Matthew Robinson (footballer, born 1974)

Matthew Robinson
Personal information
Full name Matthew Richard Robinson
Date of birth (1974-12-23) 23 December 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Exeter, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Full back
Youth career
Dorset Schools
Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1998 Southampton 14 (0)
1998–2000 Portsmouth 69 (1)
2000–2002 Reading 65 (0)
2002–2006 Oxford United 171 (4)
2006–2007 Forest Green Rovers 30 (1)
2007–2009 Salisbury City 56 (1)
2009–2010 AFC Totton ? (?)
2010–2012 Swindon Supermarine 61 (3)
Managerial career
2011 Swindon Supermarine
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Matthew Richard Robinson (born 23 December 1974) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

As a player, he was a full back who notably played in the Premier League for Southampton, before switching to rivals Portsmouth. He later played in the Football League for Reading and Oxford United before moving into non-league football with Forest Green Rovers and Totton.

He later had a spell as player/manager of Swindon Supermarine, before later joining Chippenham Town as a coach.

Playing career

Having represented Dorset Schools, Robinson joined Southampton as a trainee in July 1991, signing as a professional in 1993. His career at Southampton suffered from the rapid turnover of managers and in little over four years, he served under five different managers. He only made 14 appearances (of which 11 were from the bench) for Southampton before joining Portsmouth for £50,000 in February 1998.[1]

At Portsmouth, he was Alan Ball's second signing as manager and he went straight into the side at left-back. His career also suffered from frequent managerial changes, but in his two years at Fratton Park, Robinson chalked up more than 75 games, including 69 league appearances and scoring one goal,[2] before moving to Reading in a £150,000 deal in January 2000.[1]

Robinson played another 75 league and cup games for Reading before he headed to Oxford United in July 2002 on a free transfer. A regular for Oxford, Robinson amassed 192 games in just over four years.

Another free transfer took him to Forest Green Rovers in September 2006 where he made thirty Conference appearances. In May 2007, he joined Salisbury City on a part-time basis and is now training to be a police officer. After a successful period with Salisbury, Robinson left the club and signed for A.F.C. Totton in February 2009.

In 2010, Robinson joined Southern League side Swindon Supermarine as player-manager. The 2011–12 season was a hard season for Swindon Supermarine finishing third from bottom under the management of Matt Robinson and Gary Horgan. With the appointment of Highworth manager Dave Webb and assistant Lee Spalding the club hoped Robinson would still play for the club and Horgan would take a coaching role.[citation needed] Robinson left Supermarine in April 2012.[3]

Personal life

Robinson is now a Police Officer.[4]

In November 2021, Robinson spoke candidly about how it was difficult to be accepted by Portsmouth fans following his transfer from Southampton.[5]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Southampton
1994–95[6] Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
1995–96[6] Premier League 5 0 2 0 0 0 — 7 0
1996–97[6] Premier League 7 0 1 0 0 0 — 8 0
1997–98[6] Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Total 14 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Portsmouth
1997–98[7] First Division 15 0 0 0 0 0 — 15 0
1998–99[8] First Division 29 1 2 0 1 0 — 32 1
1999–2000[9] First Division 25 0 1 0 4 0 — 30 0
Total 69 1 3 0 5 0 0 0 77 1
Reading
1999–2000[10] Second Division 19 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 20 0
2000–01[11] Second Division 32 0 2 0 2 0 3[b] 0 39 0
2001–02[12] Second Division 14 0 0 0 2 0 — 16 0
Total 65 0 2 0 4 0 4 0 75 0
Oxford United
2002–03[13] Third Division 42 1 3 0 3 0 1[a] 0 49 1
2003–04[14] Third Division 40 1 0 0 2 0 1[a] 0 43 1
2004–05[15] League Two 45 2 1 0 1 0 1[a] 0 48 2
2005–06[16] League Two 44 0 4 0 1 0 3[a] 0 52 0
Total 171 4 8 0 7 0 6 0 192 4
Forest Green Rovers 2006–07[17] Conference National 30 1 0 0 — — 30 1
Salisbury City
2007–08[18] Conference Premier 43 0 0 0 — — 43 0
2008–09[19] Conference Premier 13 1 0 0 — — 13 1
Total 56 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 56 1
Swindon Supermarine
2009–10[20] Southern Premier 25 0 1 0 — 5[c] 1 31 1
2010–11[21] Southern Premier 27 2 6 1 — 3[d] 0 36 3
2011–12[22] Southern Premier 9 1 0 0 — 4[e] 0 13 1
Total 61 3 7 1 0 0 12 1 80 5
Career total 466 10 23 1 16 0 22 1 527 12
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in 2001 play-offs
  3. ^ Appearances in FA Trophy (1 appearance) and Southern League Cup (4 appearances, 1 goal)
  4. ^ Appearances in FA Trophy
  5. ^ Appearances in FA Trophy (1 appearance) and Southern League Cup (3 appearances)

References

  1. ^ a b Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 571–572. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  2. ^ Juson, Dave (2004). Saints v Pompey - A history of unrelenting rivalry. Hagiology Publishing. p. 230. ISBN 0-9534474-5-6.
  3. ^ "Players". Swindonsupermarinefc.com. Retrieved 1 January 2013.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Matt Robinson". Where are they now?. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  5. ^ Allen, Neil (11 November 2021). "Matt Robinson: I crossed the divide, not realising the rivalry. Pompey fans never let me forget my Southampton stigma". Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "Player search: Robinson, MR (Matt)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2009/2010". swindonsupermarinefc.com. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2010/2011". swindonsupermarinefc.com. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Games played by Matthew Robinson in 2010/2011". swindonsupermarinefc.com. Retrieved 6 December 2022.