Michael Robinson (footballer)

Playing career

Robinson was born in Leicester, England. When he was young, his parents moved to Blackpool to run a boarding house, and he started his career with Preston North End in the second division. He 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 First Division 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 with Manchester United, performing outstandingly in a 2–2 draw but eventually losing in the second match at Wembley (4–0). It was enough, however, for clubs to bid for him and he 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 his new team won three trophies – the league, the league cup (where he was a substitute in the final 0–0 draw against Everton, and did not feature in the replay) and the European Cup (being used as a replacement in the final against AS Roma)– and he played enough games to earn a title medal.

Despite showing some ability, Robinson was often on 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 Football League Cup final 3–0 defeat by Oxford United; 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 quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge.

Robinson moved to Spain to play for CA Osasuna in January 1987, with ex-Liverpool teammate Sammy Lee joining in August. He recalled that he assumed that Osasuna was the name of the club's location and proceeded to look for it in a map. Questioned about why would he choose such a destination, he remarked that "financially it was the worst offer [available]. But it was romantic". He retired in summer 1989 at the age of 31 after making 58 La Liga appearances and scoring 12 goals, two of which came in 1987–88 campaign as the Navarrese overachieved for a final fifth place.

Robinson, who won 24 caps for the Republic of Ireland, making his debut on 28 October 1980 in a 2–0 loss in France for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 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 to 2003), who regarded Robinson as his mentor.

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Media career

After retiring, Robinson began his broadcasting career in Spain as a commentator for Radio Televisión Española, 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 día después 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 night match as well as on the studio show El día del fútbol, and later by presenting a monthly sports magazine series called Informe Robinson.

Speaking to Simon Hughes, Robinson said "I came over on 7 January 1987. I didn't know if I was going to be here forever. But something strange happened. I enjoyed more or less everything about Spain and the way the Spanish interpreted life. I finished up realising that I had loads in common with the Spaniards. We laughed about the same things, cried about the same things."

In addition, Robinson also worked as a pundit for Setanta Sports, covering Republic of Ireland away internationals and 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 Championship.

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.

Illness and death

On 17 December 2018, while taking part in La Ventana, a radio programme on Cadena SER, Robinson announced that he had a melanoma which had been found at an advanced stage and had metastasized. Doctors had told him it 'had no cure'. He died on 28 April 2020 of cancer at his home in Madrid at the age of 61, being survived by his wife Christine (née Sharrock) and children Liam, who worked in television production in Madrid, and Aimée, who worked in public relations in Australia.

Among the tributes was one from Rafael Nadal: "We woke up with the sad news of the death of one of our own. You were the one who always made us happy about sport. We are grateful to you."

Honours and awards

Player

Liverpool

• Football League First Division: 1983–84
• League Cup: 1983–84
• European Cup: 1983–84

Other awards

• Premios Ondas: 2009 – Informe Robinson (Best Current affairs programme)
• Adopted son of Cádiz (2019)

Works

References

References

1. Perkins, Keith. (10 December 2008). "Forgotten Hero: Michael Robinson". This Is Anfield.
2. "Michael Robinson". [[Eurosport]].
3. Hughes, Simon. (12 July 2017). "Michael Robinson: A complete chapter from 'Red Machine: Liverpool FC in the '80s: The players' stories'". [[The Anfield Wrap]].
4. "Players – Michael Robinson". LFC History.
5. Lambea, Alberto. (24 April 2018). "Michael Robinson: "Me dejé olvidada la Copa de Europa en el 'duty free'"". [[El Mundo (Spain).
6. (28 April 2020). "Michael Robinson: Ex-Liverpool & Republic of Ireland striker dies aged 61". [[BBC Sport]].
7. Morrissey, Paul. (28 April 2020). "Michael Robinson RIP". Queens Park Rangers F.C..
8. Díaz, Pablo. (30 March 2012). "Sammy Lee, el amigo leyenda de Robinson". [[Marca (newspaper).
9. Vázquez, Iraitz. (28 April 2020). "Michael Robinson: "Si fuera rico vendría a vivir a San Sebastián"". [[El Diario Vasco]].
10. Heredia, Sergio. (28 April 2020). "Michael Robinson: "Es curiosa la picaresca latina"". [[La Vanguardia]].
11. (20 February 2018). "La Era Robinson en Osasuna: 58 partidos, 12 goles y un quinto puesto". [[Diario de Navarra]].
12. Malone, Emmet. (28 April 2020). "Former Ireland international Michael Robinson dies aged 61". [[The Irish Times]].
13. (1 February 2001). "Peter Torry: The Tireless British Ambassador in Madrid". Majorca Daily Bulletin.
14. Viner, Brian. (10 May 2002). "From teenage flop at City to Spanish 'Des', the opinionated life of Robinson". [[The Independent]].
15. {{Eu-Football.info. 17872
16. Sámano, José. (29 August 1991). "Canal + contrata a Michael Robinson como comentarista de fútbol". [[El País]].
17. (19 May 2016). "'El Larguero': Michael Robinson, el "tapado" de la SER para sustituir a De la Morena". PR Noticias.
18. Lowe, Sid. (28 April 2020). "Michael Robinson, from European Cup winner to the voice of Spanish TV". [[The Guardian]].
19. Narval, Dadan. (14 March 2007). "Michael Robinson: "La muerte de 'El Día Después' me dolió casi tanto como mi retirada del fútbol"". Diarios de Fútbol.
20. (26 October 2017). "Movistar+ celebra los 10 años de 'Informe Robinson'". [[Europa Press (news agency).
21. O'Hara, Aidan. (20 August 2008). "Robinson: Trap must adapt to bring success". [[Irish Independent]].
22. (5 March 2009). "Michael Robinson: "No podíamos aceptar las exigencias de los lusos"". El Día de Valladolid.
23. (30 January 2014). "Canal Plus cumple 20 años retransmitiendo el rugby". La Vanguardia.
24. Moore, Kevin. (31 October 2019). "What You Think You Know About Football is Wrong: The Global Game's Greatest ...". Bloomsbury.
25. Moore, Kevin. (31 October 2019). "What You Think You Know About Football is Wrong: The Global Game's Greatest Myths and Untruths". Bloomsbury.
26. (17 December 2018). "Michael Robinson anuncia que sufre cáncer". Marca.
27. (18 December 2018). "Michael Robinson: Ex-Liverpool player and TV presenter has cancer". BBC Sport.
28. Ruiz Mantilla, Jesús. (28 April 2020). "Muere Michael Robinson, futbolista y revolucionario de la comunicación". El País.
29. (9 June 2020). "Michael Robinson obituary". Fundación Hispano Británica.
30. (28 April 2020). "A hug and all possible encouragement to Michael Robinson's family: Rafael Nadal". [[The Statesman (India).
31. (16 October 2009). "'Informe Robinson' de Canal+, Premio Ondas 2009 al mejor programa de actualidad". [[Diario AS]].
32. Rodríguez, Javier. (14 April 2019). "Alejandro Sanz, el hijo de Cádiz". La Voz Digital.