Born in Glasgow on 7th September 1987, Snodgrass joined West Ham United in January 2017 on a 3 1/2 year deal for a fee of £10.2m. Robert extended his contract before the start of the season until the summer of 2021.
Robert began his professional career at Livingstone and has had spells at Stirling Albion before moving to Leeds United winning promotion to the Championship in 2010. He has also played for Norwich City and Hull City and rose up through the Scottish national side through the under-19, under-20 and under-21 side before joining the full international squad. Snodgrass missed the whole UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign after suffering a kneecap injury but returned in a friendly against Czech Republic in March 2016 and also scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win against Malta during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Robert retired from international duty in October 2019 having scored 7 goals in 28 caps.
Snodgrass spent most of the 2017/18 season on loan at Aston Villa in Championship, scoring 7 goals and providing 14 assists and being part of the team that won a play off final place after beating Middlesborough in the two legged semi final. But Villa failed to win promotion to the Premier League after losing 0-1 to Fulham in the final.
Snodgrass returned to West Ham the following season, scoring his first two goals in the EFL Cup match against Macclesfield on 26th September 2018. He has made 29 appearances in all competitions this season scoring 5 goals – including a brace in that memorable home match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 1st February 2020.
In March 2019 Snodgrass was charged by the FA for allegedly abusing anti-doping officials who attended the clubs training ground to conduct out of competition testing on 6th February 2019. Snodgrass received a fine of £30k and served out a one match ban.
Snodgrass is a versatile player capable of playing across the midfield and delivering vital crosses into the box from the flanks, particularly with his left foot and from corners and free kicks. With a passing accuracy of 77.8% and averaging 21 passes per game, Snodgrass has hit form this season and is certainly a grafter on the pitch and rumour has it Moyes is looking to extend his contract for another year. A very different story to when Robert was told he could either leave the club or go out on loan in 2017.
Snodgrass is a hard working player who for me puts in a shift whenever he is on the field. There was a time at the start of his West Ham career when he seemed to struggle on the pitch and criticism was focused on whether he is at the right level in the Premier League. When he was on loan at Villa people said that the Championship was probably his level. For me, over the last two seasons you can see his resurgence and commitment to the team and desire to win, whether he starts or comes on as a substitute. I believe he has become an important player for us and extending his contract could be good business for the club at the moment.
