GULLACTICO
Tony McHale
Tony looks back at one of TUFC’s greatest players
ROBIN STUBBS
Robin Stubbs was born in Birmingham on 22 April 1941.
He joined Birmingham City as a teenager in 1958 and on August 1st 1963 aged 22 he signed for Torquay United. The transfer fee was £6,000 a record for the Club. In an interview with Official TUFC TV on his 80th Birthday on 22 April 2021 Robin disclosed that he signed his contract at the Palm Court Hotel and he just loved Torquay.
In his first season Stubbs scored 24 goals and in 1964/65 he managed 39 League and Cup goals. He linked up very well with Tommy Northcott with whom he had a great rapport.
On 9th January 1965 United hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the F A Cup before a crowd of 20,000. Every player in the Spurs team was a full international and Jimmy Greaves was in his prime.
I was in the Babbacombe End and Robin scored 2 late goals, both deflected, to earn United a 3-3 draw and a lucrative replay at White Hart Lane.
The following week I was on TV filmed boarding the train for London in my Yellow and blue top hat only to discover when 5 minutes from the ground that a cloudburst had made the pitch unplayable and the match was Postponed.
On 19th January we lost the replay 5-1 but Robin scored the goal of the game to make it 1-1. Jimmy Greaves scored a hat trick!
Stubbs was a goal machine and scored 133 goals in 263 appearances. In one game I witnessed him score 5 goals when we beat Newport County 8-3 on 19th October 1963.
In the Summer of 1969 Robin signed for Bristol Rovers and scored 32 goals in 93 appearances before returning to Torquay United in November 1972 and then retiring on 1st July 1974 due to recurring injuries.
In January 2020 the Board of Torquay United Appointed Robin Stubbs as a Honorary Life President.
In his prime Robin was a superb striker with terrific pace and a real hunger to score goals. Thanks for the memories Robin.
COYY – Tony
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Great review. Not only a class footballer, also a really nice guy to meet.
Sent from Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg
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Thank you Chispee. Your comment is much appreciated.
If you have not seen the TUFC Official TV Interview with Robin and his Son Ben it is well worth a watch.
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