John Thomas Robertson (1875 – 8 December 1923) (usually referred to as Tom and sometimes as Jack) was a Scottish footballer who played at full-back around the turn of the 20th century for various clubs in England, including Stoke, Liverpool (where he was a member of the side which won the Football League championship in 1900–01) and Southampton (where he won the Southern League title in 1902–03 and 1903–04). Football career Stoke Robertson was born in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, before moving 25 miles north-west to Newton Mearns, near Glasgow. After playing as an amateur for his local village team and for St Bernard's of Edinburgh, he started his professional football career with Stoke of the English Football League First Division in May 1894. In each of his first two seasons with Stoke, when Robertson generally played as a half-back, he only managed 13 league appearances for the first-team. After spending the next two years at other clubs, firstly in Scotland with Hibernian (where he played on the losing side in the 1896 Scottish Cup Final) and then in England with Millwall Athletic of the Southern League, Robertson returned to Stoke for the start of the 1897–98 season. He now became the established right-back at the Victoria Ground, alongside Jack Eccles on the left. At the end of Robertson's first season back at Stoke, in which he made 23 appearances, the club finished at the foot of the First Division table, having failed to win once away from home, and were required to enter the end of season play-offs, in a mini "tournament" also involving Blackburn Rovers and the top two teams in the Second Division, Burnley and Newcastle United. Stoke managed their first away victory of the season against Burnley, and finished the play-offs at the top of the table, with Burnley as runners-up. In the event, the Football League decided to expand the First Division by two clubs, and thus Blackburn and Newcastle were able to take their places in the expanded division for the following season. Stoke's financial problems prevented the club from strengthening the side for the 1898–99 season, other than the signing of goal-keeper George Clawley, who returned from Southampton. The club fared better this season, finishing in mid-table, with Robertson only missing three matches. He also played in all six FA Cup matches, as Stoke reached the semi-finals, where they were defeated 3–1 by Derby