Stoke Robertson was born in
Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, before moving 25 miles north-west to
Newton Mearns, near
Glasgow. After playing as an amateur for his local village team and for
St Bernard's of
Edinburgh, he started his professional football career with
Stoke of the English
Football League First Division in May 1894. In each of his first two seasons with Stoke, when Robertson generally played as a
half-back, he only managed 13 league appearances for the first-team. After spending the next two years at other clubs, firstly in Scotland with
Hibernian (where he played on the losing side in the
1896 Scottish Cup Final) and then in England with
Millwall Athletic of the
Southern League, Robertson returned to Stoke for the start of
the 1897–98 season. He now became the established
right-back at the
Victoria Ground, alongside
Jack Eccles on the left. At the end of Robertson's first season back at Stoke, in which he made 23 appearances, the club finished at the foot of the
First Division table, having failed to win once away from home, and were required to enter the end of season play-offs, in a mini "tournament" also involving
Blackburn Rovers and the top two teams in the
Second Division,
Burnley and
Newcastle United. Stoke managed their first away victory of the season against Burnley, and finished the play-offs at the top of the table, with Burnley as runners-up. In the event, the Football League decided to expand the First Division by two clubs, and thus Blackburn and Newcastle were able to take their places in the expanded division for the following season. Stoke's financial problems prevented the club from strengthening the side for
the 1898–99 season, other than the signing of goal-keeper
George Clawley, who returned from
Southampton. The club fared better this season, finishing in mid-table, with Robertson only missing three matches. He also played in all six
FA Cup matches, as Stoke reached the
semi-finals, where they were defeated 3–1 by
Derby County. Although the FA Cup run improved Stoke's finances, they still struggled to sign or retain players, other than those with a local connection, with the only significant signing for
the 1899–1900 season being goal-keeper
Tom Wilkes from
Aston Villa, to replace Clawley who had moved on to join
Tottenham Hotspur. The season saw a further improvement in the club's performances on the pitch, finishing the season ninth in the table, with Robertson appearing in all 34 League games, scoring twice. At this point he came the closest he would get to international recognition, taking part in the
Home Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match in March 1900, alongside the unrelated
William Robertson and
Tommy Robertson. At the end of the season, Robertson was signed by fellow
First Division side
Liverpool. In his five seasons spent at Stoke, Robertson made a total of 128 appearances for the
Potteries team, scoring three goals.
Liverpool At Liverpool, Robertson soon established a reputation as a fierce competitor who "''added considerable muscle to the Reds' rearguard''". He made 22 consecutive appearances from the start of
the 1900–01 season, before
John Glover took over for the next nine matches, although Robertson was back in place for the final three fixtures of the season as Liverpool secured their first league title by two points from runners-up
Sunderland. In
the following season, it was Glover who started as the club's right-back but Robertson came back into contention during the second half of the season and made a further 17 First Division appearances, as Liverpool finished in the lower half of the table. Following his retirement, Robertson became a publican in
Hove. ==Career statistics==