Chris Robertson (footballer, born 1986)

Christopher Robertson (born 11 October 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer plays as a defender for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Grantham Town.

Chris Robertson
Personal information
Full name Christopher Robertson[1]
Date of birth (1986-10-11) 11 October 1986
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre-back; right-back
Club information
Current team
 Grantham Town
Youth career
2004–2005 Sheffield United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Sheffield United 0 (0)
2004 → Leigh RMI (loan) 5 (0)
2006 → Chester City (loan) 1 (0)
2007–2012 Torquay United 179 (11)
2012–2013 Preston North End 39 (1)
2013–2015 Port Vale 61 (3)
2015–2016 Ross County 23 (0)
2016–2017 AFC Wimbledon 13 (1)
2017–2019 Swindon Town 18 (1)
2019 → Havant & Waterlooville (loan) 2 (0)
2019–2020 Ilkeston Town
2020– Grantham Town 8 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 10 March 2020 (UTC)

He turned professional at Sheffield United in July 2005, but was released by the club after two brief loan spells at Leigh RMI and Chester City. He joined Torquay United in March 2007, and went on to spend five years with the club, helping them to win the 2009 Conference play-off final. He was sold to Preston North End for an undisclosed fee in January 2012, but left the club at the end of the 2012–13 season after losing his first team place. He signed with Port Vale in June 2013. He returned to his native Scotland with Ross County in June 2015, before signing with AFC Wimbledon in September 2016. He joined Swindon Town in June 2017, and was released in May 2019 after being loaned out to Havant & Waterlooville earlier in the year. He joined Ilkeston Town in September 2019 and moved on to Grantham Town four months later.

Playing career

Sheffield United

Robertson was born in Dundee, but moved to Nottingham with his family at the age of two.[3] He joined Sheffield United as a trainee before he signed professional forms with the "Blades" in July 2005. Prior to this, manager Neil Warnock sent Robertson to join Leigh RMI of the Conference on loan in the 2004–05 season,[4] and he went on to make five appearances for the "Leythers" under the management of Phil Starbuck. Robertson joined League Two side Chester City on loan on 1 February 2006,[5] making his league debut as a half-time substitute for Mark Roberts in a 5–0 defeat to Carlisle United at Brunton Park three days later.[6] However Chester manager Keith Curle cancelled his loan spell after a week, along with the loan spells of Wayne Corden, Mark Roberts, and Evan Horwood.[7]

Torquay United

In March 2007, Robertson joined Torquay United on non-contract terms, rejoining manager Keith Curle who had signed him on loan while manager of Chester City.[8] He scored on his "Gulls" debut, volleying in the third goal in a 3–0 win over Wycombe Wanderers at Plainmoor on 10 March.[9] He made a further eight League Two appearances in the 2006–07 relegation season, and signed a full contract with Torquay in June 2007.[10] He played 28 games in the 2007–08 campaign, and was an unused substitute in the 2008 FA Trophy Final, as Torquay lost 1–0 to Ebbsfleet United at Wembley Stadium.[11] He was transfer-listed by manager Paul Buckle in June 2008,[12] but forced his way back into the first team after Torquay made a bad start to the 2008–09 season. He played 32 games despite missing a three-month period recovering from surgery after he ruptured the main supporting ligament in his ankle.[13] After forming a solid partnership with Chris Todd at the heart of defence, Torquay were promoted back to the Football League after beating Cambridge United 2–0 in the Conference National play-off final at Wembley.[14]

Robertson was linked to a move to Burton Albion in summer 2009,[15] but instead signed a one-year contract after protracted negotiations.[16] He played 50 matches in the 2009–10 season, and signed a two-year contract as United finished comfortably in mid-table.[17] A club record run of ten clean sheets was ended after 998 minutes without a goal four matches into the 2010–11 season.[18] United reached the play-off final, but lost 1–0 to Stevenage at Old Trafford.[19] An ever-present in the back four in the 2011–12 campaign by the January transfer window, Robertson began to attract the interest of other clubs as manager Martin Ling struggled to find the money to compete with other interested parties.[20] At the time of his departure Torquay were aiming for automatic promotion after a lengthy series of victories.[21] In his absence the club finished fifth, and lost to Cheltenham Town in the play-off semi-finals.

Preston North End

In January 2012, Robertson signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with League One side Preston North End for an undisclosed transfer fee (later reported to be £60,000).[22][23] He scored his first goal for the club on 14 April against Huddersfield Town, and after the game was praised by manager Graham Westley for his application and character.[24] Due to the form of summer signings Paul Huntington and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Robertson had to wait until 14 October for his first league appearance of the 2012–13 season, when he put in a "terrific display" and again earned praise from Westley for his hard work and professionalism.[25] He was limited to a total of 24 league starts over the course of the campaign, and decided to leave the club after failing to play at Deepdale under new boss Simon Grayson.[26]

Port Vale

He signed with newly promoted League One club Port Vale in June 2013.[27] Upon securing him to a two-year contract, manager Micky Adams noted that Robertson had experience of League One football and had made a good impression on him during his time at Torquay.[28] He opened the 2013–14 season in a centre-back partnership with Carl Dickinson.[29] On 1 April he was sent off during a 2–1 win over Crawley Town after the referee mistakenly thought he had made a tackle from behind, when in fact the culprit was club captain Doug Loft.[30] He ended the campaign with 44 appearances to his name, but said that he was not taking his future at the club for granted despite being one of only a few players contracted until 2015.[31]

At the start of the 2014–15 season he fell down the first team pecking order behind Richard Duffy, Ryan McGivern, Stéphane Zubar and Remie Streete, and was told by new manager Rob Page that he must go out on loan in order to find first team football.[32] He said the club told him to leave for financial reasons and that "He [Page] explained to me that I was part of his plans, as long as he is here. Then a week later, he started signing centre-halves and loan players. I didn't really know what was going on."[33] He was released in May 2015.[34]

Ross County

Robertson signed for Scottish Premiership club Ross County in June 2015.[35] In making the move he turned down better financial offers from lower league English clubs.[36] He broke his hand in pre-season and started the 2015–16 season on the bench.[3] He was an unused substitute in the Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden Park, as the "Staggies" won the Scottish League Cup for the first time in their history.[37] His contract was terminated by mutual consent in August 2016.[38]

AFC Wimbledon

Robertson returned to League One in September 2016 after signing with AFC Wimbledon.[39] He joined the club so as to move his pregnant wife closer to family.[40] An injury to Darius Charles allowed him to form a centre-back partnership with Paul Robinson.[41] He scored his first goal for the "Dons" in a 4–0 win over former club Port Vale at the Kingsmeadow on 17 December.[42] However he was limited to just 19 appearances throughout the 2016–17 campaign, and manager Neal Ardley decided to release Robertson in May 2017 so as to allow a path to the first team for youngster Will Nightingale.[43]

Swindon Town

He signed with newly relegated EFL League Two club Swindon Town in June 2017; manager David Flitcroft stated that Robertson was a "solid character" and had "the profile of a centre-half that I was looking for".[44] On 8 August 2017, he made his debut for Swindon during their EFL Cup first round tie against Championship side Norwich City, featuring for the full 90 minutes in the 3–2 defeat.[45] Following a spell in the starting eleven, Robertson scored his first Swindon goal during their 2–1 away defeat against Chesterfield.[46] He ended the 2017–18 campaign with 22 appearances for the "Robins".

He spent the opening months of the 2018–19 season sidelined after suffering a stress fracture injury in his ankle during pre-season training.[47] On 16 January 2019, he joined National League club Havant & Waterlooville on a one-month loan in order to gain match fitness.[48] However he did not feature again for Havant or Swindon after being sent off in his second appearance for the "Hawks".[49] He was released by Swindon at the end of the 2018–19 season.[50]

Later career

On 4 September 2019, Robertson joined Ilkeston Town of the Northern Premier League Division One South East, stating that the club was close to his home and young family.[51] He moved on to Northern Premier League Premier Division side Grantham Town in January 2020.[52] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2019–20 season was formally abandoned on 26 March, with all results from the season being expunged.[53]

Statistics
As of match played 10 March 2020.
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sheffield United 2005–06[54] Championship 0000000000
2006–07[55] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Leigh RMI (loan) 2004–05[56] Conference National 5000000050
Chester (loan) 2005–06[54] League Two 1000000010
Torquay United 2006–07[55] League Two 9100000091
2007–08[57] Conference National 25220001[lower-alpha 3]0282
2008–09[58] Conference National 323000000323
2009–10[59] League Two 45220102[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5]0502
2010–11[60] League Two 43240105[lower-alpha 4]0532
2011–12[61] League Two 251101000271
Total 1791190308019911
Preston North End 2011–12[61] League One 181000000181
2012–13[62] League One 21031103[lower-alpha 4]0281
Total 391311030462
Port Vale 2013–14[63] League One 37352112[lower-alpha 4]0456
2014–15[64] League One 240002000260
Total 613523120716
Ross County 2015–16[65] Scottish Premiership 230102000260
2016–17[66] Scottish Premiership 0000300030
Total 230105000290
AFC Wimbledon 2016–17[66] League One 131400020191
Swindon Town 2017–18[67] League Two 18100103[lower-alpha 4]0221
2018–19[68] League Two 0000000000
Total 181001030221
Havant & Waterlooville (loan) 2018–19[68] National League 2000000020
Grantham Town 2019–20[69] Northern Premier League Premier Division 8100000081
Career total[lower-alpha 6] 3491822313118040222
  1. Includes appearances and goals for FA Cup and Scottish Cup.
  2. Includes appearances and goals for League Cup / EFL Cup and Scottish League Cup.
  3. Appearance/s in the FA Trophy.
  4. Appearance/s in the EFL Trophy.
  5. Appearance/s in the play-offs.
  6. Statistics for Ilkeston Town not recorded.

Honours
Torquay United
Ross County
gollark: I should make delete work recursively somehow.
gollark: ++delete object
gollark: This is ridiculous, so much stuff requires these nonsense "builtins".
gollark: ++delete range
gollark: ++delete False

References
  1. "Chris Robertson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2014/15". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. Skinner, Andy (20 August 2015). "Chris Robertson enjoying Ross County switch". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  4. Magilton, David (7 October 2004). "Furious RMI boss vows to get tough". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  5. "Chester boss signs defensive trio". BBC Sport. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  6. "Carlisle 5–0 Chester". BBC Sport. 4 February 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  7. "Chester make Hinnigan appointment". BBC Sport. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  8. "Ailing Torquay seal treble swoop". BBC Sport. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  9. "Torquay 3-0 Wycombe". BBC Sport. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  10. "Gulls boss Buckle brings in duo". BBC Sport. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  11. Mawhinney, Stuart. "McPhee fires Fleet". FA. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
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  13. "Robertson will need ankle surgery". BBC Sport. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  14. "Robertson believes Torquay can compete". thisisdevon.co.uk. 25 July 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  15. "Gulls upbeat over Robertson". football.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  16. "Robertson commits to Gulls". football.co.uk. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  17. "Chris Robertson signs new two-year deal at Torquay". BBC Sport. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  18. "We Were Worthy Winners". torquayunited.com. 28 August 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  19. Begley, Emlyn (28 May 2011). "Stevenage promoted to League One by beating Torquay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  20. "Torquay's Chris Robertson generating transfer interest". BBC Sport. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
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  22. "Preston sign Chris Robertson and Graham Cummins". BBC Sport. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
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  35. "Ross County sign Foster, Davies and Robertson". BBC Sport. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
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  40. Ashton, Tim (9 September 2016). "AFC WIMBLEDON: Robertson's arrival is big news for Nightingale". Your Local Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  41. Warburton, Paul (14 December 2016). "Dons defender reveals why he ditched SPL for England's third tier". getwestlondon. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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  43. "Squad update from Neal". afcwimbledon.co.uk. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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  45. "Norwich City 3-2 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  46. "Chesterfield 2-1 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  47. "INJURY UPDATE: Richards Ahead Of Schedule". swindontownfc.co.uk. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
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  52. "StackPath". www.granthamtownfc.com. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  53. "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
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  55. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  56. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  57. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  58. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  59. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  60. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  61. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  62. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  63. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  64. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  65. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  66. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  67. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  68. "Games played by Chris Robertson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  69. "Grantham Town | Appearances | Chris Robertson | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
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