‘Robbo’ leaves the club on Sunday after nine years having won the lot and been loved by those who watched him play
It was a bit of a surprise when we signed Andy Robertson from Hull City – not because he wasn’t a household name, but because all the focus had been on his teammate Harry Maguire. But, pound for pound, the £8m we paid for Robbo in the summer of 2017 has got to be one of the best value transfer deals in Liverpool’s history. Those peak Jürgen Klopp-years, when him and Trent Alexander-Arnold supplied cross after cross, assist after assist … it was an absolute joy to be there, to see that.
All of those great memories will be cherished by Reds far and wide but, for me, the moment that best illustrates and celebrates the player and the character was his destiny-changing last-gasp equaliser at Villa Park in 2019. It wasn’t just the goal itself, it was Andy Robertson grabbing the ball and legging it back to the centre circle, eager to restart the game, knowing Manchester City were breathing down our neck, knowing there was still time to win it. And win it we did, with an unbelievable late-late leap from Sadio Mané, preserving an unbeaten start to the season and setting up a title showdown – in November – with City.
In those crazy days of Klopp v Pep, you could barely afford to drop a point. Robbo knew that. He fought for every ball, every minute, every point. We’re going to miss the mad, brilliant bastard.
“Sadio, I’ll get him, don’t worry”. Andy Robertson, coming off the field at half-time of the final of the 2019 Club World Cup after Mané had been booked for an altercation with Flamengo’s Rafinha. That’s one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Robbo. He had his team-mates’ backs. What else comes to mind? Roughing up Lionel Messi, laughing at Jordan Pickford, running all over Manchester City, the ‘wingmen’ videos with Trent and judging biscuits with James Milner. I also think about José Mourinho saying: “I am tired just from looking at Robertson. Absolutely incredible.” Yep, he was.
Robertson is the best left-back I’ve seen at Liverpool. He won everything with the Reds and soon he’ll be Scotland’s most-capped player. The relentless energy, ultra competitiveness and terrific delivery from wide areas also made him the best left-back in the Premier League for most of his time at Anfield. But it’s his wicked sense of humour and larger-than-life personality that makes him so beloved by fans and team-mates alike.
Footballers are generally not relatable anymore but Robbo bucks that trend. He’s normal. He’s never acted like a star even though he very much is one. I challenge anyone to think of him without smiling. They just don’t make them like Andy Robertson anymore.
The remnants of how it felt to support Liverpool during Jürgen Klopp’s tenure are leaving with Andy Robertson – one of the few remaining “mentality monsters” and the one who best exemplified the tenet. Robbo left so much on the field; Anfield’s entire left touchline could be named after him. He set standards and lifted the collective in a way few ever have. His exit hurts so much because it tears away at a tapestry that’s impossible to restitch. It means letting go of that era or being mired in endless yearning for it. Neither option is attractive.
He’s a top-five Liverpool player for me. My mum’s favourite ever. In March we attended the FA Cup tie at Wolves together. Andy’s brilliant opening goal was as happy as I’d ever seen her at the match. I asked why she’d so taken him into her heart. “He gets stuck in, runs at the opposition and keeps hold of the ball in a tackle. He enjoys every minute, he’s always trying his best and supports all the other players. He’s pure joy,” she said, adding: “He’s got a lovely smile and more charisma than the new players we’ve spent millions on. We are going to miss him for his personality as much as his skill, bless him.”
Andy Robertson leaves as the exemplification of everything we could ask for from a Liverpool player. And he’s my mum’s favourite. There’s no replacing this favourite son.
“No kid grows up wanting to be a full-back,” Jamie Carragher once joked. But as a lifelong Red living in Glasgow, I know for a fact that’s not true when it comes to Andy Robertson. I’ve seen countless youngsters here wanting to be him. That’s because, alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, Robertson redefined the modern full-back, producing assists like a world-class playmaker, season after season.
In an era when many elite footballers seem utterly detached from reality, Robbo has always has carried himself like someone who understands exactly what it means to wear the shirt, and just how fortunate he is to do so. Nothing about his career was handed to him. Released by Celtic as a teenager for being too small, he fought his way through the lower leagues before reaching the top. Even the famous tweet from his Queen’s Park days about having no money and life being rubbish reflects the honesty fans connect with. Robertson represents persistence more than perfection.
I was recently debating Liverpool’s greatest left-back with my brother, who leans towards Alan Kennedy. It’s close, but Robertson gets my vote. I’m gutted he’s leaving, and I still think those legs have a couple more years left in them at the top level. But, nonetheless, I’ll be on The Kop on Sunday belting out: “Oh Andy, Andy …” because if I was still a kid, I’d absolutely want to be Andy Robertson.
As a Scotsman living in Liverpool, Andy Robertson’s career has always felt that wee bit more personal. The city has long embraced Scottish grit and character, from the old dockers that settled here through to the historic legends who have graced the pitches and dugouts of Anfield and Goodison Park. In that sense, I can understand why Liverpool supporters took to Robbo so quickly. There was a familiarity to him.
Scotland is a small country but time and again we produce athletes who punch above our weight as a nation. From Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumphs, to Chris Hoy powering to Olympic glory, to Katie Archibald becoming one of the finest cyclists of her generation. Andy Robertson belongs in that company. From his #needajob tweet during his time at Queen’s Park, to his breakthrough season at Dundee United and his Premier League debut with Hull City, before arriving at Liverpool, his rise was built entirely on hard work and determination. Now, as he moves on to a new chapter, he leaves as Liverpool’s greatest left-back and as another Scot who wrote his name into the history of this great football club.
Robbo has given me a small glimpse of what it must feel like to be Scouse and support Liverpool. I feel lucky to have watched someone from a place not so far from where I grew up achieve things most people only dream about.
In November, Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998, two years before I was born. A few days later, Andy Robertson’s wife, Rachel, contacted me to ask for a piece commemorating the achievement, as a Christmas gift for him. I’ve never felt so honoured.
The pressure was on to get the piece right. When I dropped it off, I was lucky enough to meet Andy. He was so kind, funny and welcoming. He gave me the time of day even though he had no idea who I was or why I was there. He was exactly who I expected him to be; a down-to-earth, kind human. He even made the effort to message me on Boxing Day to say how much he loved the piece. I was bouncing around the kitchen when the message came through. I’m so grateful to Rachel for giving me that opportunity with my work and to Andy for being so kind. They’ll be greatly missed in Liverpool.
The connection to Andy goes beyond his ability. I’m sure I speak for the majority of Liverpool fans when I say he truly understands the club, our values and the city more than most modern footballers ever could. He even understood the importance of the derby like a true scouser. In this golden era for Liverpool, Andy Robbo stands out as one of my very favourite players.
Robbo is up there as one of my favourites footballers to ever wear Liverpool red. Fiercely committed, he embodies everything I adore in a footballer, everything that makes us, us. From that press against Manchester City, to the Aston Villa goal and every laugh at Everton in between, Robbo left everything on the pitch for the badge – and that’ll do for me.
While many of the tributes to Robertson will centre around the determination – I have certainly been guilty of this – we mustn’t forget that he was at one stage truly world-class. The heartbeat from left-back, he combined boundless energy with unbelievable quality, lifting the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup, Super Cup, Community Shield, and, perhaps most importantly, the spirits of every one of us. The word legend has rarely been more fitting.
Andy Robertson did not simply play for Liverpool, he represented the club’s values week after week. A leader on and off the pitch, his name is firmly etched into Anfield folklore. All that is left to do now is show our gratitude to a true modern-day, working-class hero.
A little under seven years ago, I was repeatedly sworn at by my favourite Liverpool player when I was a child. It was a horrible experience and proved to me that the old adage is right: never meet your heroes. Saying that, I’d love to meet Andy Robertson, because Andy Robertson is definitely sound.
Or maybe he’s not. But that’s not the point. The point is that he always came across as sound when playing for Liverpool and, because of that, forged a unique relationship with the fans. He was brilliant, and he won the lot, but he was also Robbo, the lad from Glasgow who sent that tweet about life being rubbish and rose to the top through hard work, humble dedication and a good dose of humour, traits that he never abandoned, traits that made him hugely relatable, traits that proved he was – is – one of us.
Liverpool have lost a lot of games this season and, more devastating, lost some of their soul. It’s hard to see how that gets any better after Robertson goes, because he more than anyone during the past nine years has represented what the club is about: winning with a collective, defiant spirit. I’d like to meet Andy Robertson so I could tell him that, and tell him how, over time, he became my new favourite Liverpool player, my hero. Thanks Robbo, for all of it.
