Paul Robinson (goalkeeper)

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Paul William Robinson (born October 15, 1979 in Beverley) is a professional football player, and the current England international goalkeeper. His current club is Tottenham Hotspur.

He started his career at Leeds United, making 119 appearances for the club, having made his debut against Chelsea back in 1998 keeping a clean sheet. He transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in May 2004 for a fee of £1,500,000. As well as being a Tottenham first team regular, he is also an England international and was part of the Euro 2004 squad. He is currently considered England's "Number One", preferred to Manchester City goalkeeper David James.

In 2005-06, Robinson signed a seven year contract extension, showing his loyalty to the club, after turning down offers from Manchester United (which isn't surprising considering his allegiance to Leeds United). This contract will keep him at the club until 2012.

Notably Robinson scored a goal during his time at Leeds against Swindon Town in the 2003-04 season at the end of a dramatic League Cup game, which is incredibly rare for a goalkeeper. This goal forced the game into extra time, then penalties where Robinson added to his earlier heroics by saving two penalties in the shoot-out helping his team to victory. The goal was even voted one of the 100 greatest ever Leeds United goals. It was not always plain sailing for Robinson during this period however, as he was criticised by his former coach O'Leary for "putting too many goodies in his mouth" - a plain reference to his weight. Since Joining Spurs, Robinson has improved his physique considerably.

Robinson was one of the few Spurs squad members not to be struck down by food poisoning on the evening of 6 May 2006 before their crucial final game of the season against West Ham United. A win would have seen Spurs qualify for the Champions League for the first time ever, ahead of arch-rivals Arsenal. However, several players woke up the next morning feeling ill and Spurs tried to get the game postponed. They countered that the players needed extra time to get fluids and some food on board as they had not been able to eat until then. Due to a number of factors, a suitable time could not be agreed to reschedule the game. Additionally, the Premier League were not willing to rule out punishment if the game did not go ahead, so Spurs turned down the option of a minimal postponement of two hours and played the game on time with several key players clearly not match fit. Spurs went on to lose the game and surrendered 4th position in the league and a Champions League place to Arsenal. Conspiracy theories abound, but manager Martin Jol did not think dirty tricks had been going on.

On May 8, 2006 he was named in England's 2006 World Cup squad for the finals in Germany. As of 01 July 2006, Robinson has played for England 26 times. He was an ever present in England's 2006 World Cup campaign when it stopped in dramatic fashion, losing against Portugal 3-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Robinson managed to save only one of Portugal's penalties pushing Hugo Viana's shot onto the post.

Personal life

Robinson attended Beverley Grammar School in Beverley, East Yorkshire, England. At the height of his career while playing for Leeds United he moved to a luxury house in the famous village of Stamford Bridge. At this time his wife Rebecca helped out at the villages primary school because of her love for children even though she did not have a child herself.

Paul and Rebecca Robinson have a daughter named Lucy May and Boxer dogs named Tyson and Molly.

Clubs

Tottenham Hotspur (2004-)
Leeds United (1997-2004)

External links

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