Thomas Henry Robson (31 July 1944 – 8 October 2020) was an English

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 made more than 600 appearances in 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 ...

playing as a

left winger 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. ...

Life and career

Robson was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. He 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 ...

as a junior, but was released and joined

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

as a 15-year-old. He represented England at youth level, and went on to play for Chelsea before returning to Newcastle United. In 1968, he joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. Robson served the club for 13 years, becoming their all-time record appearance-maker with 482 league matches played, before leaving League football for Nuneaton Borough and Stamford. On 4 October 2008, Robson became the first ever inductee to the Peterborough United Hall of Fame. In September 2019, Robson revealed that he had been diagnosed with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. He died in Peterborough City Hospital on 8 October 2020, aged 76 following his battle with MND.

References

External links

Player profile
at Toon1892.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Tommy 1944 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Gateshead English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football wingers Northampton Town F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Deaths from motor neuron disease in England