My Dad turns 80 this week. Not old enough to see him play, but he reckons he was better than Glavin, Higgy, etc. Good enough for me. I guess as an "immigrant, that he got some **** at first, till he showed everyone how the game was played.
My old man, rest his soul, used to say the same. Decent article here:- http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-the-story-of-the-fabulous-robledo-boys-1094964.html
He should really have played for Wolves. At the rear of his house on Barnsley Road, West Melton was the ground of Wath Wanderers, a feeder team for Wolves and where several of their best players of the 1950s came from, which was the best period for that club. How he didn't end up playing for them is a mystery really.
Used to keep my autograph book and collect opposition players autograph s for me. Kept in touch within when he went to Newcastle and then when he went back to Chile. Still have correspondence, pennants etc he sent me. Great player and a really nice man. Only 65 when he died of a heart attack.
When he was at Newcastle they went on a pre season tour of Canada and the USA. I still have a letter he sent me on the Queen Mary letterheading (no quick flights in those days!) saying he would look out for stuff for me while over there. Sure enough, shortly after their return, a large envelope came through our letterbox containing all the programmes from matches they had played. Special memories of a great player and a real gentleman.
That's a great story. My parents were big fans of his and always talked about him. I understand that his brother became a sailor when he retired and was lost overboard from an oil tanker, his body never being recovered. Did you ever meet him?
Re: My dad saw him play I also saw him play and always found him particularly memorable. There was something exotic about him with his shiny jet black hair and golden tanned skin. A powerful dashing figure always headed for goal. So it is a rare pleasure to learn from the above posts what a very special gentleman he was. So thank you very much for sharing your memories of him.
Reading that article surely begs the question when is Spielberg pencilled in to direct the film? Looks a sure fire winner to me Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
My Dad died in 1987 and I can remember him talking about Robledo. He said he was fantastic. He also talked about his brother falling off the ship as mentioned elsewhere in this thread.
I only saw King Ronnie and he was truly something to behold. However my dad saw both and thought they were brilliant footballers but his vote went to Johnny Kelly who he said was the most entertaining and complete footballer he had ever seen
