Although born in Lancashire, Bobby Simpson learned his football north of the border, joining Aberdeen from the local Westburn club in 1905 at the age of seventeen. In five years at Pittodrie he filled all the attacking positions at various times, and a record of 31 goals from 90 League and Cup games attracted the attention of a number of English clubs.
Tempted south in May 1910, Bobby joined a band of Scottish players at Bradford (Park Avenue) and was a regular in their Second Division side for two seasons, netting nine times in 56 League and Cup appearances.
In November 1912 he came to the Goldstone as part of the transaction that took Albion’s prolific goalscorer Jimmy Smith to Bradford. The sale of Smith left a gap that was hard to fill, though, and as Albion tried a number of players at centre-forward Bobby performed well in an inside role. However, in October 1913 he sustained a broken leg in the last minute of a game at Newport which brought his career to an end at the age of 25.