WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Name: Keith Robson
Date of birth: 15 November 1953
Position: Forward
Debut: 18 September 1974
Last game: 5 March 1977
Not many West Ham United players can say they have scored for the club in a major European final. In fact, there are just three men who have had the honour - Alan Sealey, Pat Holland and Keith Robson. Sealey struck both unanswered goals in the 1965 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph against TSV 1860 Munich before Holland and Robson found the net in the 4-2 defeat by RSC Anderlecht in the same competition in 1976.
Robson was on target in the semi-final success against Eintracht Frankfurt as well although he claimed this week that his "fondest memory was scoring against Phil Parkes, to tell you the truth". The Geordie's choice of his headed goal in the 2-1 fifth-round defeat of Queen's Park Rangers en route to the 1975 FA Cup final may have had something to do with the fact the former goalkeeper - who would go on to become a Boleyn Ground legend - was within earshot.
Robson scored 19 goals in 85 games for the club during his three-season stay after signing from Newcastle United and naturally he takes a keen interest in those leading the line today, with Freddie Sears having caught his eye. "The times I have seen him play, he has been impressive," said Robson, who is looking forward to seeing how the young striker combines with an imposing target man like Carlton Cole in the games to come.
"I do think you need a big lad up front as well because then you have got two options," he said. "We can go short and then we can go long, or we can hit the ball long. I think that is what we have been missing. We definitely need to score some more goals."
The most recent Hammers goal came from Jack Collison and the 20-year-old is someone else Robgson likes the look of. He believes knowing when to give a chance to young talent is crucial to a manager's fortunes. "It is very important for Gianfranco Zola to bring these players through but i think at the moment it is very hard for him because of the position we are in.
"We are not far off the bottom, we are not far off the top but at the end of the day you have got to blood these boys. If you do it and the youngsters get in there and they do the job - which I believe they have in the last few weeks - it looks a tremendous future for West Ham."
As such, Robson who has a regular role meeting supporters in the hospitality areas at the Boleyn Ground, is looking forward to seeing as much as of the team he can. He does the same at Norwich City, the club he joined via a spell at Cardiff City after leaving the east end of London. At Carrow Road, he teamed up with the likes of Alan Taylor, John McDowell and the late Graham Paddon and such was his fondness for the club that he stayed in the area after retiring.
"I get back to West Ham as often as I can but at the moment I work for Norwich International Airport. Living in Norwich, I do the hospitality a lot at Carrow Road and see a lot of the Championship matches but, when I can, I get back here to Upton Park to watch the Premier League. That's the only place to be really."