JIMMY ROBSON 

Date and Place of Birth 23rd January 1939 - PELTON   Transfers to and from Burnley junior then pro - January 1956 to BLACKPOOL - March 1965 (£10,000) from BURY - May 1973 retired - May 1974   First and Last Burnley Games BLACKPOOL (h) - 6th October 1956   WEST BROMWICH ALBION (h) - 6th February 1965   Other Clubs ---------------------------------------- BLACKPOOL, BARNSLEY, BURY

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

Jimmy Robson's FA Cup Final goal for Burnley hung in ever boardroom in the country. It was Burnley's first ever Wembley goal but at it was the 100^th cup final goal at Wembley it was depicted in a painting presented to ever club. Burnley's still hangs in the Bob Lord Stand.

And 100 proved to be a significant figure for Jimmy. That was the number of goals he scored for the Clarets. The first of them came on his debut against Blackpool in the 1956/57 season and the last was seven seasons later in a win against West Ham.

It can come as no surprise that a Burnley player of the 1950s and 60s hailed from the north east of England and Jimmy was from Pelton, a small village close to Chester-le-Street in Co Durham.

Burnley scout Charlie Ferguson spotted both Jimmy and his mate Ian Lawson playing in a schools final and both were offered trials with the club and eventually both signed amateur forms on the same day.

Jimmy's first Burnley team were the colts who played their home games at Towneley, but he quickly moved onto the 'B' and 'A' teams at Gawthorpe and then into the reserves. In January 1956, on his 17^th birthday he signed his first professional terms and before he was 18 he was to make his first team debut.

In October 1956 Jimmy McIlroy was away on international duty and unavailable for the home game against Blackpool. Robson was given his number 8 shirt. We twice fell behind in the game and with just 11 minutes gone trailed 2-1. That's how it stayed until ten minutes from the end when the debutant inside right hammered in an equaliser.

Such was the talent at Burnley it certainly didn't mean a regular place for Robson and for the remainder of that season and the whole of the following season he played most of his football in the reserve team.

But in 1958/59 he became a regular in the side. He replaced Albert Cheesebrough and such was his impact that the club felt it appropriate to sell Cheesebrough to Leicester in the summer of 1959.

For Robson it was the start of four glorious years in the first team, a first team that won the league title, played in Europe and reached that FA Cup Final. His first season saw him net ten league goals and that brought him to the attention of the England selectors.

He was named in the England Under-23 side that drew 2-2 with West Germany in Bochum at the end of that season. He scored one of the England goals but it proved to be his only appearance at any level for his country.

The 1959/60 season brought the title to Turf Moor and Jimmy played in all but four of the league games that season. He scored 18 goals in those games and incredibly was only the third highest scorer behind John Connelly (20) and Ray Pointer (19). Five of his goals came in the 8-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest in November of that season.

During the 1960/61 season Burnley played a total of 62 games, a club record. Jimmy Robson played in 54 of them and in his most prolific season scored no fewer than 37 goals. There were 25 in the league but he also scored in three of our four European ties. Incredibly all but one of those league goals was scored in the first 25 games.

The 1961/62 season saw Burnley go so close to the double yet win nothing. Robson was still a regular scorer and scored our last goal of that season at Wembley in the defeat to Spurs.

That season proved to be his last as a regular in the side. The emergence of Andy Lochhead put his place under threat but he did play in another 46 league games before finally signing for Blackpool for £10,000. That was in March 1965.

He spent two seasons with Blackpool in the First Division, scoring 14 goals for them in the league. But when they were relegated in 1967 he was soon on the move again and signed for Barnsley at the beginning of 1968 and was in their side that won promotion from Division Four.

After two and a half seasons he joined Bury where he played alongside former Burnley team mate John Connelly. He played mainly as a defender whilst at Gigg Lane and played over 100 games for them.

His time in football wasn't over when he decided to leave Bury and he was soon back at Turf Moor working as a youth coach under Jimmy Adamson whilst playing in the reserves. That lasted for just a year but he went on to have a long career in football with a diverse range of clubs.

He worked at such as Rochdale and Huddersfield but also had a spell as manager of local non-league club Bacup. Then, in the summer of 1998, he returned to Turf Moor to work for new manager Stan Ternent.

His last spell at Burnley was to run for six years before he retired at the age of 65. He still lives locally and is still very much a Claret. He can often be seen at Gawthorpe watching the youth team and is a regular at Turf Moor for first team matches.

There's no doubt that Jimmy Robson was a terrific member of that great Burnley side of the late 50s and early 60s. He scored a total of 79 league goals for us but that total went to 100 when cup games were included. Not many have scored more during their Burnley careers.

On 24th April 2012, Jimmy Robson was recognised by the Supporters Clubs, winning their annual Special Achievement Award for his services to the club. A picture of the presentation, from another former Claret Paul Fletcher, is shown below.

Links

Jimmy Robson honoured by Supporters Clubs (24/04/12)