A former Workington Reds player from the club’s time in the Football League has died at the age of 72.
Goole-born Todd had visited Borough Park in 2017 to look around his old club and relive some memories of his brief spell in West Cumbria.
He had been signed for Reds by that most astute of managers Brian Doyle in July 1969 and scored twice on his debut in a friendly at Penrith.
A home friendly against Glasgow Rangers followed and among his memorabilia since then was an action photograph of himself and Alex Ferguson (who scored Rangers’ goal that day) taken during the game.
He was also on a Reds’ team photograph taken in the Derwent End goal mouth prior to a League Cup tie versus Barrow – a colour picture which appeared in the Football League Review.
Hailing from Goole, Bobby began his career as an apprentice with Scunthorpe United before making the move to Merseyside in July 1967 to join Liverpool. It was a move he could always say was initiated by Bill Shankly.
Rotherham became his third club, but his stay in South Yorkshire wasn’t a lengthy one as he made just six appearances in total – two starts and four as a substitute – with one start at outside left and the other at inside left.
A brief stay with Mansfield preceded his move to Workington where a car crash during his time at the club didn’t help and his time at Reds ended after just thirteen starts, three substitute appearances and no competitive goals.
His career didn’t take off at Hartlepool, whom he joined next, and his best spells were in non-League with Wigan Athletic.
He joined Wigan in August 1970 after a trial and became a terrier like midfielder for manager Gordon Milne. He proved very popular with the fans and earned his own song.
He went on to play 110 games for Wigan, scoring nine goals, helping the club win the NLP title as well as enjoying a fantastic FA Cup run which ended in a 1-0 defeat at Man City in the third round.
After Wigan he joined Altrincham for the 1972/73 season before joining Scarborough for the next two seasons when he was in the side that was beaten in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley, 4-0 by Matlock Town.
When talking about his career, Bob tells everyone “how not to become a professional footballer” but he left some good memories for a good number of football fans.
He was an academic and a talented musician, however, and became a success in business as an accountant.
In his native Goole he was also a founder member of a specialist walking club in 1985, the Goole Viking Striders which is still thriving today.
After being signed by Brian Doyle the manager said: “I believe he is a talented footballer, but wait until you see him on the piano!”
His former team-mate Mike Rogan – whom Todd visited after his visit to Borough Park in 2017 – can bear witness to that.
“We played a pre-season friendly somewhere and there was a piano in the social club, so afterwards Bobby was belting out Great Balls of Fire and the place was in uproar. It was fantastic and there were piano keys bouncing and flying everywhere. He was a great pianist,” said Rogan.
