PAUL ROBINSON

Full Name: Paul James Robinson

Born: 21 February 1971

Came from: Scarborough   Went to: Hereford

First game: 01 September 1990   Last game: 27 April 1991

Appearances: 12 (8/4)   Goals: 3

Sometimes cited as being born in Middlesbrough, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, Robinson, a striker, was in fact born in Nottingham.

He began his football career as a youngster with Notts County and then Bury, and in 1989, as an 18-year-old, he had a trial with Scarborough, then a Fourth Division club in only their third season in the Football League. The trial was successful and he duly signed for Scarborough on a free transfer from Bury.

In his fifth game for the club, they faced Chelsea, in the second round of the League Cup. With Scarborough two goals behind on the night and 3-1 down on aggregate, having pulled a goal back, Robinson scrambled the ball home to bring the scores level on the night. Shortly afterwards the home side were awarded a penalty, and scored, to win 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate after a highly creditable 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. The Scarborough Evening News years later labelled it "one of the most memorable nights in the club's history". Scarborough's run came to an abrupt end in the next round however when they lost 7-0 on Oldham Athletic's infamous 'plastic' pitch and Frankie Bunn scored six of the seven, which remains a League Cup scoring record.

In total, he had scored three times in 20 league appearances over the 1989-1990 season for the Seadogs, at the end of which he moved up to the Second Division with Argyle after David Kemp paid a £15,000 fee, joining in time to take part in Argyle's pre-season tour of Sweden.

After three substitute appearances early in the season, on his first competitive start, he scored twice in a minute - first a header, then a run followed by a shot from distance - in a 3-2 win against Millwall at home in November 1990. This earned him a place in the starting eleven for the next few matches, but he failed to score and lost his place. In the second half of the season he scored once more from three starts (the winner in a 1-0 home win against Bristol City in January 1991) and one further substitute appearance.

At the end of the season, he returned to the Fourth Division with Hereford United for 1991-92, reportedly disappointed at being given insufficient opportunity to succeed at the higher level. He began the new season in the Bulls' starting eleven, scoring on his first appearance, in the Herefordshire Senior Cup against Chester City, and then hit a hat-trick against Mostyn in the Welsh Cup, He was then, however, sent-off in his first league match for the club, and again in his fifth. Post-suspensions, he then played intermittently, making seven league starts and four substitute appearances and played what was to be his last Football League game in April 1992 at the age of 21. In total he had played 18 times and scored four, for United, albeit without scoring in the Football League.

He then moved into non-league football with Cheltenham Town at the end of the season, before eventually retiring from playing because of a persistent back injury

However, in the 1998 close season he felt he had recovered enough to attempt a comeback and played in a friendly match for Tamworth, though he signed for Southern League club Bromsgrove Rovers instead. He played until late October, including a five-week spell out with a broken wrist, but then left the club and signed for Arnold Town, back in his native Nottinghamshire.

After Arnold, nothing more is known and it is assumed he stepped aside from the game and retired fully, with a Football League career total of 42 appearances and six goals before his young retirement.