| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stewart Ian Robson | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-11-06)6 November 1964 (age 60) | ||
| Place of birth | Billericay,Basildon,Essex, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1981 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1987 | Arsenal | 150 | (16) |
| 1987–1991 | West Ham United | 69 | (4) |
| 1991–1995 | Coventry City[2] | 57 | (3) |
| Total | 276 | (23) | |
| International career | |||
| 1981–1982 | England Youth | 10 | (2) |
| 1981 | England U20 | 6 | (0) |
| 1984–1988 | England U21[3] | 8 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003 | Southend United (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Stewart Ian Robson (born 6 November 1964) is an English formerfootball player and TV and radio football pundit. He played forArsenal,West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, andCoventry City. After his footballing career ended he took on a role as a TV and radio pundit forArsenal TV until 2012,[4]ESPN,TalkSPORT[5] andTNT Sports.[6] He is currently ESPN's lead color commentator forFA Cup andEFL Cup working alongsideJon Champion andMartin Tyler (world feed), andBundesliga withDerek Rae, who he also provides commentary alongside in the FIFA/EA FC video game series since 2021.
Born inBillericay,Essex,[7][8] he was educated atAlleyn Court Prep School inWestcliff on Sea[9] andBrentwood School. Robson joinedArsenal as a schoolboy in 1978. He made his debut soon after his 17th birthday, on 5 December 1981 againstWest Ham United, and became a regular player in the Arsenal side under managerTerry Neill and his eventual successorDon Howe.[10][11][12]
Robson showed great promise as a young footballer, both in his versatility (although he usually played inmidfield, he was equally adept indefence asfull back or centre back) and his competitiveness; he was an enthusiastic runner and tackler. He was the Arsenal's 1985 Player of the Year, and made the England senior squad. Then an injury in the cup tie againstRotherham on 25 January 1986 wrecked his season. He was out for over two months withgroin trouble, and missed his England call up, and that probably cost him a place in theWorld Cup, and was on the stand by-list.[13][14]
After the arrival ofGeorge Graham as manager in May 1986, Robson found himself out of the Arsenal side, only playing five matches of the1986–87 season, before losing his place toSteve Williams. Leaving in January 1987, he had played 186 matches for Arsenal, scoring 21 goals.[10]
He was sold to West Ham United in January 1987 for £700,000.[15] His time with West Ham was plagued with injuries, particularly to hispelvis. ManagerJohn Lyall later revealed that Robson had been on the treatment table atHighbury when he had signed him and he was rarely fully fit for the Hammers.[16]His first West Ham game was on 24 January 1987 in a 3–1 away win at Coventry City.[15] He remained a regular in the Hammers' first team for two and a half years, andPlayer of the Year for 1988. However, lost his place after they were relegated in 1989, playing only eight league games in the following two years following a succession of injuries to his pelvic area. His last game was a 6–1FA Cup defeat ofAldershot on 16 January 1991.[15]
In March 1991,Terry Butcher signed Robson forCoventry City on a free transfer.[15] He helped them stay in the First Division and become founder members of theFA Premier League in1992–93. Robson went on to make 57 league appearances for the Sky Blues, but once again, injury ruined his spell at the club; he suffered a bad knee injury playing his old club Arsenal at the start of the1993–94 season. In the summer of 1995, Robson announced his retirement citing a history of injuries; he had just spent the entire season sidelined due to injury.[citation needed]
Robson later joinedWimbledon as a youth coach, eventually moving up the ranks to become reserve team manager and then first-team coach until leaving in December 2001. In 2003, he spent a short spell as first-team coach and as caretaker manager atSouthend United between 25 March 2003 and 18 April 2003.[17] In 2004, he joinedRushden & Diamonds as technical director of football.[18]
Robson also played cricket for Coventry and for North Warwickshire.[19]
Robson has teamed up withMartin Tyler as the commentary duo for the non-UK international feed of the FA Cup and theUEFA Champions League.[20] He worked for Arsenal TV as co-commentator.[4][21] He commentated forBT Sport for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. He has also appeared onAbsolute Radio's Rock'n'Roll Football alongsideJim Proudfoot. Robson is a regular contributor on the football podcast released byThe Times in conjunction with their weekly football supplement The Game.[22] He has also presented onTalkSPORT.[5] He also works forBT Sport as a co-commentator for UEFA Champions League,UEFA Europa League,Bundesliga, andSerie A.[6] For the2014 FIFA World Cup andUEFA Euro 2016, Robson partnered withJon Champion and withIan Darke onEuro 2020 forESPN's coverage in the United States.[23] He now serves as the lead color commentator forFA Cup andEFL matches on ESPN alongside Champion and Tyler. He also commentates onLa Liga andBundesliga for ESPN withRob Palmer andDerek Rae.
Robson has been consistently critical of former Arsenal managerArsène Wenger.[24][25][26][27][28][29] Robson also regularly appears onESPN FC, which airs onESPN in the US and onBT Sport in the UK.
In 2021, Robson became the primary co-commentator of theEA Sports video games,FIFA 22,FIFA 23 andEA FC 24.
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Southend United | 25 March 2003 | 18 April 2003 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 033.33 |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 033.33 | ||
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