Born in Birkenhead, Robert started his career on the other side of the Mersey at Liverpool making only two appearances before moving to Grimsby Town in 1907.

His spell at Grimsby would see him score a goal every other game (14 in 28) before making the move to the North East and Newcastle United in 1908 for a fee of £350.

All his promise would be for nothing however, as upon making his debut for United he would sustain what would essentially be a career ending injury agains Bradford City. A multiple break to his leg, certainly in those days, was an injury that would leave some players unable to ever walk again properly.

To his credit, he worked back to some sort of fitness and eventually left Newcastle for Harltlepools (later to become Hartlepool) in 1911 but would only make 6 appearances (scoring 3 times) before his retirement.