James Robinson (footballer, born 1982)

James Robinson (born 18 September 1982) is a retired former professional footballer. His is currently a football manager, and held the position of head manager at National Premier Leagues Victoria side Ballarat Red Devils from 2014-15.

Club career

England and Iceland

Born in Liverpool, Robinson joined English team Crewe Alexandra in 1990 at the age of eight, and made his first team debut with the club in 2002, making 15 first team appearances, scoring once against Ipswich Town. He left Crewe Alexandra by mutual consent in 2005 with a year remaining on his contract. Robinson signed for Icelandic club ÍBV ahead of the 2005 season along with fellow former Crewe player Matthew Platt. Upon his return to England later that year, he signed for Football Conference side Accrington Stanley but failed to make a first-team appearance for the club. In November 2005 he joined Altrincham, where he scored 4 goals in 14 Conference matches.

Australia

In February 2006, Robinson headed to Australia, where he joined Melbourne-based Richmond SC. At that time, it was discovered that neither Accrington nor Altrincham had obtained international clearance for Robinson to transfer or play for them, a procedure required due to his spell in Iceland. Accrington escaped penalty, as Robinson had not appeared for their first team. Altrincham, however, had 18 points deducted (all points earned during Robinson's matches), nearly dooming them to relegation. Robinson was devastated by the sanctions to his former team, but went on to help Richmond SC, then in Victorian State League Division 1, earn promotion to the Victorian Premier League.