1. Robert Earnshaw was born on 6 April 1981 and is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a forward.
44 Facts About Robert Earnshaw
1. 2.
Robert Earnshaw is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, all three divisions of the English Football League, the League Cup, the FA Cup, and for his country in an international match.
3.
Robert Earnshaw played for several English clubs before later in his career playing in Israel, Canada, and the United States.
4.
Robert Earnshaw made his international debut for Wales in 2002 and scored 16 goals in 59 games for the national side, making him its eighth-highest all-time goalscorer.
5.
One of five children, Robert Earnshaw was born on the outskirts of the Zambian mining town of Mufulira on 6 April 1981 to Rita and English-born father David Robert Earnshaw.
6.
Robert Earnshaw's mother was a professional footballer in Zambia and later became a boxer and his father was a manager of a gold mine.
7.
Robert Earnshaw's uncle Fidelis was a professional footballer who played for Nkana and two of his cousins, Kalusha and Joel Bwalya, represented Zambia at international level.
8.
When Robert 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.
9.
The school was a six-hour drive from the family home and Robert 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.
10.
Robert Earnshaw went on to attend Viphya School where he was taught the Chewa language, already being able to speak Bemba and English.
11.
The family's stay was to be a short one again; in 1990, Robert Earnshaw's father contracted typhoid fever and died in May of that year.
12.
Robert Earnshaw grew up supporting Manchester United and excelled at gymnastics and basketball.
13.
Cardinal Newman was a rugby union-playing school so Robert Earnshaw's first organised football match came at the age of 11 with local youth side Llanbradach.
14.
In 1997, Robert 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 Robert Earnshaw and some of his teammates to training and, on 1 August, he signed a one-year YTS contract at Ninian Park.
15.
Robert Earnshaw had previously been watched by scouts from Manchester United.
16.
Robert Earnshaw 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.
17.
Four days prior to the start of the following season, Robert 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.
18.
Robert Earnshaw's form saw him receive Cardiff's Young Player of the Year award and saw him named in the Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year.
19.
Robert Earnshaw went on to enjoy a prolific season, scoring two further hat-tricks in matches against Queens Park Rangers and Tranmere Rovers and scored six braces, as Cardiff won promotion to the First Division after defeating Queens Park Rangers in the 2003 Football League Second Division play-off final at the Millennium Stadium.
20.
Robert Earnshaw's continued goalscoring form attracted attention from numerous clubs, including Scottish side Celtic and Premier League clubs Fulham, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa.
21.
The hat-trick meant the Robert Earnshaw became the only player to have scored hat-tricks in all four professional divisions in England, the FA Cup, League Cup and in an international fixture.
22.
Nevertheless, Robert Earnshaw finished as Albion's top goalscorer for that season with 14 goals, earning him the Ronnie Allen trophy.
23.
In December 2005, Robert Earnshaw submitted two transfer requests, but both were rejected.
24.
However, in January 2006 manager Bryan Robson said that Robert Earnshaw would be allowed to leave, assuming there was a fair transfer fee on offer.
25.
Robert Earnshaw suffered a severe groin injury in training soon after, that was expected to rule him out of action for the rest of the season.
26.
Robert Earnshaw struggled to make an impact at Derby and was in and out of the side at the start of the season before being dropped.
27.
Robert Earnshaw was left out of the squad for the final game of the season against Reading when it was revealed that Jewell had accepted a bid from two unspecified clubs, later revealed to be Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, bringing to an end what Earnshaw later stated was one of his worst seasons in football.
28.
Robert Earnshaw's scoring picked up though, and he scored six goals in the last twelve games.
29.
On 6 July 2011, Robert Earnshaw rejoined boyhood club Cardiff City on a free transfer, following unsuccessful talks with Nottingham Forest regarding contract renewal.
30.
Robert Earnshaw would become new Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay's fourth free transfer signing since joining the Bluebirds from Watford.
31.
Robert Earnshaw would continue making substitute appearance for the BlueBirds, mostly featuring in the dying minutes of the game, up to the season's end.
32.
On 28 February 2013, Robert Earnshaw confirmed he had left Cardiff City to join Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC.
33.
Robert Earnshaw was awarded MLS player of the week for his two-goal performance, becoming the first Toronto player to be given the honour since Danny Koevermans the previous summer.
34.
On 15 August 2014, Robert Earnshaw returned to MLS, joining Chicago Fire on a free transfer.
35.
Robert Earnshaw made an immediate impact as a late substitute in his Whitecaps debut against the Portland Timbers three days later by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute on his first touch of the ball.
36.
Robert Earnshaw was named head coach of the Vancouver U-14 Pre-Residency team.
37.
Robert Earnshaw made his debut in May 2002, scoring the winning goal on his debut for Wales against Germany at the Millennium Stadium; he was named man of the match.
38.
Robert Earnshaw became a key member of the Wales squad during the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.
39.
Robert Earnshaw represented Wales on 59 occasions over a decade and on 25 May 2011 captained the side against the Scotland at the Nations Cup.
40.
Unused since August 2012, in the following March, Robert Earnshaw stated that he was still available for selection by the national side, a message that he reiterated that October.
41.
On December 20,2021, Robert Earnshaw joins USL Championship side Orange County as assistant coach.
42.
Robert Earnshaw was raised in Lansbury park in Caerphilly, Wales, where he moved to from Zambia and raised as a teenager.
43.
In June 2024, Robert Earnshaw married Bollywood actress Zarah Shah in Luttrellstown Castle.
44.
Robert Earnshaw is the only player to have scored hat-tricks in the Premier League, Divisions 1,2 and 3, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and in an international match.