Jack Robinson (footballer, born 1870)

John William Robinson (22 April 1870 – 28 October 1931) was a professional footballer who played for, among others Derby County, Southampton and England.

Jack Robinson

Robinson pictured whilst with the England national team
Personal information
Full name	John William Robinson[1]
Date of birth	(1870-04-22)22 April 1870[1]
Place of birth	Derby, England[1]
Date of death	28 October 1931(1931-10-28) (aged 61)[1]
Place of death	Derby, England[1]
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1886	Derby St Neots
1887	Derby Midland
1888–1891	Lincoln City
1891–1897	Derby County	163	(0)
1897–1898	New Brighton Tower
1898–1903	Southampton	116	(0)
1903–1905	Plymouth Argyle	50	(0)
1905	Exeter City
1905–1907	Millwall
1907	Green Waves
1908–1909	Exeter City
1909–1912	Stoke	55	(0)
1912	Rochester City
Total		384+	(0)
National team
1897–1901	England	11	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Robinson was born in Derby and began playing football for local sides Derby St Neots and Derby Midland before moving to Lincoln City in 1888.[2] After helping the Imps win the Midland Football League in 1890 he returned to his hometown and signed for Football League side Derby County. Robinson spent six seasons at the Baseball Ground making over 180 appearances and was a key player in Derby's 1895–96 campaign which saw them finish as runner-up to Aston Villa.[2] He left Derby in 1897 and spent a season with New Brighton Tower before joining South Coast club Southampton.[2]

He enjoyed a successful time with Southampton helping them to dominate the Southern League at the turn of the 20th Century.[3] As goalkeeper, Robinson was instrumental in a string of victories over top flight sides in the F A Cup during this period, especially in getting to the 1900 FA Cup Final where infighting over the selection of an out of form English forward over the in-form Roddy McLeod of Scotland led to fighting between the English and Scottish factions and ultimately led to a very disjointed team performance and a heavy defeat.[4]

Robinson was noted, during his playing career, for his reliability and was, according to author Francis Hodgson, among the first goalkeepers to dive full length to make saves.[5] Touring eastern Europe with Southampton, Robinson played a notable role in introducing modern goalkeeping techniques to Austria and Hungary. Gyula Grosics, the Hungarian international of the 1950s, observed that "it was Moon of the Corinthians, Robinson, and many other world-famous England goalkeepers who have been the pioneers of this art, and they showed the way for all Europe's goalkeepers."[5] Hugo Meisl, the noted coach of the Austrian "Wunderteam" of the 1930s, went further, recalling:

"In that year (1899)^a the first English professionals came over, Southampton F.C. They beat the Viennese city eleven 6–0 and their goalkeeper, Robinson, showed for the first time how to tackle low shots by flying through the air with the greatest of ease. Until this day (1930) that type of save is called a 'Robinsonade' in Austria and Central Europe. After the match, Robinson gave an exhibition. His goal was bombarded simultaneously with six balls and he blocked most of the shots.[5]"

Robinson left Southampton in 1903 and went on to play for fellow Southern League clubs Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City, Millwall and Stoke.[2]

Professional baseball

In 1890 Robinson played professional baseball for Derby Baseball Club in the National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Robinson played alongside Steve Bloomer and helped them become British champions twice in the 1890s.[6]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[7]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Derby County	1891–92	The Football League	25	0	1	0	0	0	26	0
	1892–93	First Division	30	0	3	0	0	0	33	0
	1893–94	First Division	25	0	4	0	0	0	29	0
	1894–95	First Division	23	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	25	0
	1895–96	First Division	30	0	5	0	0	0	35	0
	1896–97	First Division	30	0	4	0	0	0	34	0
	Total		163	0	18	0	1	0	182	0
Southampton	1898–99	Southern League	24	0	3	0	0	0	27	0
	1899–1900	Southern League	21	0	6	0	0	0	27	0
	1900–01	Southern League	22	0	1	0	0	0	22	0
	1901–02	Southern League	26	0	8	0	0	0	28	0
	1902–03	Southern League	23	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
	Total		116	0	26	0	0	0	142	0
Plymouth Argyle	1903–04	Southern League	40	0	7	0	0	0	47	0
	1904–05	Southern League	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	Total		50	0	7	0	0	0	57	0
Stoke	1909–10	Birmingham & District League / Southern League Division Two	27	0	6	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	35	0
	1910–11	Birmingham & District League / Southern League Division Two	28	0	3	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		55	0	9	0	2	0	66	0
Career total			384	0	34	0	3	0	440	0

1. Appearance in Football League test matches
2. Appearances in Birmingham League Cup

International

Source:[1]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
England
	1897	2	0
	1898	3	0
	1899	2	0
	1900	3	0
	1901	1	0
Total		11	0

Honours

Footballer

Derby County

• Football League First Division runners-up: 1895–96

Southampton

• FA Cup finalists: 1900, 1902
• Southern League champions: 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03

England

• British champions: 1898, 1899, 1901, 1903 (shared)

Baseball player

Derby County

• British Champions: 1895, 1897

Footnotes

• ^a According to the Southampton F.C. histories, the club's first tour of Europe was in April 1901.[8][9][10] Among their opponents on that tour were Vienna Cricket & Football Club, who were defeated 7–0 and a Vienna Combined XI who were defeated 8–0.[11]

References

1. "Jack Robinson profile". England Players. EnglandFootballOnline. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
2. "Jack Robinson". Greens on Screen. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
3. Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 286.
4. Giant Killers 1900
5. Hodgson 1998, pp. 155–157.
6. "The Last Game". chapters.sabr.org. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
7. Jack Robinson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
8. Holley 2012, p. 26.
9. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 28.
10. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 162.
11. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 212.

Bibliography

• Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
• Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
• Hodgson, Francis (1998). Only the Goalkeeper To Beat. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-68693-4.
• Holley, Duncan (2012). Suited and Booted. Bristol: Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-9-9.
• Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.

External links

• Jack Robinson at Englandstats.com
• Robinson and baseball
• Robinson at Plymouth Argyle fansite