Perhaps not a household name in England or elsewhere outside Spain, Michael Robinson was, by his own admission, a journeyman player of somewhat limited talent. Nevertheless he nearly won the FA Cup in 1983 with Brighton (they drew 2-2 at Wembley against Man United, sometimes remembered as the "And Smith must score " game after Gordon Smith missed a sitter in the dying minutes with the scores level, they were spanked 4-0 in the replay) and was a squad member of the treble-winning Liverpool 83-84 team that won the European Cup. He also played at Man City and QPR, before ending his career at unfashionable Osasuna in Pamplona, Spain, who he joined with Sammy Lee. He was also capped 24 times for the Republic of Ireland.
Sadly he passed away today aged 61 after seemingly have won his fight against cancer.
He's much loved here, not so much for his 58 performances for Osasuna but more for his radio and TV career after retirement, which began in late 1989, a few months before I got here. He was a brilliant presenter and pundit, maybe my favourite ever, hilariously funny but also extremely interesting and on-point. In his first decade (well, all his media career really) his Spanish was best described as "original" with a strong English accent and loads of mistakes, but curiously it really endeared him to the Spanish public and he was an ever-present on TV and radio until the end. His last match as a co-commentator-pundit was the Liverpool-Atleti game at Anfield.
Us English football fans here took to him immediately, not only because he seemed to be "one of our own" but also because when our Spanish was crap we nevertheless understood him perfectly!
RIP Michael, you'll be hugely missed. Thanks for all the good times.
From Marca today...
Sadly he passed away today aged 61 after seemingly have won his fight against cancer.
He's much loved here, not so much for his 58 performances for Osasuna but more for his radio and TV career after retirement, which began in late 1989, a few months before I got here. He was a brilliant presenter and pundit, maybe my favourite ever, hilariously funny but also extremely interesting and on-point. In his first decade (well, all his media career really) his Spanish was best described as "original" with a strong English accent and loads of mistakes, but curiously it really endeared him to the Spanish public and he was an ever-present on TV and radio until the end. His last match as a co-commentator-pundit was the Liverpool-Atleti game at Anfield.
Us English football fans here took to him immediately, not only because he seemed to be "one of our own" but also because when our Spanish was crap we nevertheless understood him perfectly!
RIP Michael, you'll be hugely missed. Thanks for all the good times.
From Marca today...
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