Born and raised in Gateshead, Robson was on the books at St. James’ Park as a youngster but had to bide his time before making his first appearance in black and white. Allowed to leave for Northampton, he helped the Cobblers surge up the divisions and was their joint top scorer as they were promoted to the top flight – alongside the Magpies – in 1964/65.
Robson took in a brief spell at Chelsea before Joe Harvey came calling in 1966. Speaking to UNITED, the club’s official matchday programme, in 2018, he described the move as “a dream come true”, adding: “To be given the chance to come home to play in front of those boys and girls was absolutely brilliant.”
Newcastle were struggling to find their feet back in the top flight at the time of Robson’s arrival but, during his first full season at the club, they managed to qualify for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Robson himself played a key role, finding the net 11 times and forging a lethal partnership with frontman Wyn Davies. He recalled: “Big Wyn was ideal for me, as a little winger. All I had to do was get past the full back, flick it in, and there would be Wyn on the end of it, so it was great.
“A lot of my goals were down to Wyn, too. Wherever I was going, Wyn would go, and there’d be three or four defenders who would go with him. I’d then be free at the far post, which was brilliant. I loved playing with Wyn!”
Unfortunately, a freak gardening accident stopped Robson’s Magpies career in its tracks and he didn’t play a single moment of their Fairs Cup campaign. He moved on again, to Peterborough, where he made a club record 564 appearances and took on legendary status. Approaching 74, he was still working as a delivery driver when he chatted to UNITED a couple of years ago. “I did a delivery to Whitley Bay not too long ago and I got a taxi back to the local station,” he remembered at the time. “I said to the driver: ‘I’m from up here – I used to play football.’ And he said: ‘I know. You’re Tommy Robson!’ It’s absolutely brilliant, after so many years, to be recognised like that.”
The thoughts of everyone at Newcastle United are with Tommy’s family and friends.
