 Eagle in October 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert John Eagle[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-02-23)23 February 1987 (age 38)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Leiston, England | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lowestoft Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Norwich City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2009 | Norwich City | 10 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 19 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | Grimsby Town | 50 | (9) |
| 2011–2012 | →Alfreton Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2012–2016 | Lowestoft Town | 156 | (24) |
| 2016–2017 | AFC Sudbury | 35 | (4) |
| 2017–2018 | Leiston | 38 | (3) |
| 2018 | Lowestoft Town | 11 | (1) |
| 2018–2022 | Leiston | 77 | (3) |
| 2022– | Lowestoft Town | 42 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10:22, 5 September 2024 (UTC) | |||
Robert John Eagle (born 23 February 1987) is anEnglish semi-professionalfootballer who plays as aleft-back forLowestoft Town.[3]
As a professional he has represented three clubs, starting his career withNorwich City before playing forInverness Caledonian Thistle andGrimsby Town. He moved into semi-professional football in 2012 following a loan spell withAlfreton Town he later played forLowestoft Town,A.F.C. Sudbury andLeiston.
Eagle was a product of theNorwich City youth system and made his first team debut on 19 September 2006 when he started Norwich'sLeague Cup tie with league one outfitRotherham United in which he helped Norwich to a 4–2 victory. He went on to make 10 league appearances before the end of the2006–07 season. On 3 April 2007, Robert signed a new one-year contract with the club.[4]
Eagle did not feature under managerGlenn Roeder in the2007–08 season, but was awarded a new one-year contract in the summer of 2008. However, in April 2009 he was released by the club.
In July 2009, Eagle joinedInverness Caledonian Thistle on trial, and played in a pre-season friendly againstHighland League sideBuckie Thistle. Eagle supplied the cross forRichie Foran to head the first goal in a 2–0 win forCaley. Eagle went on to play for Inverness during the 2009–2010 season. The song by Haircut 100, 'Love Plus One,' was sung regularly by the Inverness crowd as a way of showing their appreciation to Eagle, whose hair they were very fond of.
In July 2010, Eagle joinedFootball League One sideLeyton Orient on trial, and then moved on toGrimsby Town.[5] After a successful trial period with The Mariners, he signed for the club on a two-year deal on 5 August 2010. He scored his first goal againstForest Green Rovers going on to score another to help Town to a 3–3 draw.[6] Eagle went on to bag himself some tremendous goals, including a strike from inside the centre circle in the 6–1 away win atHiston.[7]
Following the departure of managerNeil Woods on 23 February 2011,[8] Eagle began to fall out of contention atGrimsby Town following the appointment of joint managersRob Scott andPaul Hurst on 23 March 2011.[9]
On 23 November 2011 he signed on loan with fellowConference National sideAlfreton Town.[10] Eagle had an impressive spell withAlfreton Town, with managerNicky Law even hailing the impact Eagle, and fellow player Adam Quinn had during their loan spells.[11]
Eagle was released from his contract atGrimsby Town in early January 2012 and moved toLowestoft Town on a non-contract basis, playing in a match withKirkley & Pakefield and scoring in the first minute.[12]
Robert signed forIsthmian League Premier Division sideA.F.C. Sudbury on 19 May 2016.[13]A.F.C. Sudbury finished the2016–17 season in 23rd position and were relegated.
Eagle was confirmed as signed for him home town clubLeiston on 30 May 2017 on a two-year contract.[14] Robert made hisLeiston debut on 12 August 2017 in anIsthmian League Premier Division home fixture againstDorking Wanderers, which the home side won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Kyle Hammond.[15]
Eagle scored his first goal forLeiston on 23 September 2017 in anIsthmian League Premier Division home fixture againstMetropolitan Police, coming on as an 88th minute substitute for Dominic Docherty, and scoring on the 95th minute with practically the last kick of the ball, to help the club to a convincing 3-0 victory.[16] It was confirmed on 6 February 2018, that Eagle had re-joinedIsthmian League Premier Division sideLowestoft Town for the remainder of the2017–18 season.[17] Eagle made 11 appearances forLowestoft Town.
Robert returned toLeiston on 14 November 2018 in a player-coach capacity, having played the previous night in aSuffolk Premier Cup fixture againstHaverhill Rovers, where he scored the 4th goal in a 6-1 win.[18] On 16 June 2019,Leiston confirmed that Eagle, along withByron Lawrence had signed contracts for the2018–19 season.[19]
On 10 June 2022, Eagle signed for relegated former sideLowestoft Town, who will contest the2022–23 season in theIsthmian League North Division.[20]
Robert has a brother who has played non league football forLeiston.
In February 2020 he was convicted of sexual assault in aNorwich nightclub and was ordered to carry out 140 hours ofunpaid work and put on thesex offender registry for 5 years.[21]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leiston | 2017–18[22][23][24] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 2[a][b] | 0 | 22 | 2 | |
| Lowestoft Town (loan) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |||
| Leiston | 2018–19[25][26] | Southern League Premier Division Central | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Lowestoft Town | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Leiston | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 0 | 20 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20[25] | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[e][f] | 1[g] | 27 | 3 | |||
| 2020–21[25] | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 1[h] | 0 | 14 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22[25] | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 5[i][j] | 0 | 33 | 0 | |||
| Lowestoft Town | 2022–23 | Isthmian League North Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 103 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 135 | 7 | ||
