James Gillen Robertson (born 17 December 1944) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a winger. Robertson featured with clubs Cowdenbeath, St Mirren, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Ipswich Town, Stoke City, Seattle Sounders, Walsall and Crewe Alexandra.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Gillen Robertson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1944-12-17) 17 December 1944 (age 77)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Cardonald, Glasgow, Scotland[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Right winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Middlesbrough | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1961–1962 | Cowdenbeath | 0 | (0) |
| 1962–1964 | St Mirren | 54 | (12) |
| 1964–1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | 157 | (25) |
| 1968–1970 | Arsenal | 46 | (7) |
| 1970–1972 | Ipswich Town | 87 | (10) |
| 1972–1977 | Stoke City | 114 | (12) |
| 1976–1977 | Seattle Sounders | 29 | (3) |
| 1977–1978 | Walsall | 16 | (0) |
| 1978–1979 | Crewe Alexandra | 33 | (0) |
| Total | 536 | (69) | |
| National team | |||
| 1962 | Scotland Amateurs | 1 | (0) |
| 1964 | Scotland | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robertson was born in Cardonald, Glasgow and began his career playing as a right winger at English club Middlesbrough. He wasn't offered a professional contract at Middlesbrough and thus joined up with Scottish club Cowdenbeath. After his stint there he signed for St Mirren in 1962. With the "Buddies", Robertson got a sum of 54 caps and scored 12 goals. After his spell with St. Mirren, Robertson was bought by Tottenham Hotspur in 1964 for £25,000. During the 1966–67 season he scored the first goal in Tottenham's 1967 FA Cup Final victory against Chelsea.[4] With Spurs he made a total 181 appearances including four as substitute and scored 31 goals in all competitions.[5]
He went on to join Spurs's rivals Arsenal in October 1968, in a straight swap for David Jenkins, making him one of the few players to play for both clubs.[6] Robertson made his debut for Arsenal in a goalless draw against West Ham United in October 1968.[4] Robertson in all played a total of 19 league matches in the 1968–69 English footballing season.[4] The following 1969–70 season he made a further eight appearances to be capped a total of 27 times at and away from Highbury.[4] Robertson then joined up with Ipswich Town in March 1970 for £50, 000. He is as well one of only two players to score for both sides in the North London derby. In total Robertson played 59 games for Arsenal, scoring eight goals altogether.[6]
At Portman Road Robertson became a vital member of Bobby Robson's squad as Ipswich ensured survival in 1969–70 and 1970–71. Within the 1971–72 season Robertson helped the club move up to a mid-table position within the league.[7] In July 1972 Robertson joined Stoke City for a fee of £80,000. At Stoke he became a regular under manager Tony Waddington in the 1972–73 and 1973–74 seasons. As so he suffered a broken leg while playing against Coventry City in December 1974.[2] He then struggled to get back into the side and after two seasons without regular football he decided to leave for the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League.[8] He played 29 matches for the Seattle Sounders before returning to England to play for Walsall. Robertson then ended his playing days at Crewe Alexandra.[2]
Robertson was capped by Scotland at full and amateur level.[9][10]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| St Mirren | 1962–63[11] | Scottish Division One | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 5 |
| 1963–64[11] | Scottish Division One | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 9 | |
| Total | 52 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 14 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1963–64[4] | First Division | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 1964–65[4] | First Division | 36 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 8 | |
| 1965–66[4] | First Division | 33 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 6 | |
| 1966–67[4] | First Division | 40 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 6 | |
| 1967–68[4] | First Division | 34 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 43 | 9 | |
| 1968–69[4] | First Division | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Total | 157 | 25 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 182 | 33 | ||
| Arsenal | 1968–69[4] | First Division | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 |
| 1969–70[4] | First Division | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 4 | |
| Total | 46 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 59 | 8 | ||
| Ipswich Town | 1969–70[12] | First Division | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| 1970–71[12] | First Division | 40 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 7 | |
| 1971–72[12] | First Division | 40 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 3 | |
| Total | 87 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 13 | ||
| Stoke City | 1971–72[13] | First Division | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1972–73[13] | First Division | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |
| 1973–74[13] | First Division | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 3 | |
| 1974–75[13] | First Division | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 5 | |
| 1975–76[13] | First Division | 18 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 1976–77[13] | First Division | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 114 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 140 | 14 | ||
| Seattle Sounders | 1976[8] | North American Soccer League | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| 1977[8] | North American Soccer League | 17 | 2 | — | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 3 | — | — | — | 29 | 3 | |||||
| Walsall | 1977–78[13] | Third Division | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1978–79[13] | Fourth Division | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| Career Total | 534 | 71 | 43 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 616 | 84 | ||
Source:[11]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1964 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
1976 NASL All-Stars | |
|---|---|
| First Team | |
| Second Team | |
| Honorable Mention | |
1977 NASL All-Stars | |
|---|---|
| First Team | |
| Second Team | |
| Honorable Mention | |
| |
|---|---|
| Players |
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| Managers | |