The troubled life of Friday
ROBIN Friday and his twin brother Tony were born and raised in a working-class family in Acton, west London, in the 1950s and 1960s.
In his teens – around the time he started dabbling in drugs – he spent time in the youth teams of Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea, but none would take a chance on the young nonconformist.
He left school at 15 and worked as a plasterer, van driver and window cleaner before his misdemeanours – thefts, mainly – led to a 14-month spell in Feltham Borstal.
Over the next three years, Friday frequently lit up the Isthmian League, starring for semiprofessional sides Walthamstow Avenue, Hayes and Enfield, while working full-time as an asphalter.
Eventually, in 1973, Reading manager Charlie Hurley decided Friday was a gamble worth taking, signing him as an amateur. His impact was immediate. Within a few months, after turning in a handful of eye-catching displays, he was given a professional contract by the Royals.
Fast, strong and skilful, Friday was also physical and intelligent, with a strong will to win. In short, he was a defender’s nightmare.
Friday spent his leisure time downing cans of American Colt 45 lager, often getting himself barred from the town’s pubs and clubs.
According to his pal Syd Simmons, he obeyed Hurley’s order not to drink 48 hours before a game. Instead, he took LSD and stayed up half the night listening to heavy metal music.
Having made a promising start to his Reading career, you might have thought Friday would have been keen to knuckle down and kick on. Sadly not.
His second season started in truly bizarre circumstances. In the summer, he joined a hippy commune in Cornwall, neglecting to tell the club. Nevertheless, with 20 goals for the 1974-75 season, Friday was named the club’s player of the year.
And on March 31, 1976, against Tranmere, he scored his greatestever goal, thundering an acrobatic overhead kick into the top corner.
In the weeks following, Reading were promoted to the Third Division. For Friday, it was as good as it got.
From here, things started to go downhill – rapidly. Friday’s partying took its toll. He was unfit and not up to standard. Hurley, by this point, was aware of his drug use, which was spiralling out of control. The club was ready to sell him.
In the last days of December 1976, Cardiff City bid a lowly £28,000, which was enough to secure Friday’s services and he travelled to Wales, reluctantly, to join Jimmy Andrews’ team.
His Bluebirds’ career started badly. He was arrested on arrival at Cardiff Central railway station after skipping the fare, travelling with a platform ticket. Andrews had to bail him out.
The night before his Cardiff debut, against Fulham on New Year’s Day, 1977, he stayed up drinking until 5am. It didn’t matter. He scored two, running rings around England legend Bobby Moore..
At Cardiff, though, there were more lows than highs as Friday isolated himself. One explosion of violence, sparked by someone laughing when a ball hit him on the head, left a teammate needing a neck brace for two weeks.
At the culmination of that season, the team lost the Welsh Cup 4-2 on aggregate to Shrewsbury, losing the second leg 3-0.
His only notable contribution the following season and his last significant act on a football pitch was to kick Mark Lawrenson in the face in an away game at Brighton and get sent off.
By Christmas 1977, the Bluebirds had terminated Friday’s contract by mutual agreement. He’d made 25 appearances for Cardiff, scoring seven goals.
By 1978, he was back in Acton, living at his parents’ house and working as an asphalter.
After retiring, Friday married for the third time and spent time in prison for impersonating a police officer after confiscating people’s drugs for his own consumption.
He was found dead in his flat on December 22, 1990, at the age of 38, having suffered a heart attack.
For Reading and Cardiff fans, he remains the ultimate cult hero. Those lucky enough to witness his talents on the pitch did not forget them easily.