Robinson: Paul William (Paul)

1997-2004 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Goalkeeper

Born: Beverley: 15-10-1979

Debut v Chelsea (h): 25-10-1998

6’4” 14st 0lb (2004)

#69 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Robinson was born at the Beverley Westwood hospital and attended Beverley Grammar School. He started with York City Juniors but at the age of sixteen, following trials, he joined the Leeds Academy, and progressed from there, signing professional forms in May 1997. Robinson was part of the class of '97 team that won the FA Youth Cup, but due to the continuing brilliance of Nigel Martyn, for seasons he was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as his teammates went on to become first team regulars. He did get an oppurtunity to show his tremendous talent at senior level when Nigel Martyn was sidelined with a rib injury and, ten days after his nineteenth birthday, he had to face a rampant Chelsea attack that scored for fun. Robinson fulfilled his potential with a superb display and kept a clean-sheet. He also held Bradford City goal-less the following week and made a clear statement by clocking up one hundred and eighty-three minutes unbeaten before Derby County put a penalty past him in his third game before Martyn returned. With Mark Beeney retiring through injury Robinson became Martyn’s deputy and later in that season he was he was called on as substitute when Martyn was injured at Old Trafford and despite conceding an early goal, proceeded to pull off a string of fine and in the next game held West Ham United scoreless before Martyn returned. A regular with the England Under-Eighteen squad he was called up to the Under Twenty-one team and with the full England training squad because of his fine displays. His Under-Twenty-one team debut came on 8th October 1999 in a 4-1 win over Denmark in the company of present or future teammates such as Danny Mills, Seth Johnson, Lee Bowyer and Alan Smith in front of a crowd of 15,220 at Valley Parade, Bradford. He had to be content to watch the 1999-2000 campaign from the substitutes’ bench as Martyn was ever-present and Robinson was the unused substitute in all the games as Leeds qualified for the ECL in third place in the EPL. In United’s charge for European glory they were at first beset by injury and Nigel Martyn was no exception. He was injured in the Elland Road game with Charlton Athletic on 14th October 2000 and Robinson came on as substitute. It was the start of twenty-three consecutive games before Martyn was again fit for duty. Robinson certainly made the most of his oppurtunity and once more showed unbelievable brilliance against some of the best teams in England and Europe. Barcelona in particular could not believe some of the saves he pulled off as they over-ran United at Elland Road but had to settle for a draw with a goal four minutes into overtime. It was back to the bench after Nigel Martyn was fit and he had just one more game that season as Leeds and Lazio both rested several players in a dead-rubber in the ECL. He did, however take his Under-Twenty-One Caps to five with appearances in a 6-1 Friendly win over Georgia at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesborough with a crowd of 5,103 on hand on 31st August 2000, followed by a 1-1 draw with Germany in the UEFA 2002 Championshipo qualifiers at Pride Park, Derby, with 30,155 watching on 6th October 2000, and four days later he was at the Tehtaan Kentta Stadium in Valkeakoski, Finland for a 2-2 draw in front of 1,426 in the same tournament and finally a 0-4 defeat by Spain in a friendly on 27th February 2001 at St Andrew's, Birmingham with a crowd of 13,761. 2001-02 was a repeat of 1999-2000 with Martyn now established in the England squad and Robinson showing patience and learning as he and Martyn trained together. He took his tally of Under-Twenty-One caps to eleven with a flurry of games in the latter part of the season. The first three were designed to give all the players as much game time as possible and though he started each of them he was replaced to give his deputies a chance to gain International experience. So in the first he was replaced by Nick Weaver on the hour in a 1-0 win over Slovenia at Sportni Park, Nova Gorica with a meagre 350 in attendance on 12th February 2002. In the second on 26th March 2002 in front of 21,642 at Valley Parade, Bradford, Stephen Bywater took his place after seventy-nine minutes in a 1-1 draw with Italy and in the third it was Chris Kirkland's turn as an half-time replacement at the Brittania Stadium, Stoke, in a 0-1 defeat by Portugal on 16th April 2002 with 28,000 watching. His final three caps were all in the Group A UEFA Finals of the 2002 competition in Switzerland in which England was eliminated after first winning 2-1 against the host nation at Stadion Hardturm, Zurich in front of 16,000 on 17th May 2002. This was followed three days later by a 1-2 defeat by Italy at the Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel, watched by 5,000. Two days after that at Stadion Hardturm, Zurich 6,000 were in attendance to see England go down 1-3 to Portugal. For Leeds United the 2002-03 season was a major disappointment. For twenty-three-year-old goalkeeper Paul Robinson however, it was a major success and a season which saw him firmly establish himself as a regular first team player. In late March 1999, Coach Kevin Keegan had called him into the full England squad for England's Wembley encounter with Poland, then in November 2000 new coach Peter Taylor had taken him to Turin where he had been an unused substitute on 15th November 2000 in the 0-1 loss to Italy but now he had received a call-up by Sven Goran Eriksson to take his place in his squad against Portugal at Villa Park. He did not get on the pitch, however, having to be content to play his role as an unused substitute to David James. He had to wait until 12th February 2003 before coming on as a half-time substitute at Upton Park against Australia. Martyn had been in the 2002 England World Cup team and opted not to make the pre-season trip with the club to Australia and the Far-East. It cost him dearly as new Manager Terry Venables stuck with Robinson for the opening games of the season and with the Leeds team suffering from injuries to star players. It was often Robinson who stood alone between United and a heavy defeat as he was inspirational in goal. Leeds’ season had little highs but the 1-0 victory over rivals Manchester United would stick out in the memory of all Leeds fans and Robinson more than played his part, proving inspirational between the posts and preventing Premier League top goal scorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy from adding to his tally. He was ever-present, making fifty appearances for Leeds and collecting two international caps along the way, the second being as a half-time substitute for David James in a 2-1 win over South Africa in a friendly on 22nd May 2003 at King's Park, Durban. It was an important season for the young international. It was no surprise then that there was much transfer speculation about the youngster with sides such as Arsenal, Manchester United and Aston Villa all closely following his progress. A deal with Aston Villa was on the cards during the summer of 2003, which would have seen Robinson reunited with old Manager David O’Leary for an estimated fee of around £3.25 million. Robinson however failed to agree personal terms and vowed not to become another player involved in the Leeds exodus. He then stated "I am very happy at Leeds and I am happy to stay at the club." United were on the slide both on the pitch and financially, but Robinson still performed wonders behind the worst defence in the EPL as he did his bit to keep United out of the relegation zone. However, in the January 2004 transfer window, he came very close to signing for Tottenham Hotspur, only for the deal to fall through at the last minute, but went on to be almost ever-present once more and even scored with a header in a League Cup-tie against Swindon Town. With Nigel Martyn too good to figure permanently in the Reserves he had been snapped up by Everton early in the season and Robinson’s only cover was the young and inexperienced Scott Carson. He only missed the fixture at Old Trafford, as punishment for being sent off at Middlesbrough and the final match of the season at Chelsea when he was already on his way to Tottenham, as after Leeds were relegated at the end of the season, his departure became inevitable and Spurs announced in May that they would sign him for £2m. In that season he had doubled his caps to four with two games as a half-time substitute. The first on 20th August 2003 in a 3-1 win over Croatia at Portman Road, Ipswich, and the second on 16th November 2003 at Old Trafford, Manchester, when they went down 2-3 to Denmark, replacing David James in both games. His first season in the white of Spurs proved to be hugely successful. He made forty-four apperances between the sticks for Manager Martin Jol and kept fourteen clean sheets. He also made a huge breakthrough into the England set-up. Thanks to his strong performances for Tottenham, he became a regular for Sven-Goran Eriksson, making eight appearances as England qualified for the 2006 World Cup. The first game was in a friendly at the City of Manchester Stadium, Wastlands, Machester on 5th June 2004 in a 6-1 win over Iceland in which he started but Ian Walker of Leicester City replaced him just after the hour mark. The World Cup Qualifiers started at the Stadion Slaski, Katowice, and saw England win 2-1 on 8th September 2004, followed by a 2-0 win over Wales at Old Trafford on 9th October and four days later a 1-0 win over Azerbaijan at Tofig Behramov Stadium, Baku, took his caps to eight. His ninth came in a 0-1 defeat by Spain at the Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid, in a friendly on 17th November, in which he saved a penalty from Raul after twenty-four minutes. Robinson was in unbelievable form for England and clean sheets were a regular feat for the next year or more. There were three in the next three games as the Netherlands played a 0-0 draw at Villa Park in a friendly on 9th February 2005 and this was followed by a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland at Old Trafford on 26th March and a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan fout days later at St James' Park, Newcastle, both in the World Cup Qualifiers. His fine form continued into the 2005-06 campaign as Robinson became number one keeper for both England and Tottenham Hotspur. The only disappointment in an otherwise superb season came during the World Cup where Robinson, like the rest of the England side, underperformed. His thirteenth cap appeared to be unlucky as England were soundly beaten by 1-4 by Denmark in a friendly at the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, but it was his half-time replacement David James who conceded all four goals. His clean sheets kept coming in the next three World Cup Qualifiers as on 3rd September 2005 at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales were beaten 1-0 and four days later at Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland fell by the same score and on 8th October, Old Trafford was the venue for Austria to also lose 1-0. They were back at Old Trafford four days later as Poland were beaten 2-1. He had been given the England #1 jersey in September 2004 and he was to wear it until his final appearance in October 2007 and the caps were now accumulating quickly as he brought his total to twenty-one with four appearances in friendlies. On 12th November 2005 England defeated Argentina 3-2 at Geneva Stadium, Switzerland and then Uruguay were beaten at Old Trafford on 1st March 2006, Hungary by 3-1 on 30th May and Jamaica by 6-0 on 3rd June both at Old Trafford with Robinson playing full games except in the final game when he was replaced by David James at half-time. He then added five more caps as Sven-Goran Ericksson's reign came to an end in the World Cup Finals in Germany, playing full games in each and keeping a clean sheet in all but one. On 10th June 2006 England beat Paraguay 1-0 at Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany, five days later there was a 2-0 win or Trinidad and Tobago at the Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, and on the 20th June two goals were conceded to Sweden in a 2-2 draw at the Rhein Energie Stadiun, Cologne as England survived the initial stage. In the quarter-final there was a 1-0 win over Ecuador at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium in Stuttgart on 25th June 2006 before Portugal were held goaless at the Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen on 1st July 2006, but went out 1-3 on penalties. He had been Sven Goran-Eriksson's first choice and he remained Steve McClaren's as he took over after the World Cup. He gained his twenty-seventh cap in a 4-0 Friendly win over Greece at Old Trafford on 16th August 2006 when he gave way to Chris Kirkland at half-time. He continued his clean sheets as England played UEFA Championship Group E Qualifiers winning 5-0 at Old Trafford against Andorra and four days later by 1-0 over Macedonia at the Skopje City Stadium. On 7th October the reverse fixture saw a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford before sixty-one minutes into the game with Croatia at the Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, four days later, he finally conceded a goal. He had kept his goal intact for six hundred and thirty-one minutes of "official" time or six hundred and fifty-five "actual" minutes, but the 0-2 loss in the game was a blow to England's chances of qualification. His thirty-second cap came on 15th November that year in a friendly wirh the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena in a 1-1 draw. It was then back to the Group E qualifiers and another clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Israel at the National Stadium in Tel Aviv on 24th March 2007 and four days later Andorra were defeated 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona. His thirty-fifth cap came in the friendly with Brazil on 1st June 2007 in the new National Stadium, Wembley which ended in a 1-1 draw. Five days later England beat Estonia 3-0 at the Lillekula Stadium, Tallinn in the Group E qualifiers and his thirty-seventh cap was in a friendly with Germany at Wembley on 22nd September 2007, with David James being given his chance at half-time, before three more games at Wembley in the UEFA qualifiers took him to the forty mark. All three games ended in a 3-0 win for England. On 8th September Isreal were defeated, four days later it was Russia and on 13th October it was Estonia. His final game for England came four days later as England went down to Russia 1-2 at the Olympic Stadium, Moscow. His only England blemish was an unfortunate mix-up in the Euro 2008 qualifier in Croatia when a Gary Neville backpass bounced awkwardly just in front of Robinson's foot and headed into the net. Robinson was blamed for the error, but it didn't stop him performing brilliantly for his club, and even scored from just outside his area in a League match against Watford. However, Robinson was dropped from the England team after his mistake had given Russia the winner and his place was taken by former Leeds keeper Scott Carson, who eventually gave way to David James. In 2008 he was a member of the Tottenham squad that came back from a goal down to win in extra time against Chelsea in a gripping Carling Cup Final and so claimed his first senior medal. In his time at White Hart Lane he started one hundred and thirty-seven League games and scored one goal. He also started twelve F.A. Cup ties, ten Football League Cup games and sixteen European Cup games. He joined Blackburn Rovers on 25th July 2008, for a fee of £3.5 million on a five-year deal, making him Paul Ince’s first signing at the club. On July 29th 2008, who gave him the Blackburn No.1 jersey left behind by the departure of Brad Friedel. The next day he made his Blackburn Rovers debut in a 2-1 victory against Northwich Victoria. At Ewood Park he showed the kind of form that earned him the England goalkeeping jersey and his performances improved as well as his consistency. In the final ten games of the season he produced his best performances in two years and earned the man-of the-match award against Wigan Athletic. He helped Blackburn earn thirty-seven points by keeping nine clean sheets in his thirty-five League appearances. With Ryan Nelson being on the injured list Robinson became team Captain. He had also earned forty-one full caps for England. Robinson was called back into the England squad in 2009 for 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhsatan and Andorra when David James was injured. He was selected as substitute for Robert Green of West Ham United for the Kazakhstan game. He was not included in the 30-man England squad for the 2010 World Cup, Joe Hart, David James and Robert Green, being preferred. His club Manager, Sam Allardyce commented, "It is completely the wrong decision, if you look at his form for Rovers, there has not been a better goalkeeper, who has been so consistent". Robinson ended the EPL season with thirteen clean sheets. It was the best of all the English Goalkeepers. He retired from international football on 8th August 2010. By mid-September 2014 he had made one hundred and eighty-nine League starts, six in the F.A. Cup and seven in the League Cup for Blackburn, but after that he was injured and while being fit and the accepted No.1 at Ewood Park he was still awating a recall as Manager Gary Bowyer did not want to change a winning team.