Biography

John Cecil “Jack” Robson was born at Bewicke Main village near Birtley in County Durham, a model village built adjacent to the Bewicke Main Colliery – the village was demolished shortly after the colliery closed in 1932. His father was a coal miner, as was Jack in his teenage years. Before he was 17 Robson played for Birtley in the Northern Alliance League and attracted the attention of Division One side Burnley, who gave him a one month trial in February 1923. With Burnley declining to sign Jack when he turned 17 in March 1923, he instead joined Hull City that month. Robson served City’s Reserves for nearly two years before he made his debut in faraway North London on Christmas Day 1924, replacing first choice outside left Alec Thom. This was to be Robson’s only senior game for City, who was released by the Tigers in April 1925.
Still only 19 years of age, Robson joined Division Three South side Reading in August 1925 and went straight into the Royals’ first team, scoring on his September 1925 debut against Queens Park Rangers. He ended his first season at Elm Park with seven goals as Reading won the Division Three South title. Robson retained his first team place in Division Two during the 1926/27 season, netting eleven times as the Royals embarked on an epic FA Cup run, defeating Division One side Manchester United on their way to semi-final defeat against top flight side Cardiff City at Wolves’ Molineux ground. Robson completed a third season at Reading and by the end of the 1927/28 season he had made 122 appearances for the club and scored 24 goals.
In June 1928 a substantial fee was paid by Division One side Derby County to sign the 22 year old Robson. He came into the Rams’ first team in October 1928 when he started against Birmingham and scored his first goal for the club against Aston Villa in November 1928. In three months Robson scored four times for Derby but he was dropped from the first eleven by the end of January 1929 and made just three further starts that season. He started only five games in the 1929/30 season, scoring in four of those five games, and made just four and nine starts respectively during the following two seasons. By June 1932 Robson had scored ten goals in 40 starts for Derby County.
In June 1932 Jack transferred to Division Three South side Southend United and for the first half of the 1932/33 season he was restored to regular first team football. However after Christmas he made only four further starts, taking his Shrimpers tally to six goals in 25 matches. In August 1933 he returned north and signed for Division Three North side Chester, but was unable to break into the first team at Sealand Road and moved on the Rochdale in November 1933. At Spotland Jack netted ten goals in 30 starts during the remainder of the 1933/34 season, including his first career hattrick in February 1934 against York City, and Robson was again impressing clubs from higher divisions.
In July 1934 Robson joined Division Two side Oldham Athletic, he scored nine goals in his first season at Boundary Park but in his second season he moved into the half back line and managed only four starts, taking his Latics tally to nine goals in 41 starts. He stopped playing at the end of the 1935/36 season, bringing to a close a senior career that spanned thirteen years and comprised 59 goals in 259 starts.
After football Robson returned to the East Riding – his wife Dorothy, who he married in June 1930, hailed from Spring Bank West in Hull. In 1939 he was licensee of the Paragon Hotel on Paragon Street, which later became the Hull Cheese pub, and by 1942 he had taken over the Duke of Cumberland Hotel in Ferriby. Later in life he moved to Derbyshire and died in Ashbourne at the end of 1966.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 24 March 1906, Birtley
Hull City First Game: 25 December 1924, Clapton Orient A (Division Two), 18 years, 276 days old
Hull City Final Game: 25 December 1924, Clapton Orient A (Division Two), 18 years, 276 days old
Clubs
Birtley, Hull City (1923-1925), Reading (1925-1928), Derby County (1928-1932), Southend United (1932-1933), Chester (1933), Rochdale (1933-1934), Oldham Athetic (1934-1936)
Hull City Record
Career: 1 apps, 0 goals
Jack RobsonSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1922/23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1923/24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1924/25 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |