Ian Robins is thrilled to see his old club Huddersfield Town making headlines in the Premier League .
Now 65, the former leading goalscorer still can’t resist saying “we” when he refers to the club for whom he registered 67 goals in just 184 appearances (10 of those as a sub).
It’s a sign of the affection he holds for Town, 35 years after hanging up the boots which bagged him 27 league and cup goals in the famous 1979-80 Fourth Division championship campaign.
“I think it’s just brilliant to see Town playing in the Premier League, brilliant,” said Robins, now retired and living in Wigan.
“The club had been in the top flight, of course, not long before I signed, but they had tumbled down the divisions and were fourth from bottom of the old Fourth Division when I arrived.
“I’d done well at both Oldham and Bury before I came to Town and did wonder if I was making the wrong move, but it all turned out well and the team I played in, really, were the start of bringing the club back up from some dark times.
“To see them back up at the top is just great, because the club was a sleeping giant when I signed and we managed to re-awaken it.
“Crowds went up from 3,000 to 15,000 and the club are now playing to sell-outs – it would be nice to get across more and watch but tickets are a bit scarce!
“We have come on and on and on under different managers over the years and I do think the present head coach, David Wagner , is a great boss.
“He seems to know exactly what he wants and we are competing in a division where money talks with world-class players, and when you look at what we’ve spent compared with the others, we are doing brilliantly.
“That’s because spending money doesn’t make you a team – you need that bond and that togetherness like we had back in my time with the club – and this Town team seem to have it.
“I think we were the start of bringing the club back and we played with the same spirit, which is why we always get a warm welcome to this day.
“Playing here were certainly the best times I had in my career and it’s a great set-up, a great club that’s got great fans, has had great managers and great players and it’s still going on.”
Robins, of course, features in the Rob Stewart book The 101 Club , written about the exploits of the 1979-80 team under manager Mick Buxton.
Robins hit 25 of that record 101 league goals and won a place in the PFA Fourth Division Team of the Season, along with teammate Malcolm Brown.
“It was really special for me and Malcolm to be in the representative team because if you are going to win an accolade, that’s the one you want,” added Robins.
“It’s the one which is voted for by your peers, all the players you have played against throughout the season, so to be picked in the team is a real honour.
“To be at Town at that time, though, was really something else; brilliant.
“It was a great set-up and, even when we get together these days, it’s just like it was 30 years ago – like we’ve never been apart.
“We went out together with the wives away from matchdays and we just had that bond, which is just as strong today.
“Six or seven of the lads were from Lancashire and we always used to travel over together – and the Yorkshire v Lancashire five-a-sides in training were always cracking matches!
“The fact we had so many characters in the team is what made it so special, and that bond between us has never broken and it never will. It was a great side to play in and a great club to play for.”
Robins, who finished Town’s top scorer in 1978-79 with 16 goals in 39 appearances after signing for £20,000 from Bury in the September, flourished alongside two other very popular strikers in blue and white stripes – Peter Fletcher and Steve Kindon.
“Fletch could hold the ball up really well and, with being such a tall bloke, got some really good flick-ons for me to latch onto,” explained Robins, who had played 220 times for Oldham Athletic and 49 for Bury before he arrived at Leeds Road.
“We gelled really well and it was a shame when he got injured and had to retire, but Kindo came in and was just like a beast!
“He chased everything – he’d probably have chased his mum out of the stands! – and he did a great job for the team; a real character.”
Buxton, who made a brilliant and determined effort to put Town on a much more professional footing, went on to guide the club to a second promotion in 1982-83 and Robins, who had retired by then, enjoyed working under him.
“Mick was a brilliant gaffer, one of the best,” said Robins, without hesitation.
“When he had a point to make he made it, and you listened. With some bosses they went on so much you would often switch off, but not with Mick.
“He was full-on, a great manager and he had a really good team together, both on the pitch and behind the scenes.
“It was like a family, and we had a family bond.”
So what of The 101 Club, the labour of love by Town fan and journalist Rob Stewart which documents that memorable season of 1979-80?
“It’s an honour, really, for someone to be inspired to write about that era and that team,” added Robins.
“Lots of Town fans will still remember the team very fondly and we were a part of changing the club’s history after that dramatic slump in the 1970s.
“People clearly enjoyed watching us play and I feel we played our part in getting Huddersfield Town where they are today.”
Ian Robins has re-lived his Town glory days in a new book, The 101 Club, published by Great Northern Books.
