George Chippendale Robson was born on 17 June 1908 in Shieldfield, a district of Newcastle upon Tyne. As a schoolboy growing up in the hotbed of soccer in the North-East, he played practically no football; in fact he did not take the game seriously until the 1924/25 season when he played for St. Peter's Albion in the Tyneside League.

 

In private life he was a lorry driver and chauffeur; in 1925 he signed professional forms for hometown side Newcastle United, but failed to make the breakthrough to the Magpies first team. On 5 May 1927, Robson departed Tyne and Wear for East London as understudy to Stanley Earle at West Ham United. James Loughlin and Harold Smith were also included as part of the same £650 fire sale fee.

 

The inside-right racked up 38 Combination appearances for the reserves and a year to the day after joining the Hammers he returned to St James’ Park to make his first team debut against his former club. It wasn’t a great reunion as the Geordies ran out 3-1 winners.

With Earle in excellent form

his first-team opportunities were limited, waiting until 15 December 1928 for his next appearance where his presence was felt with the third goal in a 3-3 draw with Sunderland. In the same month his goalscoring exploits were underlined when at Upton Park he scored five goals in a 13-2 Combination drubbing of Fulham.

 

Despite a pre-season hat-trick in a 6-0 win at the Het Houten Stadion ‘Wooden Stadium’ against Dutch side Ajax and a seasonal best appearance tally in the 1929/30 campaign were no enough to secure him regular first-team minutes. On 20 February 1931, with 18 appearances and two goals he departed for Third Division (South) side Brentford.

Throughout his time at Griffin Park he was a regular in the team, helping the club to the Third Division title in 1933 and contributed to the Bees’ elevation to the First Division for the first time in the club’s history after scored 10 goals in 27 games to secure the Second Division championship in 1935.

 

First Division football brought new signings which pushed Robson out of the starting eleven. In December 1935, after 131 appearances and scoring 34 goals he subsequently signed for Scottish First Division club Heart of Midlothian.

In May 1938 at Ibrox Park, he was a member of the Jam Tarts team that beat Brentford 3-1 in a friendly tournament to commemorate the Glasgow Empire Exhibition in which the best clubs of England and Scotland were invited to play for the Empire Exhibition Trophy, Celtic were the eventual winners beating Everton 1-0 in the final.

 

After making 163 appearances and scoring seven goals during his five years at Tynecastle Park his first team appearances was brought to an end in 1939 with the outbreak of Second World War

 

In retirement from playing he settled down in Scotland to become a member of Hammers' scouting staff north of the border, retiring from his position in 1971.