Full name Michael John Robinson Years Team | Name Michael Robinson Height 1.82 m | |
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Date of birth (1958-07-12) 12 July 1958 (age 61) Died 28 April 2020 (aged 61) Profiles | ||
Michael John Robinson (12 July 1958 – 28 April 2020) was a retired footballer who played as a striker.
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He appeared in more than 300 official games in England for five different clubs, including Liverpool, and played the last three seasons of his career in Spain with Osasuna. He represented the Republic of Ireland at international level.
After retiring in 1989 Robinson settled in Spain, was awarded its citizenship and went on to work as a television pundit in the following decades.
Playing career
Born in Leicester, England, Robinson started his career with Preston North End in the second division, then moved in August 1979 to Malcolm Allison's Manchester City, the fee of £750,000 being widely regarded as extravagant for a young player with no top flight experience. He was sold at a loss later that season to Brighton & Hove Albion, and rebuilt his reputation as both a strong and skilful attacking player.
Robinson made an impact in the 1982–83 FA Cup final, feeding the ball to Gordon Smith for his infamous miss in the first game against Manchester United, performing outstandingly in a 2–2 draw, but eventually losing in the second match at Wembley (0–4). It was enough, however, for clubs to bid for Robinson, who was keen to leave due to Brighton's relegation.
Liverpool came in for Robinson and paid Brighton £250,000 for him and he duly battled with established Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush for a place up front. In that first season, Liverpool won three trophies – the league, the league cup (where he was a used substitute in the final 0–0 draw against Everton, but not being picked for the replay) and the European Cup (being a used replacement in the final against A.S. Roma) – and Robinson played enough games to earn a title medal.
Despite showing some ability, Robinson was often in the substitutes bench, and so moved on to Queens Park Rangers at the end of 1984: there, he was an unlucky loser at Wembley again, in the 1986 League Cup final, against Oxford United (0–3). However, during the run to the decisive match, he earned himself a place in QPR fans' hearts, when he scored a 40-yard goal against arch-rivals Chelsea in the quarterfinal replay at Stamford Bridge.
In January 1987 Robinson moved to Spain to play for CA Osasuna, with ex-Liverpool team-mate Sammy Lee joining in August. He retired in the summer of 1989 at the age of 31 after making 59 La Liga appearances for the club and scoring 12 goals, two of which came in 1987–88 season as the Navarrese overachieved for a final fifth place.
Robinson, who won 24 caps for the Republic of Ireland, stayed in Spain after retiring, having settled very well in the country and learned the language to fluency, a trait that was later picked up on by Steve McManaman (with Real Madrid from 1999–2003), who regarded Robinson as his mentor.
Club
Media career
After retiring Robinson began his broadcasting career in Spain as a commentator for Radio Television Espanola, covering the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He later worked as a commentator and presenter on Cadena SER's El Larguero and then on the subscription channel Canal+, where he hosted the cult television show El dia despues for 14 years (1991–2005), Following the show's demise he continued working with the network, as co-commentator on their live coverage of the Sunday football match on El dia del futbol, as well as presenting a monthly sports magazine series called Informe Robinson.
In addition Robinson also worked as a pundit for Setanta Sports, covering Republic of Ireland away internationals, also being the president of the Iberian Superleague, a rugby union league covering the Iberian Peninsula. As a broadcaster he also covered for Canal+ rugby events, including the World Cup and the Six Nations tournament.
In addition to his television career, Robinson also did voice-over work on television adverts, as well as feature films – voicing the ugly sister in the dubbed Spanish versions of the Shrek films by DreamWorks Animation.