Long before Erling Haaland, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona, there was George Robledo, the first overseas star of English football. Abandoned by his father as a child in Chile, Robledo came to the UK, where he was raised in a Yorkshire mining village, serving underground as a ‘Bevin Boy’ during the Second World War prior to making his name with Barnsley. During the 1951–52 season, his thirty-three goals for Newcastle United in what is now the Premier League were the most goals scored in a single season by an overseas registered, foreign-born player, a record that has stood unbroken for over seventy years – despite what the record books might say.
Despite all that, and playing in the World Cup, FA Cup final. His biggest achievement was winning the Montagu Cup. Still a cup going strong today.
