Ex-England goalkeeper Paul Robinson once found himself lying in bed with a Leeds United teammate for hours in total darkness.
With Euro 2024 and the 2024-25 season around the corner, many players will find themselves reflecting on the strange things they used to get up to while in camp with their national and club teams. Whether it was endless journeys to games or bunking down in hotels before and after showcasing their skills on the global stage, international players would get up to all sorts with their fellow national colleagues.
Viewed as a safe and steady presence between the sticks during his time with Leeds, it’s likely Robinson was also seen as the perfect room or travelling buddy to have during the long tournaments. However, as he found out in rather unusual fashion, he also appeared to be the perfect person to lay in the dark with.
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Chatting about his time on international duty, while speaking to the ‘Let’s Be Having You’ podcast, Robinson was asked if players were all put in their own rooms. He replied: “Yeah you do. Even like now at club level, all the lads have their own rooms because, believe it or not, we’re all a little bit odd, we’ve got our own quirks and everything.
However, the former keeper confessed that back in the day, players weren’t always treated to the luxury of individual accommodation. He revealed: “Years ago you got told to get on with it.
“My first-ever roommate for Leeds was David Wetherall – the big centre-half. I mean he was captain sensible,” reports Leeds Live.
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(Image: Sunday Mercury)
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Wetherall, who joined Leeds from Sheffield Wednesday in 1991, became a solid fixture in the team, notching up 202 appearances before moving to Bradford City. He may have been Captain Sensible, but that does not mean Wetherall was completely predictable.
Robinson revealed there was one night with Wetherall that will stay with him forever. He added: “I remember it to this day – we went to Waltham Abbey and it was a tiny little room with two single beds in. He’s an old experienced player, maybe captain at the time – obviously been told to look after me.
“[We] had dinner downstairs at 7 o’clock, we get up in the room and I’m just a little bit like, ‘What do we do now?’ Got to 9 O’clock he went, ‘Turn the lights off’. I went, ‘What do you mean turn the lights off?’
(Image: PA)
He went ‘Turn the lights off, I’m going to sleep’. So I just laid in the bed next to him for about three hours wondering what to do.”
The ex-England goalie highlighted how crucial personal space is in modern football: “Everyone obviously goes to sleep at different times and wakes up at different times, so it’s important that lads get their own space to be honest.”
Robinson, who hung up his gloves in 2017, boasts an impressive career tally of 421 club appearances with stints at Tottenham, Blackburn Rovers, and Burnley, alongside earning 41 caps for England.