David Robertson (footballer, born 1968)

For the Dundee United, St Johnstone, Morton and Livingston player, see David Robertson (footballer, born 1986).

David Robertson

Personal information
Full name	David Alexander Robertson [1]
Date of birth	(1968-10-17) 17 October 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
	Deeside BC
1984–1986	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1991	Aberdeen	134	(2)
1991–1997	Rangers	183	(15)
1997–2001	Leeds United	26	(0)
2002	Montrose	7	(0)
Total		350	(17)
International career
1987–1994	Scotland B [2]	2	(0)
1988–1989	Scotland U21 [3]	6	(0)
1990	Scottish League XI	1	(0)
1992–1994	Scotland	3	(0)
Managerial career
2003–2005	Elgin City
2006–2007	Montrose
2012–2013	Phoenix FC
2017–2022	Real Kashmir
2022–2023	Peterhead
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Alexander Robertson BEM (born 17 October 1968) is a Scottish former football player and coach, who was most recently the manager of Scottish League One club Peterhead.

Robertson played as a left back for Aberdeen, Rangers, Leeds United, Montrose and represented Scotland. Since retiring as a player, he has managed Elgin City, Montrose, Phoenix FC and most recently I-League club Real Kashmir, before being appointed manager of Peterhead in November 2022. ^[4]

Playing career

Robertson began playing football with Deeside Boys Club (now Banks O' Dee FC) before he started his football career by signing an "s" form with local club Aberdeen, where he won the Scottish Youth Cup alongside Joe Miller, Paul Wright and Stevie Gray. ^[5] After becoming a first team regular aged 17, he won a Scottish League Cup winner's medal against Rangers in 1989 and a Scottish Cup winner's medal in 1990 against Celtic in a match which ended with a thrilling penalty shoot out (9–8, Robertson scoring his kick). ^[6]

Robertson moved to Rangers for £970,000 in 1991. With the Ibrox club, he helped the club to the last six of their joint-record nine championship titles in a row, as well as adding three more Scottish Cups and three more League Cups to his collection. He only received one red card during his spell, for a brutal bodycheck on his friend Joe Miller in the opening minutes of the Old Firm 1992 Scottish Cup semi-final, which broke the Celtic winger's ribs (Miller played on, Rangers still won the match with ten men and Robertson appeared in the final after suspension). ^[7] During his time at the Gers, he won three full international caps for Scotland. ^[8]

After exactly 250 games for Rangers, ^[9] Robertson signed for Leeds United in 1997 for £500,000, but recurring injury problems curtailed his spell in England and he played only 26 league matches in four years at Elland Road (all in the first season).

Robertson retired from football in 2001 but was back playing in 2002 when he was appointed player/assistant manager of Scottish Football League club Montrose. He scored his first and only goal for Montrose in a 3–2 defeat at Cowdenbeath in the Scottish League Cup. ^[10] His playing career with Montrose was cut short, however, due to one of his Achilles tendons snapping during a match against Greenock Morton in the same year.

Coaching career

In September 2006, Robertson was appointed manager of Montrose ^[11] but he resigned just four months later. ^[12] He moved to Phoenix, Arizona and worked as a director of boy's coaching at the Sereno Soccer Club. ^[13] Robertson was head coach of USL Pro club Phoenix FC in 2013. ^[14]

Real Kashmir

In January 2017 Robertson was appointed as the head coach of Indian I-League 2nd Division side Real Kashmir. ^{[15] [16]} Under his tenure Real Kashmir won the promotion to Indian top flight football, thus becoming the first team from Kashmir to be promoted to the I-League. ^{[17] [18]} Robertson also signed his son Mason to play for the club. ^{[19] [20]}

Robertson's management of Real Kashmir was featured in two documentaries made for BBC Scotland, Real Kashmir FC and Return to Real Kashmir FC, which won best documentary at Scottish BAFTAs, the UK Broadcast awards, and the European Sports Awards in Rotterdam where it additionally won the best director award for its director Greg Clark.^{[ citation needed ]} He was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to the community in Kashmir and UK-India relations. ^[21] He left the club in September, and was succeeded by Mehrajuddin Wadoo. ^[22]

Peterhead

On 29 November 2022, Robertson was named as the new manager of Scottish League One club Peterhead, marking his first managerial role in Scotland in 15 years. ^[23] He left the position in March 2023, following a run of results that the Peterhead chairman described as "embarrassing". ^{[24] [25]}

Personal life

His son Mason is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}

Club	Seasons	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1985–86	Scottish Premier Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	1986–87		34	0	3	0	3	0	2	0	-	-	42	0
	1987–88		23	0	4	0	4	0	2	0	-	-	33	0
	1988–89		23	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	-	-	30	0
	1989–90		19	1	2	0	5	1	1	0	-	-	27	2
	1990–91		35	1	1	0	4	0	4	0	-	-	44	1
	Total		134	2	10	0	21	1	11	0	-	-	176	3
Rangers	1991–92	Scottish Premier Division	42	1	5	0	4	1	2	0	-	-	53	2
	1992–93		39	3	5	0	5	0	9	0	-	-	58	3
	1993–94		32	1	6	1	4	0	1	0	-	-	43	2
	1994–95		23	3	2	0	1	0	2	0	-	-	28	3
	1995–96		25	3	5	1	3	0	5	0	-	-	38	4
	1996–97		22	4	3	1	2	0	3	0	-	-	30	5
	Total		183	15	26	3	19	1	22	0	-	-	250	19
Leeds United	1997–98	Premier League	26	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	-	-	31	0
	1998–99		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	1999–00		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	2000–01		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	2001–02		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	Total		26	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	-	-	31	0
Montrose	2002–03	Scottish Third Division	7	0	0	0	1	1	-	-	2	0	10	1
Career total			350	17	37	3	45	3	33	0	2	0	467	23

International appearances

Scotland national team [8]
Year	Apps	Goals
1992	1	0
1993	1	0
1994	1	0
Total	3	0

Managerial record

As of match played 18 March 2023 ^{[30] [31]}

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	L	D	Win %
Elgin City	30 November 2003	2 December 2005	103	21	61	21	20.39%
Montrose	4 September 2006	17 January 2007	25	7	16	2	28.00%
Phoenix FC	15 July 2012	16 August 2013	27	5	15	7	18.52%
Real Kashmir	2 January 2017	31 August 2022	70	34	16	20	48.57%
Peterhead	29 November 2022	21 March 2023	12	1	9	2	8.33%
Total			237	68	117	52	28.69%

Honours

Player

Aberdeen

• Scottish Cup: 1989–90
• Scottish League Cup: 1989–90

Rangers

• Scottish Premier Division: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
• Scottish Cup: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96
• Scottish League Cup: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97

Manager

Elgin City

• North of Scotland Cup: 2003–04

Real Kashmir

• I-League 2nd Division: 2017–18
• IFA Shield: 2020, 2021 ^[32]

References

1. "David Robertson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
2. "Scotland B profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
3. "Scotland U21 profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
4. "David Robertson and family could be heading home - Sandeep Chattoo". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar. 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
5. "Scottish Youth Cup". Aberdeen F.C. 31 March 2006. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
6. "1990 Scottish Cup Final match reports". The Celtic wiki. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
7. "Former Rangers star David Robertson: I was meant to make Joe Miller's hands go up his sleeves but I went too far and broke his ribs". Daily Record. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
8. David Robertson at the Scottish Football Association
9. "Rangers player profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
10. "Cowdenbeath 3-2 Montrose". BBC. 10 September 2002. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
11. "Robertson takes over from Wolecki". BBC Sport website. 4 September 2006.
12. "Robertson resigns Montrose post". BBC Sport website. 17 January 2007.
13. "Home". RSL AZ.
14. "USL Pro Valley team names coach, reveals team name". Arizona Republic. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
15. "BBC Scotland - BBC Scotland - Is David Robertson Britain's bravest football manager?". BBC.
16. "Real Kashmir FC sign Scottish coach for I-League 2nd division". Times Of India. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
17. "From Scotland, With Love – How Rangers Legend David Robertson Helped Deliver a Miracle in Kashmir". news18.com. June 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
18. Couse, Stephen (25 June 2019). "Real Kashmir: David Robertson on why he is returning to manage in the world's most militarised zone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
19. "Real Kashmir: David Robertson recruits son Mason for India's I-League". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
20. Kamath, Sooraj (9 April 2020). "Father-son duos to have graced Indian football". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
21. Venkat, Rahul (15 June 2021). "Real Kashmir coach David Robertson dedicates British award to club's fans". olympics.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
22. Khan, Abid (17 September 2022). "Mehraj ud Din Wadoo appointed as coach of RKFC". greaterkashmir.com. Srinagar: Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
23. "Robertson is new Peterhead boss | SPFL". spfl.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
24. "Club Statement". Peterhead FC. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
25. "Peterhead sack David Robertson after 'embarrassing results'". BBC Sport. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
26. "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
27. "Rangers Player Davie Robertson Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
28. "Leeds United F.C. History". www.ozwhitelufc.net.au. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
29. "David Robertson | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2002/2003 | 1986-2005 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
30. "Elgin City Manager David Robertson Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
31. "Montrose Manager David Roberstson Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
32. "Real Kashmir FC defends IFA Shield title, beats Sreenidi Deccan FC in a thriller". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar. 15 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.

External links

• David Robertson at Soccerbase
• Profile and stats at AFC Heritage Trust
• David Robertson at Premier League
• David Robertson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Profile at Sporting-Heroes.net
• Profile at Leeds United FC History