After I head into my third year in non league football now, I have an analogy I’ve grown to use to describe the stadiums we go to. (Now we’re at the third level of the pyramid they are a bit grander, for reference, one level above North Ferriby, same as say… Gainsborough Trinity) They fall into to just two categories, loved and unloved. Sure, some have some quirky stands, some interesting bars and dugouts, but it really doesn’t matter if you know the community love the ground, its had a lick of paint and it has heart.
My point extends to football ownership, you either love the club or you don’t. Sheffield Wednesday (cough cough) have just escaped one that didn’t, and we’ve had several as you all know and could name infinitely. One of which isn’t Don Robinson, because Don loved this club and everything that came with it. You don’t get perfect grounds, and you don’t get perfect owners, but you do get ones you love, and we loved Don.
I read yesterday a superb piece by the super talented Richard Gardham on Don, which I’ve linked here. https://www.hcss.org.uk/don-robinson-an-obituary/ like most things on writing about City, I’m in awe of how brilliantly he puts it, so subsequently, yesterday I did consider just bookmarking a piece on Don for another day, however I decided today, that as much as I don’t feel I can match something so well put, I owe it to my ten year old self to pay tribute to the great man.
When City had gone into administration in early 1982, we as family had just moved nearer Hull after many years away so my Dad, my cousin and I were able to attend more regularly. Don coming in almost magically, matched that period and City transformed from years in the shadows to a time of great hope and optimism almost instantaneously. We had the makings of a decent team, despite being in the lowest division (Norman, Marwood, Mutrie, Roberts, Whitehurst) and by the time our first full season under Chairman Robinson rolled around there was a fair buzz in the City. He brought in old friend and colleague Colin Appleton and City were on a pretty smooth path to promotion in 1982-83. But it was the other things that captured the imagination.
The launch of “Tiger cola”, the Florida trip, the record release, the pre-match entertainment that took as much from Don’s background in wrestling as it did football. City was an infinitely fun place to be in an era when there was a whole lot less entertainment to be accessed. I remember them throwing out sweets before the game, the Charlie Chaplin impersonator, and of course Don himself on horse… brilliant, delightfully crackers and utterly infectious.
It made a difference, despite a time when we really were in the shadow of that other sport, attendances began to rise, coming out of the doldrums of three and four thousand and more than doubling generally, with us even getting five figures for bigger matches, which in the old stadium was no mean feat. Don was the epicenter of everything, available to the press, to the fans and to his players, he was essentially the ringmaster at the circus, and everything that brought life into the club ran through him.
1983-84 would be so so close to back to back promotions, and the goals scored travesty that hurt the fans and players so much could have derailed the club but Don then hit upon possibly his best ever decision. With a disconsolate Colin Appleton leaving for Swansea, Don put his faith in the young player Brian Horton and gave him his first job as a manager in football. It was a marriage made in heaven. With Brian’s more positive style of play, and modern approach to the game, added to some clever signings, we were utterly irrepressible and the 1984-85 season was frankly a joy to watch.
We had style, we had goals, we had steel at the back and we were backed by a loyal and noisy fanbase that were united in their love of the club again. Don brought that back, when it had completely gone, and when Colin Appleton had left, he found someone who he knew matched the ambitions of the club. Lots of the pictures doing the rounds in the last few days were of Don celebrating with the fans on the last home game, after promotion to the second level was achieved, in many ways it was his finest hour.
By the late eighties Don had grown frustrated with the club, despite being a mainstay in the second level, in some ways this was a side-effect of his drive to do better. It’s a well known story that he sacked and then desperately tried to unsack Brian Horton following a 4-1 home loss to Swindon, but it was too late. Brian stood by his values and in truth it was never really the same again. After we’d had three more significantly less effective owners, it said a lot about Don, that he tried to return in the late nineties and save us from David Lloyd, it didn’t work out that time, but if it had, we’d have certainly moved forward more quickly than we did.
I think the overall message of this piece is, if you’re anywhere between your late forties onwards, you know what Don did for the club, and I keep getting the same thought in my mind since yesterday. If the promotion celebrations of 1985 was indeed his finest hour, then perhaps the play off final of 2008 was his utter validation. Because so many of the people in that sold out crowd that day, were there because Don Robinson invited them to dream the impossible and will it into being possible. Don was the godfather of the dream, the dream then came true.
He was a force of nature you don’t see in the modern day, a showman and a salesman, but ultimately a fan who just wanted to make those around him love life as much as he did. I love the quote about playing on the moon so much, it summed him up perfectly, anything was possible and indeed probable whilst Don Robinson ran this football club, and honestly? You did it Don, you really did it… City really did play on the moon, we went further than anyone could have dreamed before you dreamed it. Your will power, vision and character enabled it to happen…
Rest in peace my friend.
UTT.