Free thinking full back Neil Robinson sat on the fringes of the Everton team through the mid-1970s and provided solid cover for Mick Bernard and Terry Darracott during this period.  Called upon to deputise in the ill-fated League Cup semi final in one of his very first outings for the club, the 19-year-old let nobody down.

Robinson was brought up in the shadow of Goodison Park and spent his early years living on Spellow Lane. His father, Jim, was head barman at the Wilnslow Hotel, and his brother, John, had also been a youth player at the club. Another brother, Ken, later became a world-renowned educationalist.

In 1973 Neil became the last apprentice to be signed while Harry Catterick was manager. ‘It was not long after Alan Ball left that I signed as an apprentice, and my training kit number (21) was the same as his – so I was quite proud of that,’ he would recall in an interview with the Everton Heritage Society. ‘Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey were still there. I was just so in awe of them! I remember going home to Mum and Dad after training and shouting: “I just saw Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey!” It was an absolute pleasure to play with them in training and practice games – even now I still look on them as my heroes!’

Given his first team debut in borrowed boots on in January 1976, Neil made his second appearance (and FA Cup debut) nearly a year later. His only goal for the club came in the famous 6-0 win over Chelsea in May 1978, when Bob Latchford needed to score a brace in order to secure his 30^th league goal of the season.

‘There was an incident in the box just before I scored, and the lads were demanding a penalty so that Bob could take it to get his 29th goal,' he recalled. ‘I thought something was odd because no one came to congratulate me – they were all berating the ref! I nearly ran out of the ground with joy, having scored my first goal for my beloved Everton and I almost had to pay to get back into Goodison!’

Alas competition for places meant he was never able to make a first team place his own and in October 1979 a £70,000 fee took him to John Toshack’s Swansea City.  His untapped potential was realised at the Vetch Field and he played an important role in the Welsh club’s early-1980s ascent.

Always one to follow his own path, Robinson turned vegetarian as a young teenager and became a vegan after joining Swansea City in 1980.  Although the Blackburn forward Jason Roberts later followed this trend, Robinson is credited with being the first modern professional to follow such a rigorous diet.

‘I can safely say that my diet was never a limiting factor during my training or playing. In fact I was almost always one of the fittest players at every club I played at,’ he told the summer 2006 issue of The Vegan magazine.

‘I became a vegetarian at 13 years of age because I was disgusted by the cruelty to animals just for human consumption and became vegan after finally coming to my senses and realising how cruel the dairy industry was to animals. I fully believe that veganism is the most compassionate and only way for vegans to live.’