Ted Robledo
Edward "Ted" Oliver Robledo[1] (26 July 1928 – 6 December 1970) was a Chilean professional football player. He played as a left-sided defender, and is most notable for his time spent with Newcastle United.[3] He was also part of Chile's squad for the 1955 South American Championship.[4]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Edward Oliver Robledo [1] | ||
Date of birth | 26 July 1928 | ||
Place of birth | Iquique, Chile | ||
Date of death | 6 December 1970 42) | (aged||
Place of death | Died at sea | ||
Position(s) | Wing half[2] | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1947–1949 | Barnsley | 5 | (0) |
1949–1953 | Newcastle United | 37 | (0) |
1953–1957 | Colo-Colo | ||
1957 | Notts County | 2 | (0) |
International career | |||
1954–1955 | Chile | 9 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Career
Robledo was born in Iquique, Chile to a Chilean father and an English mother. He emigrated with his family to Wath-on-Dearne, Yorkshire in 1932, at the age of four, due to the political instability in Chile at the time. The family lived at Barnsley Rd, West Melton, in the same house where the Anglo-French biographer David Bret was later raised.
Robledo started his footballing career at Barnsley with his brother George. First Division Newcastle United signed him on 27 January 1949. Newcastle were only interested in signing his brother, but neither of the Robledo brothers would move without the other. Their appearance together in the 1952 FA Cup Final was the first time more than one foreign player had appeared in a cup final team.
The majority of Robledo's appearances for the club came in the 1951–52 season. He played for Newcastle until the end of the 1952–53 season, when he was sold to Colo-Colo. He returned to England in 1957 for a brief spell with Notts County, making two appearances.[5][6]
At international level, he earned nine caps for Chile national team between 1954 and 1955.[7] After retiring from football, he served on an oil tanker where he died in mysterious circumstances in December 1970, at the age of 42. It was rumoured that he was thrown off the tanker and drowned. His body has never been found.[8] His brother George outlived him by nearly two decades, dying in April 1989 just before his 63rd birthday.[9]
Honours
References
- Williams, Richard (21 May 1999). "The story of the fabulous Robledo boys". The Independent. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
In the records of Chilean football they are listed as 'Jorge' and 'Eduardo', leading to the assumption that their names were anglicised after their arrival in Yorkshire. Not so, Walter [Robledo] says. They were indeed baptised in Chile, but by a Presbyterian minister who recorded their names as George Oliver Robledo and Edward Oliver Robledo.
- Edwards, Richard (19 August 2014). "Before Alexis Sanchez, how the trailblazing Robledos flew Chile's flag in England". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- "Eduard Robledo". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- "South American Championship 1955". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- Chappell, Mick (19 September 2013). "Blog: Foreign Legionnaires". Notts County Football Club. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- Ted Robledo at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- "Edward Robledo". PartidosdelaRoja.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- Williams, Richard (21 May 1999). "Football: The story of the fabulous Robledo boys". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
- "Newcastle United legend George Robledo on Lennon sketch". The Northern Echo. 31 December 2009.