Dave Seddon’s Preston North End Press View: Michael Robinson held in great esteem across the world

Nostalgia has formed a big part of the media’s coverage of the game, together with trying to make some sort of sense of what might happen in the future when it is safe to resume sport.

Looking back has been fun, delving into the archives to bring to the modern eye some of North End’s history.

However, it was the saddest of happenings this week which took us go back to the 1970s at Deepdale.

Former PNE striker Michael Robinson passed away at the age of 61, far too soon.

Robinson had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma late in 2018, an illness he knew he would not recover from.

North End supporters knew him as Mick, the full use of his Christian name becoming commonplace as his career went on.

Those fans who saw him play in a Preston shirt also knew how good he was.

They voted him their player of the year at the end of the 1978/79 season after he had scored 14 goals in the Second Division – what is the Championship now.

I was fortunate to watch Robinson in action, to start with in the latter stages of the 1977/78 promotion campaign when he joined Alex Bruce and Mike Elwiss up front.

Then he stepped up to partner Bruce full time when Elwiss left for Crystal Palace.

What this week showed was the high regard Robinson was held in, both on these shores and in Spain.

He had made Spain his home for the last 20 years or so and was the most respected football pundit on television there.

Robinson for 15 years produced and presented a La Liga highlights show on a Monday night.

He had a genuine passion for the game and wasn’t shy at giving an opinion. It was all genuine, no faked outraged at a refereeing mistake just for the sake of the ratings.

Many years ago, I heard Robinson commentate. I was on holiday in Spain and there was an England game on television.

The commentary was in Spanish and you picked out the England players names, I remember ‘McManaman’ particularly standing out.

Every now and then, the main commentator would reference ‘Michael Robinson’ – Robbo was the co-commentator that night.

Spain held Robinson close to their hearts, the papers over there dedicating page after page in tribute to him on Wednesday morning.

He had changed the landscape of football coverage and they wanted to reflect that.

Robinson got his fair share of column inches in England, with North End, Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton and QPR all paying their respects.

At Liverpool he won the treble of league, European Cup and League Cup in 1984, some achievement. He was an FA Cup finalist at Brighton in 1983 and, had Seagulls team-mate Gordon Smith not missed a late one-on-one chance, Robinson would have had a winners medal.

The chance went begging, the final went to a replay and Manchester United beat the club from the South Coast.

It all started for him at Deepdale, though, after being spotted playing locally.

Born in Leicester, Robinson was brought up in Blackpool where his parents ran a guest house.

Bobby Charlton was the PNE manager who signed him. Charlton resigned his post before getting the chance to play Robinson – it was Harry Catterick who gave him his Preston debut.

Chances were few and far between though, Catterick not a manager Robinson got on with.

Nobby Stiles had coached Robinson in the reserves and gave him a regular run when he replaced Catterick in 1977. As had been the case throughout the 1970s when PNE had a young talent on their books, inevitably Robinson was sold.

It wasn’t on the cheap though, North End getting £756,000 from Manchester City for him.

City reportedly started the bidding at £350,000 and kept on increasing their offer when PNE said no.

North End eventually accepted £650,000 on the condition City also paid the VAT on the deal.

Robinson wasn’t at Deepdale a great length of time in terms of playing in the first team but he got his grounding with PNE.

His 14 goals in the 1978/79 season helped North End to finish in seventh place.

Robinson has gone too soon and football has rightly remembered him for the talent he was on and off 
the pitch.