played 22 games in the 2023–24 season. Kidderminster Harriers were relegated at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Hereford

On 31 July 2024, Robinson joined

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 ...

club

. He was voted Hereford's player of the month for September, and signed a contract with the club in October. He played 36 games in the 2024–25 season, scoring one goal, and was named as the club's Player of the Season. On 6 June, Robinson announced on X that he had left the club owing to "location and family commitments".

Buxton

On 14 June 2025, Robinson joined National League North club

International career

Robinson won a total of 26 caps representing England at under-15, under-16 and under-17 level.

Style of play

Robinson has been described as a "whole-hearted central defender... who is comfortable in possession". He can play in central defence or at right-back.

Personal life

Robinson is a Leeds United supporter.

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *Hereford Player of the Year: 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Sammy 2002 births Living people Footballers from Cheltenham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders England men's youth international footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Leeds United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Buxton F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen