After 49 days trapped in a hotel in war-ravaged Kashmir due to the Covid-19 pandemic, David Robertson finally returned to Aberdeen.
It then took a gruelling three-day journey that included a terrifying 16-hour drive through one of the most treacherous mountain passes in the world to get home.
However, the former Dons defender is now back managing Real Kashmir, a team in the most militarised area in the world.
Which raises the question, why return?
The answer is simple – Robertson feels a responsibility to the people of Kashmir to continue the remarkable rise of a club that has brought hope and optimism to a troubled region.
In January 2017, Robertson took over a club just six months old, not in a league, with no training kit or changing rooms – in a warzone.
Four years on and he has cemented their top-flight status and, in December, led them to India’s prestigious IFA Shield, beating FC George Telegraph 2-1 in the final.
“I felt I owed it to the people of Kashmir, the players I had signed and obviously the owner to go back.
“For 90 minutes – win, lose or draw – there is happiness for the people in Kashmir.”
David Robertson
Real Kashmir are more than a club – they are a beacon of hope in a war-torn region.
It is an inspiring journey that is set to be immortalised in a Bollywood production.
It is one Robertson, 52, is determined to continue.
He said: “I felt I owed it to the people of Kashmir, the players I had signed and obviously the owner to go back.
“For 90 minutes – win, lose or draw – there is happiness for the people in Kashmir.
“Sandeep (Chattoo, club owner) has been very good to me and I wouldn’t want to let him or the people of Kashmir down.
“We had been signing a lot of players during lockdown when we were stuck up in Kashmir.
“Winning the Shield was fantastic, but it is sad our supporters didn’t get to see us come back with the trophy.
“When we won League Two, there were so many people who turned up to cheer us when we got off the flight back.
“I think this would have been the same as it is an even bigger deal.
“However, it is just the circumstances due to the pandemic, there is nothing we could do.”
Former Scotland international full-back Robertson was a product of the Pittodrie Youth system and won the Scottish Cup and League Cup with Aberdeen, his home city club.
He transferred to Rangers in 1991 for a then Aberdeen club record fee of £970,000.
Robertson went on to win six league titles with the Ibrox club as well as three Scottish Cups and three League Cups.
Later in his career he starred for Leeds United.
Nightmare journey to get home
Thousands of miles from where he played football, Robertson is making a name for himself in management.
He led Kashmir, the “Snow Leopards” to the I League Division 2 title to gain promotion to the top flight in 2017.
They were the first team from Kashmir to compete in the top division and in their debut season finished third.
Real Kashmir were fourth in the table when the league was shut-down due to the coronavirus pandemic last March.
With the region placed into lockdown, David, wife Kym and son Mason were stranded in a hotel owned by Real Kashmir’s owner Sandeep Chattoo.
They did not leave the complex for 49 days due to concerns about the fractious military tensions in the area and the Covid-19 outbreak.
It was a torturous wait for David as his mother was seriously ill back in the Granite City.
Following the intervention of the British High Commission in the region, the necessary visas and paperwork were processed to allow them to fly home.
The journey began on the Jojila Pass, a 250-mile dirt track from Srinagar to Jammu across the Western Himalayan mountain range.
It is battered by high winds and frequent snow-storms – and there is no barrier on narrow roads where there are drops of thousands of feet.
The trip from Srinagar to Jammu was absolutely horrendous.
“You couldn’t even say it is a road, it is a dirt track and you are scaling the edge of the cliffs on it with no barriers at the side.
“Cars have gone over the edge.
“Not only that there are shepherds on the same road with shee , cattle, donkeys and all sorts.”
David Robertson
They then flew from Amritsar in Punjab and, upon landing in London, took a mini-bus back to Aberdeen.
He said: “The trip from Srinagar to Jammu was absolutely horrendous.
“You couldn’t even say it is a road, it is a dirt track and you are scaling the edge of the cliffs on it with no barriers at the side.
“Cars have gone over the edge.
“Not only that there are shepherds on the same road with sheep, cattle, donkeys and all sorts.
“I was fortunate to get home to see my mum, who sadly passed away in early November.
“It was nice to be able to spend that time with her.
“If she had still been here, it would have been very difficult to come back.
“It is never easy. It was a long battle she had, but it was sad. You are never prepared for that, although we knew it was coming.”
Bio-secure bubble for I-League
David is joined at Real Kashmir by 26-year-old son Mason, who netted the winning goal in the ISA Shield final, formerly of Peterhead and Stenhousemuir.
We’re proud to bring Jammu & Kashmir’s first ever National Level Football Trophy, the historic IFA Shield, home.
This is #TheRealKashmir. pic.twitter.com/ZzrI4xeo7j
— Real Kashmir FC (@realkashmirfc) December 19, 2020
Father and son are currently in a bio-secure bubble along with five other teams in a hotel in Kolkata.
With the pandemic still plaguing the country, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed the league will be played behind closed doors at four venues in Kolkata and Kalyani.
Alongside FC Real Kashmir, the other teams competing in the I-League are Aizawl FC, Chennai City FC, Churchill Brothers, Gokulam Kerala, Indian Arrows, Mohammedan Sporting, NEROCA, Punjab FC, Sudeva and TRAU.
With his wife back in Scotland, Robertson admits it can be tough being thousands of miles away from loved ones.
But it is a sacrifice he is willing to make to continue the ascent of Real Kashmir.
He said: “Even though Mason hangs about with the players most of the time, just knowing there is a close family member next to me is a big help.
“We help each other through it at times as well.
“Mason has a fiancée in America and they have not seen each other for about a year now.
“He gets a bit down at times and I also miss home at times as well.
“My dad is on his own now and my wife broke her wrist the other day when slipping on the ice.
“She was in hospital and I wasn’t there for her.
“It has been a tough time, but I am only here for a short time this season.
“It started on Christmas Day, but we were there before doing our own bubble.
“The last game is on March 20.
“It is not long – a very short season.”
Real Kashmir are undefeated in the opening three games of the top-flight campaign and are seen as genuine title contenders.
After so long isolated in a hotel in Kashmir when the pandemic first hit, Robertson and his son are 1,380 miles south in Kolkata, but there is déjà vu about their situation.
They are locked in a hotel again, but this time for very much different reasons.
They are in a bio-secure bubble in pursuit of league glory to partner the Shield success.
All eleven teams will face each other once before the top six and the bottom five get divided into two different groups. Teams in both groups will then play one round of matches among themselves with the team with the most points overall being declared the winner.
Robertson said: “There are six teams in this hotel and five in another.
“We had to go into quarantine, we get Covid tests as well as temperature and oxygen tests.
“There have been one or two teams who have had the virus and have had to isolate.
“However, touch wood, we have been pretty safe and sensible.
“The league have done a good job keeping everyone safe.
“For example, we are only allowed to go down in the lift together as a team and a guy from the AIFF takes us down in it.
“We have our meals and then go straight back up to our rooms.
“You are not allowed to go into the corridor or the lobby of the hotel.
“You get out to go to training, but are chaperoned into buses to go to training and games.”
In the games so far in the campaign, Real Kashmir have defeated Chennai City 2-0 and drawn 1-1 with both TRAU and Sudeva Delhi.
Robertson said: “It is pretty secure in the hotel, but is good for our team spirit because everyone spends a lot of time together.
“That has helped a lot as this is probably the best group we have had had off the field.
“Although we have a lot of down time, there is still a lot to do.
“There is plenty to keep me busy.
“The league this season is weird as you only play each other once in a neutral venue.
“It is 10 games and then the top-six feature in a play-off to see who wins it and the bottom five in a play-off for relegation.
“We would like to do well, but it is a funny league as a lot of teams beat each other.
“It is not like any team walks off with the league and it is the same every year.
“We have drawn two and won once to sit second in the league.
“No team has maximum points, so we are in good shape.”
Rise of Real Kashmir
The catalyst for the emergence of Real Kashmir was the huge loss of life and property in the region following devastating flooding in 2014.
In a bid to give the region’s youth some hope and purpose, Shamim Mehraj, editor of local newspaper Kashmir Monitor, and Sandeep Chattoo, a local hotelier, came together to form a community outreach programme focused around football.
They provided 1,000 footballs for the local commmunity.
It was the beginning of a dream.
The Snow Leopards bring the Historic 123rd IFA Shield Cup to Kashmir.#TheRealKashmir #IFAShield2020 pic.twitter.com/dYkWT4Zx8B
— Real Kashmir FC (@realkashmirfc) December 19, 2020
Having gained massive support from the locals, it quickly evolved into a club which was formed in 2016.
Prior to the coronavirus lockdown, for 90 minutes, Kashmir supporters could forget about suicide bombers, roadblocks, curfews and communication blackouts, and get release, and joy, from football.
The club has done a lot for the region and brought a lot of happiness.
I think it is a big miss for the people of Kashmir that they cannot go and watch their team play.
“When we were in League Two, only men went to the games.
“Now there are kids, women, grandparents – various walks are all there.”
David Robertson
The Kashmir fans have been blocked from watching matches due to the restrictions enforced in the pandemic.
Robertson said: “The club has done a lot for the region and brought a lot of happiness.
“When we first came here, we only got 200 at games.
“When we won the league, we ended up getting 20,000.
“The sad part is that we are in the third season in the I-League and in that time we have only played 20 games at home.
“Sometimes games have been cancelled for various reasons and obviously last year there was Covid.
“I think it is a big miss for the people of Kashmir that they cannot go and watch their team play.
“When we were in League Two only men went to the games.
“Now there are kids, women, grandparents – various walks are all there.”
The adventures of Robertson has also been covered by BBC Scotland in documentary films.
Return to Real Kashmir FC won the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) Scotland Awards 2019.
Bollywood production on Real Kashmir
Such is the remarkable rise of Real Kashmir from the seeds of a charitable act in the face of tragedy, a Bollywood series is scheduled for the end of the year.
⚽🎉Congratulations to @gregoryclark1, @matchlight1 and Bodhi Media for their #BAFTAScot19 SINGLE DOCUMENTARY win for Real Kashmir F.C pic.twitter.com/eVjAa5Bwfm
— BAFTA Scotland (@BAFTAScotland) November 3, 2019
David explained: “They have done the script and are going to start the Bollywood series at the end of the year.
“It is exciting and a lot of good things are happening at the club.
“We just have to make sure we continue that progress on the field and continue to keep getting better and better.”
With a series in the pipeline has David’s role been cast yet?
“No,” he laughed. “I think it is too early for that.”
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