Hugh Robertson (footballer)

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Hugh Robertson
Name: Hugh Robertson
Nickname:
”Hugh The Hammer”,“Hugh the man”
Shugy
Date of birth: 19 March 1975
Place of birth: Aberdeen
Nationality: Scottish
Height: 5'9" (175cm)
Current Club:
Position: Left Midfielder/Left Defender
Professional Clubs*
Time Club Apps (Goals)
2001- Aberdeen 16 (6)
1997-2001 Dundee 27 (10)
1998 Brechin City (loan) 5 (2)
1998 Inverness CT (loan) 12 (0)
2000-2001 Ayr United (loan) 8 (0)
2001-2004 Ross County (loan) 100 (3)
2004-2006 Hartlepool United 36 (3)
2006- Ross County 20 (1)
* Professional club caps and goals
counted for the domestic league only
and correct as of 9 December 2005.

Hugh Scott Robertson (born 19 March 1975 in Aberdeen) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a left sided defender for Ross County in the Scottish League First Division. He also has a reputation for taking powerful free kicks.

Contents

[edit] Early Career

Robertson started his career playing for the junior football team, Lewis United. His performances caught the eye of Aberdeen who signed him in 1993. While at Aberdeen, Shugy made 22 Premier appearances, scoring twice. However, he never quite established himself as a first team regular and he was sold to Dundee in January 1997.

He started brightly for Dundee and played in 15 of the team’s remaining fixtures. However, he failed to figure in Dundee’s following promotion season, which was partly due to a family bereavement. His lack of first team football saw manager John McCormack loan him to Brechin City and Inverness. It looked as though Robertson was heading out of the club until he was surprisingly recalled to the side for the December win at Tynecastle. This saw Robertson rediscover his form and Robertson become a regular for the remainder of the season 1998/99 season. However in 2000, Hugh Robertson once again gradually found his first team opportunities limited and he spent two months on loan to Ayr United before he was signed by Neale Cooper for Ross County in February 2001.

[edit] Hartlepool United

Hugh Robertson formed a strong relationship with manager Neale Cooper and he found himself playing regular football for the next three years. At Ross County Robertson played over league 100 games, scoring 12 goals. He was played in a number of positions and he even found himself playing up front for a short period of time. Despite his popularity amongst the Ross County fans, Hugh Robertson decided to follow his former manager Neale Cooper and signed for Hartlepool United in January 2004.

Hugh Robertson made his Hartlepool debut against Barnsley and initially seemed to lack pace and stamina during his first few games at Hartlepool and the fans were unsure of whether he’d be a success. However, Robertson won the fans over in a memorable performance against Blackpool. This match saw Hugh Robertson take a several free kicks that were inches away from going in. As the match entered its final quarter Robertson stepped up and took another free kick and scored. However, the goal was disallowed as the referee had deemed it to have been taken too early. Not to be deterred, Robertson retook the free kick and scored, placing the ball in almost an identical position. Robertson continued scoring from free kicks and long distances and this earned him cult status amongst the Hartlepool fans who began calling him “Hugh the Hammer”. Robertson scored yet another memorable long distance goal, this time against Luton. As the ball spun towards him from open play, Robertson smashed the ball into the back the of the net. Robertson hit the ball so powerfully that it gave the keeper little time to react and by the time he had dived the ball was already in the net. This goal earned him the 2004 Hartlepool United Goal of the Season award and it is widely regarded as one of the best Hartlepool goals of the club’s history. In his first season at the club Robertson scored 4 goals despite only arriving towards the end. All of these goals bar one were from outside the box. Despite his record from free kicks Robertson claimed that he has never practiced free kicks.

Robertson started the 2004/5 in much the same fashion and scored another free kick against Bradford City on the opening day. However, Robertson’s season was cut short after a niggling foot/ankle injury required surgery and kept him out for the majority of the season. The following season saw Robertson finally regain fitness and he appeared in the match against Bournemouth.

[edit] Return To Scotland

However, Robertson suffered from the same recurring injury and was once again injured. He was released from Hartlepool shortly after, and in August 2006 rejoined his former club Ross County.
In the summer of 2007 Robertson was given a 1 year contract extension with Ross County after impressing in the 2006 season.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ County youth chief knows value of experience', Ross-Shire Journal, 25 May 2007.