Watford Robinson was born in
Birmingham, West Midlands. He took part at an exit trial held by the
English Football League at
Derby County's Moor Farm
training ground in 2005, where he was spotted by
Watford, and signed on a two-year apprenticeship having impressed during a subsequent week's training at the club. In February 2007, he went on a one-month
loan to
Southern Football League Premier Division club
Wealdstone. Robinson made his
Premier League debut as a late substitute in Watford's final game of the
2006–07 season, a 1–1 draw with
Newcastle United at
Vicarage Road on 13 May. In August 2007, Robinson joined
League Two side
Hereford United on a four-month loan, alongside teammate
Toumani Diagouraga. He scored his first goal in the Football League on 18 August, in a 2–1 win at
Barnet.
Manager Graham Turner compared him to a young
Steve Bull, saying that "he's very lively, he's got pace, and gets himself into good positions." Robinson finished the season as top goalscorer for Hereford with 16 goals in all competitions as they achieved
promotion in third-place. With
Darius Henderson suspended, Watford manager
Aidy Boothroyd was hoping to use Robinson in the
Championship play-offs, but confirmed that he was unable to do so due to the terms of Robinson's loan deal at Hereford. Robinson made four appearances for Watford in the
2008–09 season, but was not in new manager
Brendan Rodgers's first-team plan's, who replaced Boothroyd as manager in November. On 24 January 2009, Robinson joined
League One side
Southend United on loan until the end of the
2008–09 season. He formed an effective
strike partnership with
Lee Barnard and impressed manager
Steve Tilson with his performances. Tilson made a bid for Robinson at the end of the season. Though Rodgers left Watford and was succeeded by
Malky Mackay, Robinson had already decided to leave the club.
Huddersfield Town In July 2009, Robinson signed for League One club
Huddersfield Town on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He chose Huddersfield ahead of several other clubs, including
Swindon Town, who had a "verbal agreement" to sign Robinson from Watford for
£275,000 according to manager
Danny Wilson. Swindon chairman
Andrew Fitton stated that "We agreed a deal with the club and player but there are shenanigans going on that we have warned certain people about. This is a classic example of agents and greed." On 26 August, he scored two goals in a 4–3
League Cup defeat to
Newcastle United at
St James' Park. He began the season in a strike partnership with
Jordan Rhodes before being dropped fin favour of
Lee Novak. He ended the
2009–10 season with 16 goals in 43 appearances. He was linked with a move away from Huddersfield in June 2010, but manager
Lee Clark said that the rumours did not come from the
Galpharm Stadium and that "it seems as though someone is trying to orchestrate a move."
Millwall On 8 September 2010, after falling down the pecking order at Huddersfield, Robinson moved to
Millwall on a 93-day emergency loan. He returned to Huddersfield in early November through injury, with the need for an operation on his knee, cutting his loan spell short. He joined Millwall on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2011. Manager
Kenny Jackett said that Robinson would want to prove Huddersfield wrong, and therefore have a hunger to perform at
The Den.
Derby County In February 2011, Robinson signed a three-month loan deal at
Championship club
Derby County, with a view to a permanent move. Robinson scored twice in 13 games during this loan spell. He impressed manager
Nigel Clough, who told
BBC Radio Derby that "hopefully Theo will be here next season as well, as one of five or six strikers." He joined Derby on a two-year
contract after his contract with Millwall ended in the summer. He was Derby's second top-scorer with three goals in six league starts, and scored a brace in Derby's 3–2 defeat at
Peterborough United, taking his tally for the season up to six, making him the club's top-scorer. Robinson finished the
2011–12 season with 12 goals in all competitions and joint top-scorer with
Steve Davies. The club reprimanded Robinson after he broke club rules by posting on Twitter that he was dropped from the matchday squad before the team was announced for the game at
Bolton Wanderers on 21 August 2012. The fee was undisclosed but was reported to be in the region of £150,000. He scored his first goal for the club on his debut the following day, in a 2–0 win over
Blackburn Rovers. He ended the
2013–14 campaign with five goals in 31 Championship games as "Donny" were
relegated into League One. On 26 March 2015, he joined divisional rivals
Scunthorpe United on loan until the end of the
2014–15 season. The move to
Glanford Park reunited him with his former Huddersfield manager
Mark Robins. He was released by Rovers manager
Paul Dickov in May 2015.
Motherwell Robinson signed for
Scottish Premiership side
Motherwell in August 2015 on a contract running until the end of the
2015–16 season. He said that he was attracted to the club as he was already friends with teammates
Lionel Ainsworth and
Stephen Pearson. He was initially used as a substitute by manager
Ian Baraclough. He fell out of the first-team picture under new manager
Mark McGhee, who later said that "It's not quite worked out for Theo here at
Fir Park, but that can happen, particularly if the manager who signs you leaves so soon after you arrive."
Port Vale In January 2016, Robinson signed for League One side
Port Vale on a contract running until the end of the
2015–16 season. He scored his first goal for the club on his eighth appearance, the opening goal of a 2–0 win over
Colchester United at
Vale Park on 5 March. He was released upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.
Lincoln City Robinson signed a short-term contract with
National League club
Lincoln City in October 2016. On 7 January, he scored both of the "Imps" goals in a 2–2 draw with Championship side
Ipswich Town in an FA Cup third round tie at
Portman Road. He also scored against
Brighton & Hove Albion in the following round, and left Lincoln with the club in the fifth round of the FA Cup and top of the National League. Manager
Phil Brown had rejected the chance to sign Robinson the previous summer after the player had a trial at the club, and admitted he had made a mistake in doing so. He made 18 appearances in the second half of the
2016–17 season and signed a one-year contract extension in August 2017. However, he made just two league starts in the first half of the
2017–18 season and rejected the chance to join
Colchester United on loan in January after his preferred option of Lincoln City were rebuffed by chairman
Ron Martin. He was instead restored to the first-team at
Roots Hall by new manager
Chris Powell, and scored a
hat-trick in a 4–0 win over
Milton Keynes Dons on 21 April to earn himself a place on the EFL team of the week. He was nominated for that month's PFA Fan's Player Of The Month award. Robinson began the
2018–19 season on the bench, though did score three goals in his five starts by the start of October. He went on to make 13 league starts and 11 substitute appearances in the first half of the campaign, scoring four goals. He went on to score seven goals in 16 games for the "Robins", helping to relegate
Notts County with a brace at the
County Ground on the final day of the season. Swindon manager
Richie Wellens was reportedly keen to sign him permanently once the loan spell came to an end. On 29 August 2019, Robinson joined League Two side
Colchester United on loan until January 2020. He scored his first goal for "U's" in their 3–2
EFL Trophy win against
Gillingham on 3 September. After a relatively successful start to the campaign for Robinson, the loan deal was extended until the end of the
2019–20 season on 14 January. On 11 February, he scored his 100th Football League goal in a 3–2 defeat at
Grimsby Town. He had scored 12 goals in 36 games by the time the 2019–20 season was ended early in March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in England; Southend would be relegated after the table was concluded on a points per game basis. He returned to Colchester to play in the play-off semi-finals, which ended in a 3–2
aggregate defeat to
Exeter City. He scored at a rate of one every 157 minutes during his loan spell, a statistic bettered only by
Eoin Doyle in League Two. He confirmed his departure from Southend in June 2020.
Return to Port Vale On 24 August 2020, Robinson rejoined Port Vale on a two-year deal, where he faced competition from
Tom Pope,
Mark Cullen and
Devante Rodney for a place in the starting eleven. He stated that "when I was here before it wasn't really a good time personally but now I am here to put things right". It was reported that Grimsby manager
Ian Holloway had tried to sign him but lost out due to his club insisting on a clause to reduce pay if the league was postponed or cancelled again due to a second wave of
Coronavirus disease 2019 cases; Vale reportedly had no such clause in their contract offer. On 5 September, he scored on his second debut for the Vale, coming on as a substitute to score a late winner in a 2–1 victory over Scunthorpe United in the first round of the EFL Cup, manager
John Askey said that "It's nice when you have someone like Theo who can come on and has goals in him". Robinson set a personal target of 10 goals for the campaign but said the main aim was promotion. Having started the
2020–21 season on the bench, he claimed a place in the starting eleven by mid-October after becoming the club's leading scorer. He soon dropped out of the starting eleven however, and was transfer-listed in December.
Caretaker manager Danny Pugh deregistered Robinson from the club's 22-man squad the following month in order to make room for new signing
Kurtis Guthrie. He was re-registered at the end of the January
transfer window and went on to earn praise for his
work rate from new manager
Darrell Clarke but was still transfer-listed in May 2021. He left the club by mutual consent on 31 August 2021.
Bradford City Having secured his release from Port Vale, Robinson signed a one-year contract with League Two club
Bradford City after manager
Derek Adams needed cover for the injured
Lee Angol. He was dropped by new manager
Mark Hughes in early March. He did not feature again at
Valley Parade, leaving his final tally at four goals in 26 appearances, of which only five appearances were league starts. Robinson was released at the end of his one-year deal. Robinson was a trialist for
Mansfield Town in August 2022 but was not offered a contract.
Hartlepool United On 13 October 2022, Robinson had signed for League Two side
Hartlepool United.
Interim manager Keith Curle said that "Theo is a player we've tried signing before and he's turned down other offers to join". Robinson left the club on 26 November 2022, with Curle stating that: "Theo is no longer with us. It was my choice."
Later career In March 2023, Robinson signed for
National League North club
Brackley Town. He started eight games and made six substitute appearances in the remainder of the
2022–23 season as Brackley reached the final of the play-offs, where they were beaten 2–0 by
Kidderminster Harriers. Despite scoring seven goals in 17 games, Gloucester were relegated in 23rd place. He scored 13 goals in 44 appearances across the
2024–25 campaign. ==International career==