Robert Thomas Shinton is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former football forward and manager.

Shinton began his playing career with Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

 in 1971 before moving on to Cambridge United

Cambridge United F.C.

Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...

 in 1974. He left the club in the 1975 close season to sign for Wrexham where he proved a hit, helping the club to a Football League Third Division

Football League Third Division

The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 title and a series of FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 giant-killing

Upset

An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win , is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom...

 results. A £300,000 move to Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in the 1979 close season proved unsuccessful and Shinton was loaned out to Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 before completing a full time move to Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

. Although he featured more regularly at Newcastle than he had in Manchester Shinton's scoring boots deserted him as the club struggled for goals across the board. He left Newcastle in March 1982 to sign for Millwall again. He finished his league career with the Lions after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent.

Dropping out of the league, Shinton played non-league football with Worcester City

Worcester City F.C.

Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at St George's Lane.-History:...

 and briefly managed the club in 1984. He finished his playing career with spells at Weymouth

Weymouth F.C.

Weymouth F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.-History:Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year...

 and Malvern Town

Malvern Town F.C.

Malvern Town Football Club is an English football club based in Malvern, Worcestershire. The club's first team play in the West Midlands League Premier Division and have twice reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.-History:...

. During the late 1990s he was involved in the management of Newmarket Town

Newmarket Town F.C.

Newmarket Town F.C. is an English football club based in Newmarket, Suffolk. The club are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Cricket Field Road.The club is affiliated to the Suffolk County FA.-History:...

 although he has since left football to set up his own double glazing firm in Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

. Shinton now works at a local builder's merchant, A.R. Aspinall & sons, in Cambridgeshire.