Jamie Robba

Jamie Robba
Personal information
Full name Jaime Kevagn Robba[1]
Date of birth (1991-10-26) 26 October 1991
Place of birth Gibraltar
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Torquay United
Youth career
–2009 St Joseph's
2009–2011 Atlético Zabal Linense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 RB Linense
2011–2012 → UD Castellar (loan)
2013–2014 Lynx
2014–2015 Europa
2015 Le Pontet
2015–2016 Lynx
2016– Torquay United 0 (0)
National team‡
2014– Gibraltar 7 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:00, 26 July 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:00, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

Jaime Kevaghn "Jamie" Robba (born 26 October 1991) is a Gibraltarian footballer who plays for English club Torquay United and the Gibraltar national team as a goalkeeper.

He has played football in Gibraltar, Spain, France and England, while also featuring in the UEFA Europa League qualification rounds with Europa during the 2014–15 season.

Club Career

Youth

Robba began his career with St Joseph's, where he progressed through the youth system until the age of 18. A move across the border saw him join the youth ranks of Spanish outfit Atletico Zabal for two years, before signing for parent club RB Linense in July 2011.[2]

UD Castellar

Immediately after joining he was loaned out to UD Castellar, where he became the first choice goalkeeper throughout the 2011–12 campaign. Upon his return, he predominantly featured for the B team while acting as third choice goalkeeper for the first team[2] In February 2013, he made his debut for RB Linense when replacing the unavailable Francisco Javier Mateo and being preferred over Enmanuel Sanchez.[3]

Lynx and Europa

Following Gibraltar's acceptance into UEFA, the Premier Division was allocated one place in both the Champions League and Europa League qualification rounds.[4] As a result, Robba joined Lynx in July 2013 in an attempt to secure European football, but could only achieve a third place finish. Lincoln Red Imps and Europa claimed the available spots.[5]

Europa League qualification

In July 2014, he joined Europa in order to feature in their Europa League campaign.[2] As the lowest ranked club of the competition, Europa were unseeded in Group Two and would go on to face Liechtenstein club FC Vaduz in the First Qualifying Round. Robba was an unused substitute in the 3–0 first leg defeat, before starting in a 1–0 second leg defeat and conceding in the 89th minute.[6] However, he went on to finish second in the Gibraltar Premier Division while lifting the Gibraltar Premier Cup.[7] Robba was also named as the Golden Glove winner after keeping the most clean sheets during the 2014–15 campaign. He terminated his contract at the end of the season.

US Le Pontet

Linked to clubs in France and Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the following weeks, Robba signed a two-year contract with fourth division club US Le Pontet in July 2015.[8] After five months in France, Robba decided to terminate his contract with the club. Initially signed by the sporting director, he struggled to fit into the manager's plans as the second choice goalkeeper and left by mutual consent in November 2015.[8]

Return to Lynx

Following his release, he returned home to Gibraltar and began training with Lincoln Red Imps. After discussions with the club, he revealed his ambition to play abroad once again and would not enter contract negotiations.[8] However, he re-joined Lynx on an emergency loan for a second spell three weeks later.[9] With the club's first choice goalkeeper ruled out through injury, manager Albert Parody called upon the services of Robba, his nephew, until the transfer window opened. The deal included an agreement that he could terminate his loan at any time should another club show interest.[8]

Torquay United

After being spotted by assistant manager Robbie Herrera, National League side Torquay United offered Robba a one-week trial in July 2016.[10] On 25 July, it was announced that he had signed a one-year deal with the English club to compete with first choice goalkeeper Brendan Moore.[11] The deal was confirmed subject to international clearance.[12]

International career

Robba made his international debut in a 1–0 victory over Malta on 4 June 2014, appearing from the bench for seven minutes and was later called up to the Gibraltar squad for the 2016 European Championships Qualifiers. Being named on the bench in the opening fixture, he played 30 minutes in a 7–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland – keeping a clean sheet during his time on the pitch.[13] His performances soon saw him become the first choice goalkeeper, while being noted for a string of impressive stops against the world champions to restrict Germany to a 4–0 victory.[12]

International statistics

As of 11 October 2015[14]
National team Season Apps Goals
Gibraltar 2014 4 0
2015 3 0
Total 7 0

References

  1. ↑ Jaime Kevagn Robba
  2. 1 2 3 "Up close and personal with Jamie Robba". gibfootballtalk.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  3. ↑ "Jamie Robba, un portero yanito en el banquillo de la Balona". www.europasur.es. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  4. ↑ "Strategic talks in Dubrovnik". UEFA. 20 September 2013.
  5. ↑ uefa.com. "Member associations - Gibraltar - League – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  6. ↑ uefa.com. "UEFA Europa League 2014/15 - History - Europa FC-Vaduz – UEFA.com". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  7. ↑ uefa.com. "Member associations - Gibraltar - League – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Robba: "Go abroad, learn as much as you can and that is my advice" | Football Gibraltar". footballgibraltar.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  9. ↑ "Jamie Robba Returns home". 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  10. ↑ "Jamie Robba: Gibraltar goalkeeper on trial at Torquay United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  11. ↑ Sport, Brent Pilnick BBC. "Jamie Robba: Torquay United sign Gibraltar goalkeeper and loan Exeter's Jamie Reid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  12. 1 2 TUFC. "ROBBA JOINS". Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  13. ↑ "Jamie Robba – The Gibraltar National Team – Gibraltar Football Association". www.gibraltarfa.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  14. ↑ "Jamie Robba". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
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