| Bill Robertson | |
| Fullname: | William Gibb Robertson |
| Birth Date: | 13 November 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Death Place: | Sutton, London, England |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Youthyears1: | –1946 |
| Youthclubs1: | Arthurlie |
| Years1: | 1946–1960 |
| Caps1: | 199 |
| Years2: | 1960–1963 |
| Caps2: | 47 |
| Years3: | 1963–1964 |
| Clubs3: | Dover |
| Years4: | 1970 |
| Clubs4: | Ashford Town |
William Gibb Robertson (13 November 1928 – 26 June 1973) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper in the English Football League and made a total of 246 league appearances for Chelsea and Leyton Orient.
In July 1946 Robertson, aged 17, was signed by First Division club Chelsea from Arthurlie of the Scottish Central Junior League.[1] He made his league debut for Chelsea five years later on 21st April 1951 against Liverpool, when he kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory – in his four appearances at the end of the season Chelsea recorded four wins that were instrumental in the team escaping relegation. He missed only one league match during the following 1951–52 season and played in excess of half of the teams league matches in each of the next four seasons. This included 26 matches in the 1954–55 season, when Chelsea won the First Division championship – Robertson was injured mid-season in January 1955 and Charlie Thomson played in the remaining 16 matches of the season.[2] By the next campaign he had regained his starting spot and played in 34 league matches, however after commencing the 1956–57 season as Chelsea's starting goalkeeper after mid-November 1956 Robertson made only a further four appearances that season and did not play for the first team during the 1957–58 season. He played 13 more matches for Chelsea over the next two seasons, taking his total to 199 league appearances and 215 in total in all competitions for Chelsea.[3]
In September 1960 Robertson transferred to Second Division club Leyton Orient[4] for a £1,000 transfer fee.[2] His 47 league appearances for the club were evenly divided over three seasons. During the second of these, the 1961–62 season, during which Leyton Orient won promotion to the First Division, Robertson played in the latter 15 matches of the campaign, keeping seven clean sheets. He was the team's starting goalkeeper for the opening 14 First Division league matches of the 1962–63 season but played in the first team in league matches only twice more, during March 1963. Leyton Orient were relegated at the end of the season and Robertson was not retained by the club.[5]
Robertson signed for non-league club Dover of the Southern League in July 1963[6] but did not establish himself as their regular starting goalkeeper. In September 1970 he made a one-off appearance in a Southern League Premier Division match for Ashford Town[7] who were managed by his former Chelsea team-mate Peter Sillett.
Robertson died in Sutton, London on 26 June 1973, at the age of 44.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals Conc'd | Clean Sheets | Apps | Goals Conc'd | Clean Sheets | Apps | Goals Conc'd | Clean Sheets | Apps | Goals Conc'd | Clean Sheets | |||
| Chelsea | 1950–51 | First Division | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1951–52 | 41 | 72 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 83 | 8 | |||
| 1952–53 | 27 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 46 | 4 | |||
| 1953–54 | 34 | 55 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 55 | 6 | |||
| 1954–55 | 26 | 39 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 39 | 3 | |||
| 1955–56 | 34 | 61 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 65 | 9 | |||
| 1956–57 | 20 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 34 | 6 | |||
| 1957–58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1958–59 | 10 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 27 | 0 | |||
| 1959–60 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 199 | 337 | 33 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 215 | 356 | 38 | |||
| Leyton Orient | 1960–61 | Second Division | 15 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 18 | 2 | |
| 1961–62 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 12 | 8 | |||
| 1962–63 | First Division | 16 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 31 | 5 | ||
| Total | 47 | 56 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 61 | 15 | |||
| Career total | 246 | 393 | 47 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 266 | 417 | 53 | |||