Robbie Earle

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For the host of G.E. College Bowl, see Robert Earle.

Robbie Earle MBE
Personal information
Full name	Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE
Date of birth	January 27, 1965 (age 41)
Place of birth	Newcastle-under-Lyme, England
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1982-1991 1991-2000	Port Vale Wimbledon	294 (77) 284 (59)
National team
1997-2000	Jamaica
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Robert Fitzgerald "Robbie" Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965 in Newcastle-under-Lyme) is a former professional footballer who played approximately 600 games in senior club football, scoring around 150 goals. Earle was the scorer of Jamaica's first ever World Cup goal, against Croatia, in their debut World Cup campaign in 1998. He currently works in television as a commentator and pundit for ITV.

An attacking midfielder, Earle was originally a junior player at Stoke City before moving to local rivals Port Vale, where he turned professional in 1982. He played 343 times for the Valiants and scored 90 goals. In July 1991 he was transferred to Wimbledon for a fee of £775,000. Robbie played an important part in the South London club's success during the nineties, and in particular, the club's notorious 'Crazy gang' mentality which fostered team spirit and initimidated opposing players.

During a reserve team game for Wimbledon in 2000, Robbie sustained a heavy blow to the stomach and became seriously ill with a ruptured pancreas. At the age of 35 he was forced to give up playing. His retirement coincided with the end of the 'Crazy gang' and the beginning of the demise of Wimbledon Football Club.

Since his retirement, Robbie has moved into sports journalism and has worked for Capital Radio, BBC Radio 5, BBC TV, ITV, Sky Sports and OnDigital. He has also written columns for the London Evening Standard and recently for the Stoke-on-Trent Evening Sentinel.

Robbie Earle was awarded an MBE in 1999 for his services to football. He is also an Honorary Patron for the campaign against racism, 'Show Racism the Red Card' and has appeared in television commercials promoting blood donation.

In 2005, he took part on BBC's Strictly African Dancing as part of Africa Lives season. He scored 33 and won the competition.

[edit] External links

• Robbie Earle at the Internet Movie Database
• Robbie Earle career stats at Soccerbase
• Robbie Earle at itv.com

	Jamaica squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Barrett | 2 Malcolm | 3 Dawes | 4 Dixon | 5 Goodison | 6 Simpson | 7 Cargill | 8 Gayle | 9 Williams | 10 Boyd | 11 Whitmore | 12 Sewell | 13 Lawrence | 14 Ricketts | 15 Gardner | 16 Earle | 17 Lowe | 18 Burton | 19 Sinclair | 20 Powell | 21 Brown | 22 Hall | Coach: Simões