Robbie Slater

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Robbie Slater
{{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|OAM}}

| image = Robbie Slater.jpg

| caption = Slater in 2010

| full_name = Robert David Slater{{Hugman|18146|access-date=6 February 2022}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|11|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Ormskirk, England

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub =

| years1 = 1982–1986 |clubs1 = St George Saints |caps1 = 98 |goals1 = 28

| years2 = 1987–1989 |clubs2 = Sydney United |caps2 = 73 |goals2 = 17

| years3 = 1989–1990 |clubs3 = Anderlecht |caps3 = 4 |goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1990–1994 |clubs4 = Lens |caps4 = 121 |goals4 = 8

| years5 = 1994–1995 |clubs5 = Blackburn Rovers |caps5 = 18 |goals5 = 0

| years6 = 1995–1996 |clubs6 = West Ham United |caps6 = 25 |goals6 = 2

| years7 = 1996–1998 |clubs7 = Southampton |caps7 = 41 |goals7 = 2

| years8 = 1998 |clubs8 = Wolverhampton Wanderers |caps8 = 6 |goals8 = 0

| years9 = 1998–2001 |clubs9 = Northern Spirit |caps9 = 61 |goals9 = 10

| totalcaps = 447

| totalgoals = 67

| nationalyears1 = 1984 |nationalteam1 = Australia B |nationalcaps1 = 4 |nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 1988–1997 |nationalteam2 = Australia |nationalcaps2 = 44 |nationalgoals2 = 1

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{fb|AUS}}}}

}}

Robert David Slater {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (born 22 November 1964) is an Australian former professional soccer player and sports commentator.

He played as a midfielder from 1982 until 2001 notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was amongst the title winning side of 1995. He also played in England's top flight for West Ham United and Southampton, as well as playing in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Slater also played in Europe for Anderlecht and RC Lens as well as playing in Australia for St George Saints, Sydney United and Northern Spirit FC. He made 44 caps for Australia, scoring one goal.

Early life

Slater was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, and migrated to Australia with his family where he started his playing career.

Club career

=Early years=

Slater played 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=

Slater 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.{{cite web|last=Slater |first=Robbie |url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24925181-5017479,00.html |title=Thugs hit me with baseball bat |publisher=News.com.au |date=2009-01-18 |access-date=2010-08-21}}

At the end of the 1993–94 season Slater moved to Blackburn Rovers, and there he became the first Australian to win the English FA Premier League in the 1994-95 season,{{cite web |url=http://www.ffatravel.com.au/index.php?id=141 |title=Robbie Slater Bio |publisher=FFA Travel |date=1964-11-22 |access-date=2010-08-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706103853/http://www.ffatravel.com.au/index.php?id=141 |archive-date=6 July 2011}} starting many of the games in the first half of the season and contributing numerous assists. He was not a regular player in the second half of the season, but his 18 league appearances (six as a substitute) were more than enough to qualify for a title medal.{{cite web|url=https://www.premierleague.com/news/1608983#:~:text=The%20champions%20are%20given%2040,title-winning%20season%20gets%20one. |title= All about the Premier League Trophy and medals |work=Premier League |date=2024-05-19 |access-date=2024-08-04}}

In August 1995, he was sold to West Ham United for £600,000 with Matty Holmes moving in the opposite direction. He made his debut on 26 August 1995 in a 1–1 draw away at Nottingham Forest with his first West Ham goal coming on 2 December 1995 in a 4–2 away defeat to his previous club, Blackburn Rovers. Slater made 29 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals for West Ham before moving on to Southampton in August 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.westhamstats.info/westham.php?west=2&ham=592&united=Robbie_Slater |title=Robbie Slater |publisher=Westhamstats.info |date=1964-11-22 |access-date=2010-08-21}}

After just one season in East London, Slater was signed for Southampton by manager Graeme Souness for a fee of £250,000{{cite book| title=In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC |last= Holley |first= Duncan |author2=Chalk, Gary | publisher=Hagiology Publishing | year=2003 | isbn=0-9534474-3-X|page=580}} and was a regular throughout the 1996–97 season, making 30 Premier League appearances as the "Saints" avoided relegation by one point with a run of three victories in the final five games. These included a 2–0 victory over Slater's former club, Blackburn Rovers, in the penultimate game on 3 May 1997 in which Slater scored the opening goal, forcing the ball home from eight yards after a good run by Egil Østenstad.{{cite book| title=In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC |page=249}}

In the FA Cup match at Reading on 4 January 1997, Slater was sent off by referee Graham Poll in the final minute of the match following a "gesture" to a linesman, as Southampton went down 3–1, finishing the match with only nine players.{{cite book| title=In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC |pages=405–406}}

In the summer of 1997, Souness left The Dell club, to be replaced by Dave Jones. Under Jones, Slater rarely played, making only three league starts with his final appearance coming as a substitute against Manchester United on 19 January 1998.{{cite book| title=In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC |page=255}}

In March 1998, he was transferred to Wolverhampton Wanderers where he stayed briefly, playing as a substitute in the FA Cup semi final against Arsenal,{{cite web

|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-wreh-the-wrecker-of-wolves-1154756.html

|title=Wreh the wrecker of Wolves

|work=The Independent

|date=6 April 1998 |access-date=26 October 2014}} before returning to Australia in the summer.

=NSL=

At the end of the 1997–98 season he moved back to Australia to captain a new team in the National Soccer League, the 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

Slater won 44 caps for the Australian national team. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2005/09/20/1464339.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709193707/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2005/09/20/1464339.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2009 |title=Eleven new Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees |publisher=abc.net.au |access-date=2010-08-21}}

After football

Slater wrote an autobiographical book in the late nineties called The Hard Way on his playing career.{{cite book|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1548438 |title=National Library of Australia Catalogue |year=1999 |publisher=Catalogue.nla.gov.au |isbn=9780732264833 |access-date=2010-08-21}} Slater was an analyst and commentator Fox Sports,[http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,5860197-24950,00.html Robbie Slater Bio - news.com.au] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710023935/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,5860197-24950,00.html |date=10 July 2009 }} commentating matches in the A-League, while also appearing on Fox Sports FC and Matchday Saturday, which were football coverage shows.

Slater was involved in a controversy after writing an article for the Daily Telegraph, concerning an incident with Harry Kewell. The article led to a live confrontation on Fox Sports FC.{{cite web|last=Grasso|first=Rob|title=Not cool to be Kewell|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/blogarticle/120132/Not-cool-to-be-Kewell/blog/The-Sweet-Spot|work=The Sweet Spot|publisher=Special Broadcasting Service|access-date=21 August 2010|date=18 August 2010}} Graham Arnold was named as source in row between Harry Kewell and Robbie Slater{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/irate-socceroos-star-harry-kewell-blasts-former-teammate-robbie-slater-over-newspaper-column/story-e6frf9if-1225906647993 |title=Graham Arnold named as source in row between Harry Kewell and Robbie Slater | Herald Sun |access-date=2010-09-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615024950/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/irate-socceroos-star-harry-kewell-blasts-former-teammate-robbie-slater-over-newspaper-column/story-e6frf9if-1225906647993 |archive-date=15 June 2011}}

Career statistics

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
class="wikitable"
1	17 June 1997	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia	{{fb\|SOL}}	1–0	6–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

St George

National Soccer League: 1983

Sydney United

National Soccer League Cup: 1987

Blackburn Rovers

Premier League: 1994–95{{cite web |url=https://www.premierleague.com/players/854/Robbie-Slater/overview |title=Robbie Slater: Overview |publisher=Premier League |access-date=18 April 2018}}

Australia

FIFA Confederations Cup: runner-up, 1997{{Cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/matches/round=1984/match=17489/index.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=October 14, 2024 |archive-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618001151/https://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/matches/round%3D1984/match%3D17489/index.html |url-status=dead }}

Individual

Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1991, 1993
FFA Hall of Champions: 2005
Medal of the Order of Australia for services to football{{Cite web|title=Mr Robert David Slater|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2009471|date=14 June 2021|access-date=15 June 2021|website=It's An Honour|publisher=Australian Government }}

References

External links

{{NFT player|pid=12867}}
{{Soccerbase}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110107102858/http://www.footballhalloffame.com.au/ FFA - Hall of Fame profile]
[http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/S/SI.html Oz Football profile]

Category:1964 births

Category:Living people

Category:Footballers from Ormskirk

Category:English emigrants to Australia

Category:Men's association football midfielders

Category:Australian men's soccer players

Category:Australian expatriate men's soccer players

Category:Australia men's international soccer players

Category:Australia men's B international soccer players

Category:Australian expatriate sportspeople in England

Category:Olympic soccer players for Australia

Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics