Bill Robson (1931 – 2019)

It is with deep sadness that we report the death of Billy Robson, a Reds hero throughout the fifties, who passed away on Wednesday. He was 87.

A tenacious inside forward who was a prolific scorer, Billy became a Workington player during our final season in the North Eastern League (50-51) and continued representing the club throughout our first eight seasons in the Football League.

He became a Carlisle United player after nine seasons at Borough Park although he often claimed it was a reluctant move to the north of the county.

Then, after a distinguished Football League career, he switched to non-league Netherfield where he guided the Kendal club to title success in the Lancashire Combination during a very successful spell as player-manager.

His playing days ended back in Whitehaven with the Haig Colliery team. In recent years, he supported Whitehaven Amateurs where he was heavily involved with his son and grandson.

The highlight of his Workington career was playing against Manchester United in front of 21,000 fans at Borough Park in 1958 but, other than that, he often recalled some wonderful stories of his time with the club.

He scored 60 goals in 141 competitive matches for the first team including football League hat-tricks against Mansfield Town, Darlington and Gateshead. In addition, Billy netted five hat-tricks playing for the Reserves in the North Eastern League including one four goal blast v. Consett in a tally of 72.

Just two months ago, Billy attended the Legends day at Borough Park and actually made it on to pitch for one last time.

We send our condolences to the Robson family.