Everton History

A Final Farewell to Neil Robinson

Last Monday, people came from far and wide to pay their final respects to former Toffee, Neil Robinson who passed away suddenly on 24 November, at just sixty-five years of age. 

On Monday 12 December 2022, people came from far and wide to pay their final respects to Neil Robinson. Neil, who made twenty-three first team appearances as a right-back for the Toffees between 1976 and 1979, had passed away suddenly on 24 November, at just sixty-five years of age.  The ceremony, held at Widnes Crematorium on a bitterly cold afternoon, was so well-attended that many people had to stand outside, listening to the proceedings via the PA system.

Those present included family, friends, former clubmates from Everton, plus representatives of Everton FC and Everton FC Heritage Society. A group of his former Swansea City team mates had made an eight hour round trip to pay their respects to their former colleague who they still held in such high regard. 

Fittingly, as he is still the first team player born closest to Goodison Park (on Spellow Lane), Neil’s coffin was conveyed to the service by a royal blue hearse, with Everton FC insignia. Inside the chapel, his daughters, Ali and Kat, recited a beautiful poem that Neil had written for his wife-to-be Pauline, in 1977. They wed in January 1978 and she always kept it safely in her purse.

Keith Robinson gave a moving speech about his younger brother – adroitly mixing wit and warmth. He touched on his time as a footballer and recalled Neil turning vegetarian in 1970, to the shock of his mother, after seeing an animal sacrificially killed on TV. His father thought it was a two-day fad, but a decade later Neil became a vegan and never looked back (earning the nickname Bananaman when at Grimsby Town in the mid-1980s). Keith recalled how Neil spread the word about his beliefs, but not in a pushy way – a prime example being his completion of a long distance cycle ride from Lands End to John O’Groats, in an ashtonishing nine days, to highlight the benefits of a healthy vegan lifestyle. 

Neil was also a talented composer and wrote and produced music under several monikers. But above all, he was a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother.

A tribute was read from Neil’s son, Neil Jr. before celebrant Bill Wooland picked up on the themes of a life well lived, by a loving man, who lived true to his principles. 

Afterwards, attendees retired to Parklands Social Club, to raise a toast to Neil and share anecdotes about how he had touched their lives for the better. His brother John produced and delivered a moving and often humourous  presentation of images telling the story of Neil’s life, career and family, accompanied throughout with a soundtrack of several of his own compositions.

You can read a full tribute to Neil on the Everton FC Heritage Society website, via this link:

http://efcheritagesociety.com/neil-robinson-1957-2022/

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