James Robinson (footballer, born 1982)

Born in Liverpool, Robinson joined English team Crewe Alexandra in 1990 at the age of eight, and made his first team debut with the club in 2002, making 15 first team appearances,[1] scoring once against Ipswich Town.[2] He left Crewe Alexandra by mutual consent in 2005 with a year remaining on his contract.[3] Robinson signed for Icelandic club ÍBV ahead of the 2005 season along with fellow former Crewe player Matthew Platt. Upon his return to England later that year, he signed for Football Conference side Accrington Stanley but failed to make a first-team appearance for the club.[4] In November 2005 he joined Altrincham, where he scored 4 goals in 14 Conference matches.[5]

In February 2006, Robinson headed to Australia, where he joined Melbourne-based Richmond SC. At that time, it was discovered that neither Accrington nor Altrincham had obtained international clearance for Robinson to transfer or play for them, a procedure required due to his spell in Iceland. Accrington escaped penalty, as Robinson had not appeared for their first team. Altrincham, however, had 18 points deducted (all points earned during Robinson's matches), nearly dooming them to relegation.[6] Robinson was devastated by the sanctions to his former team, but went on to help Richmond SC, then in Victorian State League Division 1, earn promotion to the Victorian Premier League.[7]

It was a string of impressive performances for the third, then second-tier club – 19 games for 13 goals in 2006 – that saw Robinson initially selected as a train-on squad player for A-League club Melbourne Victory. By Round 8, and with Melbourne's prolific striker Archie Thompson away on national duty for Australia, Robinson was called up to a bench spot for the away match at Newcastle, upon which he came on as an 81st-minute substitute.

With the departure of Belgian defender Geoffrey Claeys in November 2006, Melbourne Victory announced the signing of the striker; at the end of the home and away season, Robinson had played a total of five games. His only start came in the Round 19 match against Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium. His first and only goal for the club came in the 92nd minute with a looping header against Adelaide United in the 2007 A-League Major Semi-final second leg in front of 47,000 fans to win the game for Melbourne Victory and send them through to their first A-League Grand Final, making him an instant club hero.[8]

Despite his crucial contribution to the Victory's triumphant campaign, he was not offered a new contract by coach Ernie Merrick, he said that the loss of Robinson from the team was due to his Australian visa conditions.[9]

Robinson was signed by A-League club Perth Glory for the 2007–08 season after his performances for Sydney team Marconi Stallions and after impressing on a pre season trial.

Robinson was a founder member of the North Queensland Fury team and made a number of impressive performances for the team.

Towards the end of his playing career, Robinson had a success spell at Victorian Premier League side Oakleigh Cannons in 2011, a two-year stay at Bulleen Lions after that, a brief journey to Indonesia Super League side Sriwijaya FC and then Dandenong Thunder back in Victoria.

On 13 January 2014, Ballarat Red Devils announced the signing of Robinson as player-coach[10] ahead of their inaugural NPLV season. Unfortunately, Ballarat were relegated from the Victorian top flight on the final matchday. In the 2015 season, Ballarat finished fourth and the Englishman was voted NPL 1 Coach of the Year by his peers. Robinson resigned from his position at Ballarat in November 2015.[11]

On 7 September 2016 it was announced that Robinson was taking charge of Brisbane Roar FC's youth side for the National Youth League and National Premier Leagues Queensland competitions.[12]