Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969 in
Ashton-under-Lyne) is an
English football manager, appointed manager of
Barnsley in 2009.
As a player, he was most notable for his exploits with Manchester United, Norwich City and Leicester City. Robins is often noted as the player who scored the goal which "saved
Alex Ferguson's job" in 1990.
Playing career
Manchester United
Robins played a very important part in winning the FA Cup for
Manchester United in 1990, which was the first trophy of manager
Alex Ferguson's reign at the club, scoring the winning goal in the semi-final replay against
Oldham Athletic.
However, it was an earlier goal that secured Robins a vital part in the history of the club. United were playing away from home against cup specialists
Nottingham Forest on 7 January 1990, in a third round
FA Cup tie. It was widely speculated in the media (but perennially denied by then-Chairman
Martin Edwards) that under-pressure United manager Alex Ferguson would have been sacked had United lost and gone out of the Cup, as they were 15th in the league by this stage and had already been eliminated from the
Football League Cup. Instead, Robins came off the bench late into the game and scored the winning goal from a
Mark Hughes cross. That goal was a turning point in the history of the football club — Ferguson would keep his job and go on to achieve an unmatched run of success at the...
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