Main content

Is David Robertson Britain’s bravest football manager?

25 February 2019

In a career that saw him play top flight football up and down the UK, former Aberdeen, Rangers and Leeds United player David Robertson was well used to dealing with tense match days. But the stresses accompanying those games pale in comparison to the everyday situations he now faces as manager of Real Kashmir FC.

Since 2017 David has been based in the Indian team’s home city of Srinagar, which regularly endures violent protests and terrorist attacks. The situation in Srinagar is so uneasy that the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel there.

When a match was put in doubt because of a terrorist incident which shut down the city and saw armed guards on the streets, David revealed that he had become hardened to the realities of life in Kashmir.

“[At home] the only time the game’s off is [because of] the weather. I must be the only coach in the world that has to go through these things.”

Davie gets some worrying security news, throwing match preparations into doubt

“If I’d never been here before, then I’d be trying to get that first flight home.â€

Football in the danger zone

Support from home

Scotland’s new football show

Latest features from Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland