[2] He played at inside left for England schoolboys against their Welsh counterparts at Highfield Road, Coventry, in 1948; a match preview described him as "a born footballer who uses his head and both feet.
[6] Despite remaining a Villa player for a further four years, which included a spell of National Service in the Royal Air Force,[7] he never made the first team.
[2] He signed for Darlington, and finally made his Football League debut just days short of his 25th birthday, on 19 March 1958 in a 2–1 defeat at home to Southport in the Third Division North.
[9][10] His Darlington career is best remembered for his opening goal in the shock defeat of First Division team West Ham United in the inaugural season of the League Cup.
[11][12] The Daily Mirror reported how, "after only twenty seconds, [Lance Robson] swung the ball over to inside right Bobby Baxter, who teed it up for left half Ray Spencer to slam in a glorious goal from thirty yards (27 m).