Both Ted and George were hugely successful footballers for Barnsley FC and Newcastle United.
They moved to South Yorkshire from Iquique in Chile in 1932 with their mother, Elsie. George was 5 years old, Ted was 3 and Walter was a baby.
George played a few games for Barnsley and Huddersfield Town as an amateur during the war, and signed professional forms at Oakwell in 1943, when he was 16. Ted followed George to Oakwell in 1947.
George had scored 47 goals in 114 Second Division and FA Cup appearances for Barnsley when, in January 1949, an approach came from Newcastle United, the giants of the North-east. They wanted George, and were willing to pay pounds 26,500 to get him. But George insisted that they should also take Ted, who had made only five appearances for the Yorkshire club, and Newcastle agreed.
George’s team-mates christened him “Pancho”, and at the end of his first full season at St James’ Park his origins were recognised by a call to join Chile’s national team in Brazil for the 1950 World Cup.
George really excelled. He became the leading scorer in England and held the record for most top-flight goals scored by a “foreigner” for almost 50 years. This was topped off by scoring the winning goal in an FA Cup final in 1952 for Newcastle United.
Walter might have become the best footballer of the lot had he not suffered from poor eyesight in an age before the invention of lightweight contact lenses.
In 1953, Ted & George returned to Chile where they played for Colo-Colo. Ted passed away in 1970 in suspicious circumstances, falling from an oil-tanker. George passed away in 1989.
In a small area of South Yorkshire there are two very old football competitions. The Totty Cup is for schools and started in 1923. The Montagu Cup is for adult teams and started in 1897.
Not enough people know that George Robledo played and scored in the Totty Cup final (1939), the Montagu Cup final (1944), the FA Cup Final (1952) and the World Cup finals (1950).
Chris Brook (2019)