Robbie Earle

This article is about the footballer. For other people, see Robert Earle (disambiguation).

Robbie Earle
MBE
Personal information
Full name Robert Fitzgerald Earle[1]
Date of birth (1965-01-27) 27 January 1965 (age 59)[1]
Place of birth Newcastle-under-Lyme, England[1]
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1981–1982 Stoke City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1991 Port Vale 294 (77)
1991–2000 Wimbledon 284 (59)
Total 578 (136)
International career
1997–1998 Jamaica 8 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965) is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals.

A former youth player with Stoke City, Earle broke into the professional game with Port Vale in 1982. He spent nine years at the Burslem based club, helping "The Vale" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83 and 1985–86, and out of the Third Division via the play-offs in 1989; he was later voted the club's PFA Fans' Favourites. He moved on to Wimbledon in 1991, where he also spent nine years. He made nearly 300 league games for each club, scoring 77 and 59 goals, respectively. He also represented Jamaica on 8 occasions between 1997 and 1998, scoring one international goal. He appeared in the 1998 World Cup, scoring his nation's first-ever goal in the finals.

Following his retirement in 2000, Earle has established himself in football journalism. He regularly appears in print, on the radio and television. He was dismissed from his punditry role with ITV in 2010 after he passed ITV World Cup tickets to a third party.[3] After spending time as television broadcast analyst for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, he is now a commentator for the Premier League on NBC Sports.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Kent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter (1987). Rothmans football yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0356143545. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. ^ Gibson, Owen (15 June 2010). "World Cup 2010: ITV sacks Robbie Earle for breaking ticket regulations". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 December 2017.