In 1951/52 George Robledo became the first South American to finish top scorer in Division One with 33 goals for FA Cup winners Newcastle United.

 

ROBLEDO, GEORGE (NEWCASTLE UNITED)

Season: 1951/52

Goals scored: 33 (out of 98); 17 home, 16 away

Percentage: 32 per cent

Runner-up: Ronnie Allen (West Bromwich Albion), 32 goals

Newcastle finished eighth

Robledo was the first man from outside the British Isles to finish as top scorer in the top flight when his thirty-three goals in 1951/52 made up a third of Newcastle’s tally for the season, which at ninety-eight is the highest ever scored by the Magpies in a season.

As Robledo also got six FA Cup goals, including the only goal in the FA Cup final against Arsenal, the Chilean ensured he remained a Geordie hero long after he joined his brother and Newcastle teammate Ted at Colo-Colo in his home country in 1953.

Signed in January 1949 from Barnsley for a fee of £26,500, the deal was only agreed on the understanding that Ted would join him from Oakwell. However, only George proved himself good enough to win a regular place over the next eighteen months and when Newcastle captured the FA Cup by beating Blackpool at Wembley in 1951, Ted failed to join him in the starting line-up.

By then, George had already formed a great striking partnership with Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn, and the pair were both on the scoresheet when the new man opened his account in a 2-1 derby match victory against Sunderland in March 1949. Five more League goals were to follow by the end of the season, with a further thirteen in 1949/50 and fourteen, including hat-tricks at home to Blackpool and away to Liverpool, in 1950/51. Robledo was to do considerably better in front of goal in 1951/52, although on the opening day of it he was outshone by Milburn, who notched three against his single effort, heading the opening goal from 10 yards out after he met Corbett’s free kick. Newcastle’s six goals, with Stoke failing to score, was an indication that goals were not going to be in short supply.

And so it proved on 1 September, when champions Tottenham, who’d hammered their opponents 7-0 at White Hart Lane the previous season, arrived at St James’ Park. Newcastle ran riot to win 7-2, with Robledo hitting a hat-trick. Milburn was out injured with a calf injury and yet, even without their star man, the Newcastle forward line was almost unstoppable. They were already two up when Robledo got the third on just 17 minutes. Then, on 62 minutes, he swept home from close in a Tommy Walker cross before, 10 minutes later, sticking out a long leg to get between Ted Ditchburn and Bill Nicholson to push George Hannah’s cross home.

The following weekend, in a much tighter, action-packed match away to Preston, Robledo made it nine for the season, when, after scoring twice in the mid-week game at WBA, he did it again. With his brother playing in defence, he scored from just 2 yards out for the opening goal on 42 minutes. Then, in the second half, he scored a great goal, Ernie Taylor’s raking cross-field ball being half-volleyed home from the corner of the penalty area as Newcastle captured both points in a 2-1 win.

By the following Saturday, Robledo’s total had risen to thirteen as Burnley’s weak defence were ruthlessly exposed, especially by the sublime ball playing skills of Hannah.

With Newcastle already a goal up, Robledo’s first on 21 minutes was a simple tap-in from a Milburn pass; then, on 44 minutes, it was an even easier effort after Hannah beat three

defenders before pulling the ball back. Heading home his hat-trick, the Newcastle striker scored his fourth on 62 minutes, both goals being made from him by Milburn. Both men were on the scoresheet in November at Blackpool, but inspired by the now ex-Newcastle man Ernie Taylor, the home side tore the away side apart to record a 6-3 victory that went some way to gaining revenge for what had happened at Wembley earlier in the year.

Another nine-goal thriller followed in mid-December, but this time, with five goals to their account, Newcastle just edged out Stoke City at the Victoria Ground. Robledo got two.

His side were 3-1 up when he scored his first on 58 minutes. It was another great goal when, after brother Ted found Reg Davies, his fine through-ball saw George scamper away from John Kirton to leave Dennis Herod with no chance of saving. Twelve minutes later, John G. Duncan’s fine forward pass was crashed home for his second. Ten days later he again scored twice, and as this helped Newcastle win 4-1 at Roker Park on Christmas Day, it thrilled the large away following in the 52,000-strong crowd.

Robledo continued his rich vein of away scoring with another effort at White Hart Lane, although it wasn’t enough to prevent Spurs winning 2-1. However, after beating Charlton and Aston Villa in the FA Cup, Newcastle gained their revenge in the fifth round of the FA Cup. White Hart Lane was packed with 69,009 inside and they saw a marvellous all-round display from the Cup holders.

Robledo got the first on 13 minutes, but admitted afterwards he should have got at least hat-trick as Newcastle won 3-0. Back in London the following weekend, he got his thirtieth League goal in a 1-1 draw at Fulham. Milburn might have been losing out, but the England international had also scored twenty and cut the gap by two with a subsequent hat-trick against Huddersfield as Robledo made it thirty-one for the season.

Both men were then on the scoresheet on consecutive weekend games against Portsmouth, Milburn again scoring three at Fratton Park in a 4-2 sixth-round FA Cup success before Pompey earned a point at St James’ Park in a 3-3 draw.

Second Division Blackburn Rovers proved difficult to overcome in the semi-final, earning a 0-0 draw at Hillsborough. Robledo put Newcastle in the lead in the replay at Elland Road, and then, with the match tied at 1-1, his goal-bound shot was handled on the line by Campbell, leaving Bobby Mitchell to clinch the game and a place at Wembley from the penalty spot.

Rested for the games against Derby and Aston Villa, Robledo scored his final League goal of the season, his thirty-third, against Manchester City in a game in which all five goals came in a 20-minute period in the second half. It was Robledo who made it 3-1 for the away side when his 10-yard shot on the move had Bert Trautmann well beaten. With his five goals in the FA Cup, he now had thirty-eight in total during the season, just one behind Hughie Gallacher’s record club total of thirty-nine in 1929/30.

Robledo took his chance to draw level when, with just 6 minutes remaining at Wembley, he was on the end of Mitchell’s cross and although it wasn’t the greatest header, it bounced off the post and into the net to ensure his side had retained the famous trophy. Arsenal had been forced to play much of the game without the injured Walley Barnes, but Newcastle had won the Cup.

The Chilean international, who’d scored twice in the 1950 World Cup finals in the game against the USA and went on to play thirty-one times for his country, was to score another sixteen League goals the following season to take his overall record up to 82 in just 146 games. Add in another nine in just eighteen FA Cup games and it was no surprise that many Newcastle fans were disappointed to see him leave in the summer of 1953. Back home, Robledo twice won the Chilean League and twice finished as the league’s top scorer.

Taken from THE GOLDEN BOOT by Tony Matthews and Mark Metcalf