Robbie Slater

Football player infobox
playername = Robbie Slater
fullname = Robert Slater


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|11|22|df=y
cityofbirth = Ormskirk, Lancashire
countryofbirth = England
height = height|meters=1.72|precision=0
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Revesby Rovers Revesby Workers Panania RSL Auburn
years = 1982-1986 1986 1987-1989 1989-1990 1990-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1998 1998 1998-2001
clubs = St George Saints Blacktown City Demons Sydney Croatia R.S.C. Anderlecht RC Lens Blackburn Rovers West Ham United Southampton F.C. Wolves Northern Spirit FC Career Total
caps(goals) = 098 (28) 000 0(0) 073 (17) 000 0(0) 121 0(8) 018 0(0) 025 0(2) 041 0(2) 006 0(0) 061 (10) 443 (67)
nationalyears = 1990-1997
nationalteam = Australia
nationalcaps(goals) = 044 0(6)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Robert ("Robbie") Slater (born 22 November 1964 in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England) is a former Australian football (soccer) player.

Club career

Early years

Slater, a red-haired midfielder, moved to Australia as a youngster and started his playing career in Australia, with various clubs in his youth before joining St George Saints in the National Soccer League in 1982. He won the NSL with St George in 1983, and following this season he trialled with Nottingham Forest; however St George and Nottingham Forest were unable to agree terms and he returned to Australia. He then moved to Sydney Croatia in 1987 before an aborted move to Hajduk Split was quickly followed by a transfer to Anderlecht.

Europe

He did not see much playing time in Belgium and moved to then Ligue 2 club Lens, which was promoted during his time at the club (1990-94). While he was at Lens he was attacked with a baseball bat by Paris Saint-Germain supporters and nearly lost his life. On a happier note he also met his future wife Natalie there.

At the end of the 1993-94 season Robbie moved to Blackburn Rovers, and there he became the first Australian to win the English Premier League in the 1994-95 season. He was sold to West Ham United at the end of the season and also moved to Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers during his time in England.

NSL

At the end of the 1997-98 season he moved back to Australia to captain a new team in the National Soccer League, Northern Spirit. He would play with them until his retirement at the end of the 2000-01 season. In 2002 he was player-coach of Manly-Warringah.

International career

He has 44 caps for the Australian national team, including in the infamous 1997 World Cup qualifier against Iran.

Probably Slater's most memorable match was the World Cup qualifier between Australia and Argentina played at the Sydney Football Stadium in 1993. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but Slater's mid-field performance caught the attention of the Argentine press and the team. Without any knowledge of who Slater was, he was labelled "the red one".

His final appearance for Australia was against Saudi Arabia in the 1997 Confederations Cup. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.

After retirement

Robbie wrote an autobiographical book in the late nineties called 'The Hard Way' on his playing career. Robbie is now an analyst and commentator for Australian Pay-TV channel Fox Sports commenting in particular on the English Premier League, the Australian A-League and appearing on Total Football with Simon Hill and Andy Harper. During the Year 2003, he took the role of becoming one of the soccer coaches at a private school in Sydney's Inner-West, Newington College.

External links

* [http://www.robbieslater.com Official Website]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/S/SI.html Oz Football profile]