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Jackie Robinson (footballer)
Encyclopedia
John Allan "Jackie" Robinson (10 August 1917 - 30 July 1972) was an English footballer player and player-coach
. He played as an inside forward
, and signed for Sheffield Wednesday
in 1934 at the age of 16. He went on to play for Sunderland
and Lincoln City
, also taking up managerial duties in his brief time at Lincoln. He was also capped for England
on four occasions, scoring three goals in doing so. Robinson’s career lasted from 1935 to 1949, making 200 league appearances and scoring 71 goals. Robinson lost some of his best years to the Second World War
during which time he continued to play for Sheffield Wednesday in the regional wartime leagues making 109 appearances and scoring 91 goals, although these matches are not recognised in official records.
village of Shiremoor
on 10 August 1917, with one brother and two sisters. He excelled in sport at school, where he was a champion athlete and played on the school's rugby and football teams. He earned a county schoolboy cap in 1930, at the age of 13. As a youth he played for West Wylam, a junior team affiliated to a coal mine in the small town of Prudhoe
to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne
. Despite being one of the youngest members of the team he began to make a name for himself as a fast, tricky inside forward
. In 1934, Sheffield Wednesday
manager Billy Walker
came to watch a wing half
who was marking Robinson in a match against West Wylam. However, Robinson outplayed the wing half and Walker approached Robinson’s parents for permission to sign the 16 year old.
and won the FA Cup
. For the majority of the season Robinson had played for the youth team, having not even turned out for the reserves when he made a surprise his first team debut on 22 April 1935 against West Bromwich Albion
. This was just five days before the FA Cup final against the same team and Robinson replaced club captain Ronnie Starling
who was being rested for the final. Robinson had not even brought his boots for the match and borrowed Starling’s. He scored the goal in a 1-1 draw. Five days later Robinson was a non playing member of the Wednesday squad which beat West Bromwich 4-2 in the FA Cup final
.
Conscious of his young age, Billy Walker only used Robinson occasionally in the 1935-36 season, and he made just five appearances. He became a regular in the team the following season and his good form led to a call up for an England international trial at Burnley
on 17 March 1937. Two months later he was selected for the full England
side to play Finland
in Helsinki
on 20 May 1937 at the age of 19 years 283 days.
Sheffield Wednesday were relegated in 1937 and started the 1937-38 season in Division Two, several of the bigger clubs tried to sign Robinson but he stayed with Wednesday along with fellow international Ted Catlin
. Robinson’s form remained good throughout that season and he was selected for the England’s sides three match tour of continental Europe in May 1938.
The onset of World War II interrupted Jackie Robinson’s rising career. During the war years he was stationed at Middlesbrough
and continued to play for Sheffield Wednesday in the Football League North
. His goal scoring record was excellent, scoring 91 goals in 109 games although the standard of play was obviously reduced. After the war Robinson was made club captain for Wednesday for the 1946-47 season but after just seven matches that season he was sold to Sunderland
for £5,000, aged 29. His last game for Wednesday was a 0-1 defeat on September 25, 1946 against Chesterfield
at Hillsborough
. The reason cited for the transfer was that Robinson was training at Newcastle United
on weekdays and just travelling to Sheffield for matches and the board found this unacceptable for the club captain. He played 121 official games for Sheffield Wednesday (including FA Cup), scoring 39 goals. If the regional wartime matches are included, he played 228 games, scoring 130 times.
. In total he played 82 league games and scored 32 goals, all in the First Division. By the summer of 1949, Robinson was 32 years old and Sunderland had just signed a classy inside forward in Ivor Broadis
from Carlisle United
. First team opportunities seemed to be limited so he accepted the post of Player-coach
at Lincoln City
for the 1949-50 season.
1949, a home league match in the old Division Three North against Wrexham. Robinson scored two goals in the game but received a broken leg when scoring the second goal. The x-ray in Lincoln hospital revealed a complicated break and he never played competitive football again.
in Berlin on the 14th of May, the match was infamous because the England players were forced to give the Nazi salute
. None of the England players wanted to do the salute but the British ambassador insisted to keep the crowd in a good frame of mind. The game itself resulted in a fine 6-3 victory for England with Jackie Robinson scoring twice. The England tour continued with matches against Switzerland
(lost 1-2) and France
(won 4-2), although Robinson was rested for the France match.
, running “The Ship” in Gateshead
very successfully for a few years in the 1950s. After that he moved back to his home town of Shiremoor. Jackie died on July 30, 1972, aged 54 from cancer
, having previously had two stroke
s and kidney
problems.
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
. He played as an inside forward
Inside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
, and signed for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
in 1934 at the age of 16. He went on to play for Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
and Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
, also taking up managerial duties in his brief time at Lincoln. He was also capped for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
on four occasions, scoring three goals in doing so. Robinson’s career lasted from 1935 to 1949, making 200 league appearances and scoring 71 goals. Robinson lost some of his best years to the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
during which time he continued to play for Sheffield Wednesday in the regional wartime leagues making 109 appearances and scoring 91 goals, although these matches are not recognised in official records.
Early years
John Allan Robinson was born in the coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
village of Shiremoor
Shiremoor
Shiremoor is a large village in the Metropolitian Borough of North Tyneside. It is located approximately inland of Whitley Bay and approximately north of The Tyne Tunnel. A mile or so north of Shiremoor, the extensive built-up areas of North Tyneside change abruptly into green belt stretching...
on 10 August 1917, with one brother and two sisters. He excelled in sport at school, where he was a champion athlete and played on the school's rugby and football teams. He earned a county schoolboy cap in 1930, at the age of 13. As a youth he played for West Wylam, a junior team affiliated to a coal mine in the small town of Prudhoe
Prudhoe
Prudhoe is a medium sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam,...
to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. Despite being one of the youngest members of the team he began to make a name for himself as a fast, tricky inside forward
Inside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
. In 1934, Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
manager Billy Walker
Billy Walker
William Henry "Billy" Walker was a prominent English footballer of the 1920s and 1930s. He is considered by many to be the greatest footballer to ever play for Aston Villa Football Club-Biography:...
came to watch a wing half
Wing half
In association football, the position of wing half or wing half back) was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries...
who was marking Robinson in a match against West Wylam. However, Robinson outplayed the wing half and Walker approached Robinson’s parents for permission to sign the 16 year old.
Sheffield Wednesday
Robinson joined a very successful Sheffield Wednesday team, which in the 1934-35 season finished third in Division oneFootball League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
and won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. For the majority of the season Robinson had played for the youth team, having not even turned out for the reserves when he made a surprise his first team debut on 22 April 1935 against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
. This was just five days before the FA Cup final against the same team and Robinson replaced club captain Ronnie Starling
Ronnie Starling
Ronald William "Ronnie" Starling was an English footballer whose career lasted from 1926 to 1946. Starling was an inside forward who made 413 appearances in all competitions, never a high scoring inside forward he was a player who created chances for other players, notching a modest 65 goals...
who was being rested for the final. Robinson had not even brought his boots for the match and borrowed Starling’s. He scored the goal in a 1-1 draw. Five days later Robinson was a non playing member of the Wednesday squad which beat West Bromwich 4-2 in the FA Cup final
1935 FA Cup Final
The 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer...
.
Conscious of his young age, Billy Walker only used Robinson occasionally in the 1935-36 season, and he made just five appearances. He became a regular in the team the following season and his good form led to a call up for an England international trial at Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
on 17 March 1937. Two months later he was selected for the full England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
side to play Finland
Finland national football team
The Finland national football team represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland....
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
on 20 May 1937 at the age of 19 years 283 days.
Sheffield Wednesday were relegated in 1937 and started the 1937-38 season in Division Two, several of the bigger clubs tried to sign Robinson but he stayed with Wednesday along with fellow international Ted Catlin
Ted Catlin
Arthur Edward "Ted" Catlin was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Sheffield Wednesday. He was a strong tackling left back who made 230 appearances for Wednesday between 1931 and 1939. He also played for the England national football team on five occasions...
. Robinson’s form remained good throughout that season and he was selected for the England’s sides three match tour of continental Europe in May 1938.
The onset of World War II interrupted Jackie Robinson’s rising career. During the war years he was stationed at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
and continued to play for Sheffield Wednesday in the Football League North
Football League North and South
The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46...
. His goal scoring record was excellent, scoring 91 goals in 109 games although the standard of play was obviously reduced. After the war Robinson was made club captain for Wednesday for the 1946-47 season but after just seven matches that season he was sold to Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
for £5,000, aged 29. His last game for Wednesday was a 0-1 defeat on September 25, 1946 against Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
at Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
. The reason cited for the transfer was that Robinson was training at Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
on weekdays and just travelling to Sheffield for matches and the board found this unacceptable for the club captain. He played 121 official games for Sheffield Wednesday (including FA Cup), scoring 39 goals. If the regional wartime matches are included, he played 228 games, scoring 130 times.
Sunderland
Jackie Robinson played for three seasons at Sunderland, forming a fine attacking partnership with Len ShackletonLen Shackleton
Leonard Francis Shackleton, was an English footballer of the post-World War II period. Known as the Clown Prince of Football, he is generally regarded as one of English football's finest ever entertainers....
. In total he played 82 league games and scored 32 goals, all in the First Division. By the summer of 1949, Robinson was 32 years old and Sunderland had just signed a classy inside forward in Ivor Broadis
Ivor Broadis
Ivan Arthur Broadis is a former England international footballer. Broadis' clubs were Carlisle United, Sunderland, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queen of the South. Broadis played at inside forward...
from Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
. First team opportunities seemed to be limited so he accepted the post of Player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
at Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
for the 1949-50 season.
Lincoln City
Robinson only played in nine games (eight league and one FA cup) for Lincoln, scoring five goals. His ninth game was on Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
1949, a home league match in the old Division Three North against Wrexham. Robinson scored two goals in the game but received a broken leg when scoring the second goal. The x-ray in Lincoln hospital revealed a complicated break and he never played competitive football again.
International career
Robinson was selected for the England’s sides three match tour of continental Europe in May 1938. The first match was against GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in Berlin on the 14th of May, the match was infamous because the England players were forced to give the Nazi salute
Hitler salute
The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...
. None of the England players wanted to do the salute but the British ambassador insisted to keep the crowd in a good frame of mind. The game itself resulted in a fine 6-3 victory for England with Jackie Robinson scoring twice. The England tour continued with matches against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...
(lost 1-2) and France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
(won 4-2), although Robinson was rested for the France match.
Personal life
After football Jackie Robinson became a landlord of a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, running “The Ship” in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
very successfully for a few years in the 1950s. After that he moved back to his home town of Shiremoor. Jackie died on July 30, 1972, aged 54 from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, having previously had two stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
s and kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
problems.
Honours
Sheffield Wednesday- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
- Winner (1): 19351935 FA Cup FinalThe 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer...
- FA Community ShieldFA Community ShieldThe Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
- FA Community Shield
- Winner (1): 1935