Robbie Simpson

Robbie Simpson

Personal information
Full name	Robbie Simpson[1]
Date of birth	15 March 1985
Place of birth	Poole, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Exeter City
Youth career
1995–2002	Norwich City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2006	Cambridge City	119	(33)
2006–2007	Cambridge United	32	(17)
2007–2009	Coventry City	61	(4)
2009–2012	Huddersfield Town	13	(0)
2010–2011	→ Brentford (loan)	27	(4)
2011	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	14	(3)
2012	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	2	(0)
2012–2013	Oldham Athletic	50	(5)
2013–2014	Leyton Orient	14	(0)
2014–2016	Cambridge United	67	(12)
2016-	Exeter City	1	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:00, 13 June 2016 (BST).

Robbie Simpson (born 15 March 1985 in Poole, Dorset) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Exeter City in League Two.

Playing career

Norwich City

Simpson began his footballing career with Norwich City at the age of nine where he spent six years on schoolboy terms. He was signed by Jez George, then head of youth development and Cambridge City following his release by Norwich.

Cambridge City

Simpson went to Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City until he was 16. Whilst playing for Cambridge City, Simpson obtained good A-levels, and decided to follow this by studying for a degree in Sports Science and Mathematics at Loughborough University (graduating in 2007) whilst remaining tied to the club though coaching in their 'Youth in the Community' scheme. Robbie won the British Universities Sport Association trophy all three years when he was there playing for the student team, now Loughborough University F.C..^[2][3]

Simpson made his first team debut for Cambridge City in October 2002. He made 154 appearances and scored 42 goals over five seasons with the lilywhites.

When City offered him terms of re-engagement at the end of 2005/06, it was discovered that his original contract had been secretly amended in February 2006 by Jez George. The effect was to allow Simpson and two other players (Josh Simpson and Michael Gash) a free transfer at the end of the season, instead of the usual position where City would have been entitled to a fee under the Bosman ruling requirements for players under the age of 24. The contract amendments were discovered by new Directors (from the Cambridge City Supporters Trust) who had taken over after George and other Directors resigned amidst wider accusations of financial impropriety, which were later to lead to a High Court case.^[4] George subsequently moved to Cambridge United and City received no compensation for the three players.

Cambridge United

Simpson signed for Cambridge United in June 2006.^[5] Despite an inauspicious start to his United career, hampered by studying full-time in Loughborough and a knee injury, he eventually became a fans' favourite due to his all-action style and goal scoring ability. By the end of the 2006–07 season he had 17 goals from 33 appearances, 15 of which came in the second half of the season.^[6] The end of the season saw Simpson win a multitude of club awards, including the Supporters' Player of the Year, Cambridge Evening News Player of the Year and official website goal of the season.^[7] Although Cambridge offered Simpson a new contract at the end of the season, this was turned down amid interest from a number of larger clubs.^[8]

Coventry City

Simpson joined Coventry City at the start of the 2007–08 season along with a host of other new players for the Sky Blues, and was immediately touted as a future star by manager Iain Dowie.^[9]

Simpson scored five minutes into his competitive debut for the club in a League Cup tie against Notts County on 14 August 2007. Ex-Coventry assistant manager Tim Flowers praised the youngster's performance, describing his acquisition from Cambridge as "a bargain" and tipping him to be a success at the club.^[10]

Huddersfield Town

On 18 June 2009, after intensive speculation, Simpson joined League One side Huddersfield Town for a fee believed to be around £300,000 on a three-year deal. He made his debut in the 2–2 draw against Southend United at Roots Hall on 8 August 2009. On 1 September 2009, he scored his first goal for the Terriers, the second goal in Town's 2–1 win over Rotherham United in the Football League Trophy.^[11] Most of Simpson's first season with the Terriers was disrupted by injury.

Simpson joined Brentford on loan for the entire 2010–11 season on 6 August 2010, making 18 starts, scoring 8 goals.

After being isolated from the Huddersfield squad at the start of the following season, Simpson joined Oldham Athletic on 10 September 2011.

Oldham Athletic

Simpson made his debut for the club coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half against Stevenage.^[12] Simpson scored his first goal for the club on his 13th appearance, with a free kick that was fumbled by the Burton Albion goalkeeper in a 3–1 win for the Latics in the first round of the FA Cup.^[13] Simpson scored a hat-trick the following game in a League One game against Chesterfield in a 5–2 win for the Latics.^[14] His loan ended on 12 December, but Huddersfield allowed him to stay there in a training capacity.

Simpson signed with Oldham Athletic on loan with a view to a permanent move. He signed just in time to play against Chesterfield in a 1–1 draw, Matt Smith scoring the equaliser.^[15] Simpson's permanent move was pretty much completed in the same week, Simpson himself stating that he is close to completing the move on Twitter, as well as Paul Dickov and Lee Clark both stating that the permanent deal was near completion.^[15] On 6 January 2012, Simpson scored a spectacular volleyed strike from 25 yards against Premier League Liverpool in an FA Cup 3rd Round encounter. The lead lasted just 67 seconds before Jonjo Shelvey's shot deflected off of Craig Bellamy and into the net. Liverpool went on to win the game 5–1.

Oldham Athletic

On 30 January 2012, Simpson joined the club on a permanent deal until the end of the season.^[16] At the end of the 2012–13 season, Simpson was released by the club along with 4 other players.^[17]

Leyton Orient

On 11 November 2013, Simpson joined League One club Leyton Orient on a two-month deal.^[18] His contract was extended to the end of the season, but he was unable to score during his time at the club. At the end of the season, after appearing on the bench for the 2014 Football League One play-off Final, he was released by Orient along with four other players.^[19]

Cambridge United

On 9 June 2014, Simpson re-joined newly promoted League Two side Cambridge United on a two-year deal.^[20] Simpson left Cambridge United by mutual consent at the end of the 2015-16 season.^[21]

Exeter City

On 25 May 2016 Simpson signed with League Two club Exeter City.^[22]

Career statistics

As of match played 19 April 2016

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other[lower-alpha 1]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cambridge City	2001–02[23]	Southern League Premier	0	0	0	0	−		1[lower-alpha 2]	0	1	0
	2002–03[24]	Southern League Premier	22	8	0	0	−		4[lower-alpha 3]	1	26	9
	2003–04[25]	Southern League Premier	35	6	3	1	−		8[lower-alpha 4]	1	46	8
	2004–05[26]	Conference South	23	8	5	1	−		6[lower-alpha 5]	4	34	13
	2005–06[27]	Conference South	39	11	4	0	−		4[lower-alpha 6]	1	47	12
	Total		119	33	12	2	0	0	23	7	154	42
Cambridge United	2006–07[28]	Conference National	32	17	0	0	−		0	0	32	17
	Total		32	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	17
Coventry City	2007–08[29]	Championship	28	1	2	0	4	1	0	0	34	2
	2008–09[30]	Championship	33	3	2	0	2	2	0	0	37	5
	Total		61	4	4	0	6	3	0	0	71	7
Huddersfield Town	2009–10[31]	League One	13	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	16	1
	2010–11[32]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011–12[33]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		13	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	16	1
Brentford (loan)	2010–11[32]	League One	27	4	2	0	3	2	4	2	36	8
Oldham Athletic (loan)	2011–12[33]	League One	16	3	3	2	0	0	4	1	23	6
Oldham Athletic	2011–12[33]	League One	13	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	3
	2012–13[34]	League One	37	2	5	2	1	0	1	0	44	4
	Total		50	5	5	2	1	0	1	0	57	7
Leyton Orient	2013–14[35]	League One	14	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	16	0
	Total		14	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	16	0
Cambridge United	2014–15[36]	League Two	35	8	4	1	1	0	1	0	41	9
	2015–16[37]	League Two	32	4	2	0	1	0	1	0	36	4
	Total		67	12	5	1	2	0	2	0	76	13
Exeter City	2016–17	League Two	14	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		14	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			413	79	33	7	14	5	36	11	496	102

1. Includes Football League Trophy matches.
2. 1 FA Trophy match.
3. Includes 1 Southern League Cup, 1 FA Trophy and 2 Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup matches.
4. Includes 5 Southern League Cup, 2 FA Trophy and 1 Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup match.
5. Includes 5 FA Trophy matches and 1 Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup match.
6. 4 Football League Trophy matches.

References

1. "List of Temporary Transfers of Players under Written Contract Between 01/09/2011 and 30/09/2011" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
2. In Focus – Robbie Simpson cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2007
3. "Football » Robbie Simpson (2000-2003)". loughboroughsport.com. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
4. "Cambridge". Cambridge News. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
5. "Cambridge City trio join United". BBC Sport. 2 June 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
6. Cambridge United fixtures: 2006–07 cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2007
7. Cambridge United v. Tamworth Match Report | 28/04/2006 cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2007
8. "Cambridge offer Simpson new deal". BBC Sport. 13 May 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
9. "Simpson 'can be a City star'". IC Coventry. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
10. "Strike It Rich". ccfc.co.uk. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
11. "Rotherham 1–2 Huddersfield". BBC Sport. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
12. Archived 18 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
13. "Oldham Athletic - News - News Update - News Update - LUCKY THIRTEEN". oldhamathletic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
14. "Oldham Athletic - Match - Report - 19 November 2011, Oldham 5 - 2 Chesterfield". oldhamathletic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
15. "Oldham Athletic - News - News Update - News Update - MONEY CAN'T BUY HAPPINESS - SIMPSON". oldhamathletic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
16. "Oldham Athletic - News - News Update - News Update - SIMPSON SIGNS". oldhamathletic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
17. "Latics' retained list". oldhamathletic.co.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
18. "Robbie Simpson: Leyton Orient sign ex-Oldham forward". BBC Sport. 11 November 2013.
19. "Jamie Jones: Leyton Orient offer goalkeeper new contract". BBC Sport. 30 May 2014.
20. "Robbie Simpson signs two year deal".
21. "Cambridge United announce retain/release list". Cambridge United FC. 9 May 2016.
22. "Exeter City sign Lloyd James and Robbie Simpson". BBC Sport. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
23. "Appearances & Goalscorers 2001-02". Cambridge City Football Club. 13 June 2016.
24. "Appearances & Goalscorers 2002-03". Cambridge City Football Club. 13 June 2016.
25. "Appearances & Goalscorers 2003-04". Cambridge City Football Club. 13 June 2016.
26. "Appearances & Goalscorers 2004-05". Cambridge City Football Club. 13 June 2016.
27. "Appearances & Goalscorers 2005-06". Cambridge City Football Club. 13 June 2016.
28. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
29. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
30. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
31. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
32. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
33. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
34. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
35. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
36. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
37. "Games played by Robbie Simpson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2016.

External links

• Robbie Simpson career statistics at Soccerbase
• Robbie Simpson career statistics at Soccerbase