Players - Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson
Birthdate: 12 July 1958
Birthplace: Leicester, England
Date of death: 28 April 2020
Other clubs: Preston North End (1974-79), Manchester City (1979-80), Brighton & Hove Albion (1980-83), Queens Park Rangers (1984-87), Osasuna (1987-90)
Signed from: Brighton & Hove Albion
Signed for LFC: £200,000, 08.08.1983
International debut: 14.10.1981 vs. France
International caps: Ireland 24/4 (5/0 at LFC) - 13.11.1985
Liverpool debut: 20.08.1983
Last appearance: 31.10.1984
Debut goal: 28.09.1983
Last goal: 09.10.1984
Contract expiry: 27.12.1984
Win ratio: 53.85% W:28 D:15 L:9
Games/goals ratio: 4
Games/assists ratio: 5.78
Honours: League Championship 1983/84; League Cup 1984; European Cup 1984
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 10 / 2
League games / goals / assists: 30 / 6 / 5
Total games / goals / assists: 52 / 13 / 9

Player Profile

Robinson scored 13 goals in 36 games for Preston in the Second Division only 20 years of age. Malcolm Allison at first division Manchester City was impressed by his talent and bought him for a considerable fee of £750,000. Expectations were high but Robinson failed to live up to them and was sold to Brighton only one year later for £400,000. Robinson's career was on the rise again at Brighton with 43 goals in 133 appearances and featured in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the FA Cup final, losing 4-0 in the replay. When Brighton were relegated in the 1982/83 season Seville, Manchester United and Newcastle showed interest in Robinson but once Liverpool came knocking there was only one destination for the boyhood red. Joe Fagan was patient with his new signing when Robinson didn't score in his first nine games. He eventually scored two against in a 5-0 victory over Odense Boldklub in the first round of the European Cup and went on to score a hat-trick in the League against West Ham two weeks later. Robinson credits Fagan's psychological ploy on the morning of the Odense game to his upturn in fortune: "Ronnie Moran says: "'The boss wants to see you.' I remember walking down the corridor to Joe Fagan's office thinking, 'Well, that's it, I'm not playing.' When I got there, Joe said, 'Michael lad, I was making a cup of tea this morning and my wife was reading the Echo and saying I was going to leave you out.' 'And I was worried about that because you're worth your weight in gold.' 'Before I go and talk to the press I want you to see the team I'm going to give them.' He handed me a piece of paper with the numbers 1 to 11 blank apart from no 10, where it said Michael Robinson. 'That's the team, laddie.' 'You and 10 more.' That night I scored twice." However, Robinson didn't get regularly on the scoresheet for the rest of the season and he didn't play in the last ten fixtures as Liverpool retained their domestic Championship. He had been a Wembley substitute in the all-Merseyside League Cup final but didn't figure in the Maine Road replay three days later. 1983/84 proved in the end to be an exciting season for Robinson as it culminated in a substitute appearance in the European Cup final in Rome.

Robinson was by his own admission not very skilful and could have been in better physical shape. Even though he was always going to fade in comparison playing with Europe's most lethal striker it did have its advantages: "Ian Rush made me look brilliant in the air," Robinson confesses. "When I jumped up and headed, the ball would always go to Rushie. He could read my body; the way I jumped up Ian would deduce where the ball would go. He worked it out before I had. Rush never knew which bloody knife or fork to use, but on the pitch he was a genius." Robinson's second season was an anti-climax and he only made seven starts before he was transferred to Queens Park Rangers in late December 1984. Robinson was in QPR's line-up when they drew 2-2 with Liverpool in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals at Anfield. QPR won had their home game 1-0 and progressed to the final where they lost 3-0 to Oxford. After scoring six goals in 58 matches in three years for Rangers, Robinson tried his luck in the Spanish League with Osasuna where he stayed two-and-a-half years and enjoyed the company of his former teammate, Sammy Lee, who had joined six months following Robinson's arrival. Robinson remained in Spain and has made a very good living as a respected and knowledgeable football analyst on his own TV show within the Spanish television network. In December 2018 Robinson announced that he had been diagnosed with an advanced form of melanoma skin cancer and sadly he lost his fight on 28 April 2020.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 30 2 12 7 1 52
1983-1984 24 2 9 6 1 42
1984-1985 6 0 3 1 0 10
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
4 360 Tottenham
4 299 Everton
3 265 Fulham
3 224 Sunderland
2 210 Stockport County
2 180 QPR
2 180 Brentford
2 180 Odense BK
2 180 Aston Villa
2 180 Sheffield Wednesday
2 180 Arsenal
2 180 Wolves
2 173 Athletic Bilbao
2 151 Manchester United
2 127 Southampton
2 110 Norwich City
2 96 Luton Town
1 90 Newcastle United
1 90 Brighton & Hove Albion
1 90 Stoke City
1 90 WBA
1 90 West Ham United
1 90 Watford
1 90 Lech Poznan
1 79 Nottingham Forest
1 62 Walsall
1 48 Birmingham City
1 46 Benfica
1 25 Roma
Total Started/substitutions
46 Started
13 On the bench
6 Substitute
7 Substituted
Total Venue
26 Home
23 Away
3 Neutral
Total Competition
30 League
12 League Cup
7 European Cup
2 FA Cup
1 Charity Shield
Total W D L Win % Manager
52 28 15 9 53.8% Joe Fagan
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 6 1 4 2 0 13
1983-1984 6 1 3 2 0 12
1984-1985 0 0 1 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Started/substitutions
13 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
6 League
4 League Cup
2 European Cup
1 FA Cup
Total Goal minute period
4 1-15 minutes
1 16-30 minutes
3 46-60 minutes
3 61-75 minutes
1 76-90 minutes
1 91-120 minutes
Total Goal origin
13 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 5 1 2 1 0 9
1983-1984 5 1 2 0 0 8
1984-1985 0 0 0 1 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 20.08.1983 Manchester United Wembley Other
50 12.10.1984 Tottenham White Hart Lane League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 14 28.09.1983 Odense BK Anfield Europe
Related Articles
Michael Robinson - leaving Liverpool for Spain - Part 2

LFChistory.net recently met former striker Michael Robinson in Madrid and had a good chat with him about his career.

Michael Robinson - joining his boyhood club

LFChistory had the rare opportunity of spending an evening with Michael Robinson, a warm individual who possesses such an abundance of intelligence and enthusiasm towards sport and life in general.

The Irish Kop

The Irish Kop is a tribute from the heart of Anfield to those amazing fans who go to incredible lengths to follow Liverpool FC.

Robinson breaks duck in style

Liverpool Football Echo report on West Ham - Liverpool on 15th of October 1983.

Robinson is the main man at Cadiz

Michael Robinson - Spanish television celebrity and director of football at Cadiz.

Related Quotes

"The nicest thing about Michael was that he knew his own limitations. I was at Preston with him and we were at Brighton together and, of course, he followed me to Liverpool. He would tell you himself that he didn't have a good touch for a big man and he was predominantly one-footed. But he was strong. He was very powerful and would chase everything. When the chips were down he would give you absolutely everything."

Mark Lawrenson on his team-mate Michael Robinson

"Ian Rush made me look brilliant in the air. When I jumped up and headed, the ball would always go to Rushie. He could read my body; the way I jumped up Ian would deduce where the ball would go. He worked it out before I had. Rush never knew which bloody knife or fork to use, but on the pitch he was a genius."

Michael Robinson on his strike partner, Ian Rush

“We had to train every day, apart from Mondays in a dirty kit. I joined during the pre-season when the team was on tour. And when we got back to Liverpool, in my second training session, I took one look at my training kit and thought: ‘Hang on a minute, my socks are hard, my shorts aren’t washed – my kit’s dirty…’. I got to the training ground early, Bruce Grobbelaar, Phil Neal and myself were always the first to arrive. Anyway, I looked over to the assistant coach, Ronnie Moran and at first, I thought it might be a dressing room prank - seeing as I was the new boy. So I said to Ronnie Moran: ‘My kit’s dirty’ and he retorted: ‘And it will be tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…’ I asked: ‘Don’t we have a washing machine?’ and Ronnie replied: ‘Yes, we do have a washing machine but when this club started winning things, in 1958, we didn’t. Mrs Jones in Kemlyn Road used to do the washing for us once a week. What’s the problem? Can’t you win a football match in a dirty kit?’”

Michael Robinson joined Liverpool as a fresh-faced 24-year-old from Brighton in 1983. However, the day-to-day work at Melwood, with the recently-crowned league champions wasn't quite how the young forward had envisaged it would be, as he told AS.

Scrapbook
2 August 1980
2 August 1980
Front page on Match - 17 December 1983
Front page on Match - 17 December 1983
Joe's secret wish - August 1983
Joe's secret wish - August 1983
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
LFC Official Matchday Magazine interview 2000/01
Life is so tough at the top - 10 March 1984
Life is so tough at the top - 10 March 1984
Mickey Taker - 15 October 1983
Mickey Taker - 15 October 1983
Mike sinks the Hammers - 15 October 1983
Mike sinks the Hammers - 15 October 1983
Profile picture - Official fan club magazine 1983
Profile picture - Official fan club magazine 1983
Robinson left speechless - September 1983
Robinson left speechless - September 1983
Robinson on the cover of Shoot! 26 November 1983
Robinson on the cover of Shoot! 26 November 1983
Robinson on the cover of Shoot! 4 February 1984
Robinson on the cover of Shoot! 4 February 1984
Robinson rout - 15 October 1983
Robinson rout - 15 October 1983
Souness injury adds to misery - 29 January 1984
Souness injury adds to misery - 29 January 1984
Star spot - Shoot! 1984
Star spot - Shoot! 1984
There's no place like Rome! - 1984
There's no place like Rome! - 1984
Why did Liverpool buy me, says Robinson - 1 October 1983
Why did Liverpool buy me, says Robinson - 1 October 1983
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Preston North End 1975-1976 England Third Division 2 0 2 0
Preston North End 1976-1977 England Third Division 0 0 1 0
Preston North End 1977-1978 England Third Division 10 3 10 3
Preston North End 1978-1979 England Second Division 36 13 41 14
Manchester City 1979-1980 England First Division 30 8 35 9
Brighton & Hove Albion 1980-1981 England First Division 42 19 47 22
Brighton & Hove Albion 1981-1982 England First Division 35 11 40 11
Brighton & Hove Albion 1982-1983 England First Division 36 7 46 10
QPR 1984-1985 England First Division 11 1 12 1
QPR 1985-1986 England First Division 26 4 33 5
QPR 1986-1987 England First Division 11 0 13 0
Osasuna 1987-1990 Spain 1 61 12 61 12
Total 300 78 341 87