Robin Friday was an English footballer who played professionally for Reading and Cardiff City during a career that lasted four years in the mid-1970s. His on-field performances were regarded as excellent, and he won Reading’s player of the year award in both of his full seasons there. His habit of unsettling opponents through physical intimidation contributed to a heavily tarnished disciplinary record, and his personal life was one of heavy smoking, drinking, womanising and drug abuse. He died in Acton in 1990, aged 38, after suffering a heart attack.
About Robin Friday in brief
Robin Friday was an English footballer who played professionally for Reading and Cardiff City during a career that lasted four years in the mid-1970s. His on-field performances were regarded as excellent, and he won Reading’s player of the year award in both of his full seasons there. However, his habit of unsettling opponents through physical intimidation contributed to a heavily tarnished disciplinary record, and his personal life was one of heavy smoking, drinking, womanising and drug abuse. Friday retired from football in December 1977, aged 25. He died in Acton in 1990, aged 38, after suffering a heart attack. The Cardiff-based band Super Furry Animals dedicated their 1996 single \”The Man Don’t Give a Fuck\” to his memory. Friday was scouted by numerous London sides during his teenage years, joining Crystal Palace’s youth team at the age of 13, then moving on to Queens Park Rangers aged 13 and Chelsea aged 13. In a 2004 BBC poll, Friday was voted the top \”all-time cult hero\” for both Reading andCardiff City. The strongest aspects of Friday’s game were his ball skills, footballing intelligence and physical and mental strength. His brother Tony was better as a goalkeeper than a forward, but according to his father could flick an orange up onto his neck, balance it and then let it roll it back down his body and catch it on his foot. Robin played cricket to a high standard, boxed and played tennis. Robin and Tony were both described by their mother as having been remarkably close, rarely arguing or fighting.
Despite their many similarities and common interest in sports and football in particular, the twins were wildly different in academic terms: while Tony did well at school, Robin was uninterested and according to Tony was always bunking off, having birds around the park. The Fridays lived with Sheila’s family until moving into a prefab of their own when Robin andTony were aged two; they moved to a maisonette in South Acton when it was found that the prefab was sinking. The twins attended their first professional match at the aged of two, when their father took them to a Brentford match at Griffin Park. Around this time Robin became interested in the Acton British Legion Reserves, aged 14, and would play alongside their father, Robin, and Tony in midfield and up front, but Tony played in midfield, Robin up front. Robin became a better goalkeeper than his brother, according toTony, but he preferred banging them at the end of the game. He attended the 1967 FA Cup Final; as one of the youth team’s players, he was part of the team’s official party. He also attended the youth Final of the club’s FA Cup team, with whom he attended the 1966 FA Cup final. He became a member of Reading’s youth youth team, aged 12 or 12 or 13, and played in some of their matches. He was also part of Chelsea’s youth teams, aged 13 or 13 or 12, and in some matches in 1967. He played for local semi-professional sides in the Isthmian League until he joined Charlie Hurley’s Fourth Division Reading team.
You want to know more about Robin Friday?
This page is based on the article Robin Friday published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
