Laurent Robert

Pierre Laurent Robert (born 21 May 1975) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left winger.

He was known for his powerful shot, particularly from free kicks.

Born in Réunion, he moved to mainland France aged 16 and began his professional career with Montpellier and Paris Saint Germain, playing and scoring in the UEFA Champions League with the latter.

Six months into his spell, the Breton club filed for bankruptcy, and he moved to Auxerre in December 1991.

Shocked by the cold, he moved on one week later to Montpellier, so he could be with fellow Réunionnais goalkeeper Claude Barrabé; he was transported by former Montpellier player Fleury Di Nallo when Auxerre manager Guy Roux was absent.

On 20 January 1996, Robert scored his first professional goal in a 2–0 home win over Martigues, having asked manager Michel Mézy to bring him on as a substitute to take the free kick.

He came off the bench for the final 15 minutes on 11 February as his team were losing 2–0 at Paris Saint-Germain, and assisted the first goal and scored the winner in a 3–2 victory that would cost his future employer the league title.

After scoring 11 goals in 32 games in 1998–99, Robert was close to a transfer to Marseille, but backed out when manager Rolland Courbis said that his strategy was to rotate all of his players, including French internationals Robert Pires and Christophe Dugarry.

He then signed for PSG, who had finished the previous season in 9th.

Robert continued his reputation for free kicks at PSG, where he shared responsibilities with Éric Rabésandratana.

Robert played nine games for France between 1999 and 2001, scoring one goal and winning the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001.

His younger brother Bertrand also became footballer, as did his son Thomas.

Robert was born in Saint-Benoît, Réunion.

His father was a local footballer, who shared his reputation for free kick goals.

His younger brother Bertrand was also a footballer, and also began his career at Montpellier before spending most of it in Greece.

On 4 May 2000, he netted one in a 3–0 home win over Montpellier from 30 metres out.

In the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, he scored once and assisted twice in a 7–2 win over Rosenborg in what he called his "perfect match", as well as scoring a free kick against A.C. Milan in the second group stage in a 1–1 draw at the Parc des Princes.

Halfway through the 2000–01 season, when Robert was the league's top scorer with 12 goals, manager Philippe Bergeroo was dismissed and replaced with Luis Fernandez.

In 2001, he transferred to Premier League club Newcastle United for a £10 million fee, helping them qualify for several European tournaments including the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2003–04.

In July 2001, Robert contributed to PSG winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup, scoring four goals over the two legs of the second round against FC Jazz of Finland; he played as a forward due to injuries to Nicolas Anelka and Laurent Leroy.

On 1 August 2001, Robert signed a five-year deal with Newcastle United of the English Premier League, for a fee of £10 million.

Cup-tied for their Intertoto campaign, he made his debut on 19 August in the season opener away to Chelsea; his 25-yard shot in a free-kick situation was spilt by goalkeeper Ed de Goey, allowing Clarence Acuña to equalise in a 1–1 draw.

On 8 September, away to rivals Middlesbrough, he won a penalty from which goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was sent off and Alan Shearer scored, assisted a goal by Nikos Dabizas and scored his own first goal in a 4–1 win.

A week later, his fifth-minute free kick opened a 4–3 win over three-times defending champions Manchester United at St James' Park.

He scored five free-kick goals as Newcastle came fourth in 2001–02; as of August 2023, this remained a joint record alongside David Beckham's five for Manchester United a season earlier.

Robert's 11 free-kick goals in the Premier League ranks joint sixth in all-time ranking, and his average of 994 playing minutes per free-kick goal remains the best of any player with at least 8 such goals.

On 9 February 2003, Robert opened the scoring at home to defending champions Arsenal in the 53rd minute after receiving A Pass from Gary Speed 35 yards out, but was sent off within five minutes for two yellow cards in a 1–1 draw.

The second yellow card was for being too close to Dennis Bergkamp's free kick, a decision for which Newcastle manager Bobby Robson took issue with referee Neale Barry.

He built up a strong left-sided partnership with compatriot full-back Olivier Bernard.

In one match in 2003, his shot hit Bernard in the head and knocked him out; Bernard recovered and assisted a goal but had no memory of the event.

Robert was sent off in the 40th minute of a 2–2 draw at Everton on 13 September 2003.

Three months later, he scored "two contenders for goal of the season" and took the two corner kicks from which Alan Shearer scored the other two goals in a 4–0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur.

The following season, he was fined and disciplined for publicly criticising manager Graeme Souness, leading to a loan to Portsmouth and transfer to Benfica in the Portuguese Primeira Liga in January 2006.

He scored a winning free kick against O Clássico rivals Porto and played in a run to the Champions League quarter-finals, but moved on six months later to Levante in La Liga.

He ended his career with brief spells at Derby County, Toronto FC and Larissa.

Robert did not get along with Fernandez and in 2018, he blamed his arrival for PSG's title challenge failing.

His son Thomas signed for Airdrieonians in Scottish League One in 2020.

He is not the brother of Fabien Robert.

Robert played with the Réunion team that were French youth cup winners when he was 13, and league champions a year later.

At 16, he moved to mainland France to play for Brest.