| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Barclay | ||
| Date of birth | 27 October 1906 | ||
| Place of birth | Scotswood, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 July 1969 (aged 62) | ||
| Playing position | Inside Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Scotswood United Church | |||
| – | Bell's Close Amateurs | ||
| – | Allendale | ||
| – | Scotswood | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1928-1930 | Derby County | 61 | (23) |
| 1932-1936 | Sheffield United | 231 | (67) |
| 1937-1939 | Huddersfield Town | 74 | (19) |
| Total | 366 | (109) | |
| National team | |||
| 1932-1936 | England | 3 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Robert "Bobby" Barclay (27 October 1906 – 13 July 1969) was an English Footballer who played in the position of Inside Forward.
Barclay was born in Scotswood, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and started his career with amateur clubs; Scotswood United Church F.C., Bell's Close Amateurs F.C., Allendale F.C. and Scotswood F.C. before signing for Derby County in 1928. Barclay was a protégé of George Jobey at Derby. He spent two seasons with The Rams scoring 23 league goals from 61 games.
In 1931 he signed for Sheffield United for £3,500. He was cool and methodical in his play, very clever, and was bought to lend inspiration to Jimmy Dunne in attack, although he also provided plenty of openings for the other attacking team-mates (like inside-forward Jack Pickering), and it was no surprise when he was handed his first of 3 England international caps [1] in 1932 against Scotland on 9 April 1932 aged 25 years. He scored on his debut.
Barclay scored 67 league goals for The Blades in 231 starts, although it has been said on numerous occasions that he given his apparent unselfishness in front of goal, he should have scored many more.
He was part of Sheffield United’s FA Cup Final side which lost to Arsenal 0-1 on 25 April 1936. He joined Huddersfield Town in the same year and scoring 19 goals from 74 league appearances.