Robin Friday

Childhood

Robin Friday and his twin brother, Tony, were born on 27 July 1952 in Acton, west London. Their parents, Alf Friday, a driver for a laundry firm, and his wife Sheila, were both born in Acton and had married a year before, both aged 20, having met three years earlier. Sheila's father, Frederick Riding, had played professional football for Brentford before the Second World War. The Fridays lived with Sheila's family until moving into a prefab of their own in Acton Green when Robin and Tony were aged two; they moved to a maisonette in South Acton in 1962 when it was found that the prefab was sinking. Robin and Tony were later described by their mother as having been remarkably close, rarely arguing or fighting. A noticeable difference in personality was that Robin was shy, whereas Tony was more confident. The twins attended their first professional match at the age of two, when their father took them to a Brentford match at Griffin Park. From the age of four Alf took both boys to play football at a local park every afternoon. Around the age of ten, Friday possessed notable ball-skills, and according to his father could flick an orange up onto his neck, balance it and then let it roll it back down his body and catch it on his foot. As well as football, Robin played cricket to a high standard, boxed and played tennis. Despite their many similarities and common interest in sports and football in particular, the twins were wildly different in academic terms:…

Reading

1973–74

In Hurley's words, Friday "trained like he played"; "he had no other way of playing". His new manager had to take him out of training on occasion because of the injuries he would inflict on his own teammates in his effort to win. By late January 1974, Reading were on a run of 14 games with only two victories, while Friday had performed strongly in three reserve matches. Hurley registered the amateur forward to play in the Football League on 23 January 1974 and gave him his first-team debut four days later. Friday turned in a performance away at Northampton Town that the Reading Evening Post called "outstanding" as Reading drew 3–3. The team then travelled to Barnsley on 3 February, having not won away from home in four months. After Barnsley led 2–0 at half-time, Friday scored his first League goal with a header just after the break to make the score 2–1. Reading immediately offered a professional contract, which Friday signed on 6 February 1974. His new salary was half what he had earned as an asphalter. Friday's technical ability made him very popular among Reading supporters and pressmen alike. The Reading Evening Post report of Reading's 4–1 victory over Exeter City on 10 February 1974, Friday's first match as a professional, described his performance as "sheer magic" as he scored twice. The report also called Friday's first goal of the day "glorious": he collected the ball wide on the left wing, took it past four Exeter defenders and…

Friday is often cited as an unsung talent. His nickname while a player was "Man Friday" which was used as the title of two-fact based novels about him of the same name by author, Stuart Kane. A latterly applied nickname, "the greatest footballer you never saw", was used as the title of his 1997 biography, co-written by Oasis bass player Paul McGuigan and Hewitt. Both as a player and a personality, Friday remains a major figure for both of his professional clubs. BBC Radio Berkshire Sports Editor Tim Dellor, speaking in 2010, emphasised the importance of Friday's charisma to his contemporary and retrospective appeal, a point which was also highlighted by his second wife, Liza (and have one daughter together), who likened his personal charm to that of "a pied piper". In terms of significance to Reading F.C., Dellor stated that Friday was the team's "very own George Best". Cardiff-based band Super Furry Animals used a photograph of him giving the V-sign to Aleksic in 1977 for the artwork of their 1996 single "The Man Don't Give a Fuck", which was dedicated to his memory "and his stand against 'the Man'". After winning the title of "Player of the Millennium" from Reading in 1999, he was voted the top "all-time cult hero" for both Reading and Cardiff in a 2004 BBC poll; with similar polls taking place at each Premier League and Football League club, he was the only player to appear in the top three for two different sides. In 2007, a poll of fans run by Reading resulted in his…

Detailed season-by-season statistics for non-League teams are not available for this period.