Introduction
Robin "Robbie" Mustoe (born 28 August 1968) is a retired English footballer who now works as a commentator for NBC Sports. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing as a midfielder for Oxford United, Middlesbrough, where he spent the majority of his career, Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday.
Mustoe was born in Witney, Oxfordshire.
Playing career
Mustoe began his football career as a junior with Oxford United. He made his Football League debut in the 1986–87 Football League First Division, and went on to play nearly 100 league games for the club.
He joined Middlesbrough in 1990 for £375,000. When Bryan Robson took over as player-manager in 1994, Mustoe initially lost his place. However, he worked his way back into the side, becoming a consistent member of the first-team, featured in all three of the club's Wembley finals, and shared the club's 1999 Player of the Year award with Hamilton Ricard.
When Steve McClaren took over as manager in 2001, Mustoe was 33 and not part of McLaren's future plans. However he again worked his way back into the team and played a prominent part in the 2001–02 season. He left the club in the summer of 2002, having made more than 450 appearances in all competitions.
He played a season at Charlton Athletic before ending his professional playing career in League One with Sheffield Wednesday. At Wednesday he scored once, an injury time winner against Brighton & Hove Albion.
In his book Woody and Nord, Gareth Southgate describes Mustoe as "one of the most honest professionals in the game".
Coaching
After retiring as a player, Mustoe moved to Lexington, Massachusetts, in the United States where he coached college soccer.
Media work
Mustoe worked as a commentator/analyst for ESPN television for five years.
In April 2013, he took a job for NBC's English Premier League coverage as an analyst on their studio coverage, as well as NBC's Match of the Day and Premier League Download programs.