Robert William Hulse (born 25 October 1979) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He had primarily spent his career at second tier level, playing there with Crewe Alexandra, West Bromwich Albion, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Derby County, Queens Park Rangers and Charlton Athletic. He has won promotion on three occasions twice to the top flight and had his most notable spell in the Premier League with Sheffield United, where he finished as the club's top scorer in the 2006–07 season, despite his season finishing early due to injury. He scored his 100th career league goal with a penalty against Sheffield Wednesday for Derby on 3 October 2009. Hulse was a part of QPR's Championship winning team in the 2010–11 season. Career Crewe Alexandra Born in Crewe, Cheshire, Hulse began his career at Crewe Alexandra, having been part of the club's youth system since he was nine years old. A sudden spurt in height during his late teens left Hulse with a serious back injury, sidelining him for 12 months. When Hulse returned to fitness, he was given a three-month loan to then-Northern Premier League side Hyde United, where he scored 9 goals in 11 appearances during the 1999–2000 season. The successful loan spell led to Hulse's first team debut for Crewe, in their 1–0 win over Norwich City. It took Hulse a further three appearances to score his first goal for the club, which was in the club's 2–0 away win over Barnsley. Hulse quickly became a fans' favourite at Crewe, thanks to his high work-rate and finishing the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons as the club's top goalscorer with 11 and 12 goals respectively. The club were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season, but Hulse, along with Dean Ashton and Rodney Jack, proved to be too much for fellow Division Two defences to handle in 2002–03. Hulse finished as the club's top goalscorer for the third season in succession, scoring 23 goals. His performances during the season earned him the club's Player of the Year award, as well as appearing in the PFA Division Two Team of the Year. Despite Crewe's promotion back to Division One, Hulse rejected a new contract and manager Dario Gradi decided to sell him instead of letting him go on a Bosman. A whole host of clubs were interested in Hulse. Fellow promoted club Cardiff City were close to