Robbie Slater

Early years

Slater played with various clubs in his youth before joining St George Saints in the National Soccer League in 1982. He won the NSL with St George in 1983, and following this season he trialled with Nottingham Forest. However St George and Nottingham Forest were unable to agree terms and he returned to Australia. He then moved to Sydney Croatia in 1987 before an aborted move to Hajduk Split was quickly followed by a transfer to Anderlecht.

Europe

Slater did not see much playing time in Belgium and moved to then Ligue 2 club Lens, which was promoted during his time at the club (1990–94). While he was at Lens he was attacked with a baseball bat by Paris Saint-Germain supporters and nearly lost his life. At the end of the 1993–94 season Slater moved to Blackburn Rovers, and there he became the first Australian to win the English FA Premier League in the 1994-95 season, starting many of the games in the first half of the season and contributing numerous assists. He was not a regular player in the second half of the season, but his 18 league appearances (six as a substitute) were more than enough to qualify for a title medal. In August 1995, he was sold to West Ham United for £600,000 with Matty Holmes moving in the opposite direction. He made his debut on 26 August 1995 in a 1–1 draw away at Nottingham Forest with his first West Ham goal coming on 2 December 1995 in a 4–2 away defeat to his previous club, Blackburn Rovers. Slater made 29 appearances…

Slater won 44 caps for the Australian national team. His final appearance for Australia was against Saudi Arabia in the 1997 Confederations Cup. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.

Slater was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, and migrated to Australia with his family where he started his playing career.

St George

National Soccer League: 1983 Sydney United

National Soccer League Cup: 1987 Blackburn Rovers

Premier League: 1994–95 Australia

FIFA Confederations Cup: runner-up, 1997 Individual

Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1991, 1993 FFA Hall of Champions: 2005 Medal of the Order of Australia for services to football