Robin Friday

Not to be confused with Robin Fryday.

Robin Friday
Friday, photographed at Elm Park, Reading in 1974
Personal information
Full name Robin Friday
Date of birth (1952-07-27)27 July 1952
Place of birth Acton, London, England
Date of death 22 December 1990(1990-12-22) (aged 38)
Place of death Acton, London, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1965–1966 Queens Park Rangers
1966–1967 Chelsea
1968–1969 Reading
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971 Walthamstow Avenue 0 (0)
1971–1973 Hayes 67 (39)
1973 Enfield 3 (1)
1973–1974 Hayes
1974–1976 Reading 121 (46)
1976–1977 Cardiff City 21 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robin Friday (27 July 1952 – 22 December 1990) was an English footballer who played professionally as a forward for Reading and Cardiff City during a career that lasted four years in the mid-1970s.[n 1] His on-field performances were regarded as excellent, and he won Reading's player of the year award in both of his full seasons there, as well as being the leading goal scorer. However, his habit of unsettling opponents through physical intimidation contributed to a heavily tarnished disciplinary record, and his personal life was one of heavy smoking, drinking, womanising and drug abuse. Despite his short career, he remains prominent in the memory of Reading and Cardiff supporters, both as a player and a personality. He has been voted Reading's best ever player three times. He entered the Reading FC ‘Hall of Fame’ in 2022.

Born and raised in Acton, West London, Friday was scouted, but not retained, by four professional clubs during his teenage years. He appeared for local semi-professional sides in the Isthmian League until he joined Charlie Hurley's Fourth Division Reading team in 1974; quickly becoming a key player, he helped Reading to win promotion to the Third Division during the 1975–76 season. As his drug habit intensified, Friday's form began to dip in the first half of the 1976–77 season, leading Reading to sell him to Second Division side Cardiff City around the New Year. Friday travelled to join his new team by train without a valid ticket and had to be bailed by the Cardiff manager Jimmy Andrews before he signed for the club. He performed strongly on his debut, but afterwards his form declined and his personal life caused him to repeatedly miss matches altogether. Following a number of incidents, on and off the field—including kicking Mark Lawrenson in the face mid-game[n 2]—Friday retired from football in December 1977, aged 25. He died in Acton in 1990, aged 38, after suffering a heart attack.

The strongest aspects of Friday's game were his ball skills, footballing intelligence and physical and mental strength. Andrews labelled Friday "the complete centre-forward",[12] and, along with numerous contemporaries, retrospectively rated Friday as good enough for the England national team. In a 2004 BBC poll, Friday was voted the top "all-time cult hero" for both Reading and Cardiff City. The Cardiff-based band Super Furry Animals dedicated their 1996 single "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" to his memory. Author, Stuart Kane penned two fact-based novels titled "Man Friday: The First Half" and "Man Friday: The Second Half" about Friday's life on and off the pitch.

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