Burnley Memorabilia And Programmes

Name : Robert Blake

D.O.B. : 4th March 1976

Previous Clubs : Darlington, Bradford, Nottingham Forest, Burnley, Birmingham, Leeds, Burnley

Position:  Forward

Contract : Signed a 3 year deal in July 2007 (second spell)

Fee: £250,000 (Second spell) 

Robbie was re signed for Burnley by Steve Cotterill in July 2007 from Leeds almost 2 1/2 years after leaving us for then Premiership team Birmingham for a fee of £1,500,000. Although not quite the player we had in his first spell Robbie remains a mercurial talent and at this level of football still exhibits skills a cut above the norm.

His first spell with us started under Stan Ternent in January 2002 as we pushed for a spot in the play-offs. In the short term it proved to be a poor move with Robbie arriving at less than 100% and troubled it seems by a stomach injury. His second season was far more productive although by this point the ITV'd disaster was biting hard at Burnley. We had little money to improve the team but Robbie quickly became a terrace favourite with his outstanding skill, scoring 16 goals. Next season proved even more fruitful with a tally of 22. In his last season during this stay he started amazingly well. Playing as a loan striker he was without doubt the outstanding player in the division and this caught the attention of his old mentor Paul Jewell who tried to entice him to Wigan. Burnley though resisted the advances and the situation appeared to be heading towards an unsavoury end with Robbie roundly booed as we played Wigan over the 2004/05 Christmas period.

The situation was resolved as Birmingham stepped in with a bid and a deal was quickly completed.

Though some fans still feel betrayed, this one was delighted when he returned. No player in recent times has come close to Robbie for football ability.

Second Spell

For full career stats see Soccerbase.com