Robert Earnshaw

Cardiff City

Earnshaw's youth team, GE Wales, played their home matches in Treforest on a pitch nearby to the youth team base of Cardiff City. In 1997, Earnshaw scored a hat-trick during a youth match that was being watched by Gavin Tait, then a youth team coach for Cardiff, who invited Earnshaw and some of his teammates to training and, on 1 August, he signed a one-year YTS contract at Ninian Park. He had also previously been watched by scouts from Manchester United. He progressed through Cardiff's youth development programme, scoring over 47 goals for the club's youth side during a single season including a hat-trick in a Welsh Youth Cup final victory over Llanelli, before being handed his debut in an FAW Invitation Cup match against Wrexham on 27 October 1997 at the age of sixteen. He made his professional debut on 6 September 1997 as a substitute in place of Scott Partridge during a 2–0 defeat to Millwall in the Football League Trophy. He made his league debut four months later, again as a substitute in place of Wayne O'Sullivan during a 0–0 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on 28 March 1998, and made four further league appearances during the 1997–98 season without scoring. Four days prior to the start of the following season, Earnshaw signed his first full-time professional contract in August 1998 and was handed a start in the first game of the season in an away match against Hartlepool United. With Cardiff losing 1–0, Earnshaw scored a bicycle kick from ten…

Born in Zambia, Earnshaw chose to represent Wales at international level, stating "I thought long and hard about what to do, but Wales was my country. It was where I grew up." Bobby Gould, who managed Wales until 1999, stated that he convinced Earnshaw to switch allegiance, helping him overcome concerns over potential playing time. He was capped by Wales at youth level won ten caps for the under-21 side, scoring once in a 4–1 defeat to Belarus. His exploits in Cardiff City's promotion campaigns attracted the attention of national coach Mark Hughes. Earnshaw made his debut in May 2002, scoring the winning goal on his debut for Wales against Germany at the Millennium Stadium; he was also named man of the match. Earnshaw became a key member of the Wales squad during the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. He staked his claim for a regular slot in the starting line-up with a hat-trick in the 4–0 friendly win over Scotland in February 2004. At the end of 2003–04, Earnshaw was named in the First Division team of the year. Because of racism directed to Earnshaw and others, from a Euro 2004 qualifying match, Serbia were handed a fine as a result of the abuse towards the Welsh football players. He represented Wales on 59 occasions over a decade and on 25 May 2011 captained the side against the Scotland at the Nations Cup. On 6 September 2011, in a Euro 2012 qualifier against England, he came on as a substitute with his team 1–0 down, and missed an 'open goal' from six yards, as England…

After working as a youth coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps, on 30 January 2018, Earnshaw was announced as an assistant coach for United Soccer League side Fresno ahead of their inaugural season. On 20 December 2021, Robert Earnshaw joins USL Championship side Orange County as assistant coach. From May 2020, the former football player studied in Wales for the UEFA Pro License, to become a coach in Europe.

One of five children, Earnshaw was born on the outskirts of the Zambian mining town of Mufulira on 6 April 1981 to Rita and English-born father David Earnshaw. His mother was a professional footballer in Zambia and later became a boxer and his father was a manager of a gold mine. His uncle Fidelis was also a professional footballer who played for Nkana and two of his cousins, Kalusha and Joel Bwalya, represented Zambia at international level. Kalusha later went on to become president of the Football Association of Zambia. When Earnshaw was five, his family moved to Malawi where his father took charge of a coal mine and his youngest son began attending St. Andrews School in Lilongwe. The school was a six-hour drive from the family home and Earnshaw was forced to fly to the school each Monday with his brother David and three sisters, Sharon, Joanne and Diane, and live there through the week before flying home each Friday. He went on to attend Viphya School where he was taught the Chewa language, already being able to speak Bemba and English. The family's stay was to be a short one again; in 1990, Earnshaw's father contracted typhoid fever and died in May of that year. Following the death of her husband, Rita decided to move the family to Bedwas, a small Welsh town near Caerphilly where her sister lived, in 1991. Earnshaw later commented: "It was the first time I had been away from Zambia. [...] It was much colder as well, just every little thing was different, everyone spoke…