Carl Robinson began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he enjoyed seven seasons, before being signed on a Bosman by Portsmouth in the summer of 2002. The versatile midfielder, who spent time on loan at Shrewsbury Town during his Molineux career, played almost 200 games for the club as they tried to win promotion into the Premiership.

But his career with Portsmouth was not as enjoyable. After making his debut in a 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest, he eventually dropped down the pecking order and was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday in January 2003. He failed to really find top form and Hillsborough and a month later swapped his loan move to Walsall, who he helped to stay in the First Division.

The Llandrudod-born midfielder has been capped at Under-21, 'B' level and Full international level (Robinson made his full international debut against Belarus in 1999). He was loaned out to Rotherham United in mid-September 2003. He impressed greatly with the Millers, and they were sorry to see him go at the end of his three-month spell - in which he made 16 appearances. On his return to Pompey he found himself in first team action due to the club's injury problems, featuring three times before joining Sheffield United on loan in late-January 2004. He was a success at Bramall Lane, but the Blades could not afford to take him on permanently.

That led to a loan move to Sunderland on transfer deadline day in March, leading to the free move in the summer. He made 40 League starts as the Black Cats took the title and booked a place in the Premiership. Robinson ended a nomadic couple of seasons in the summer of 2004 when he signed for Sunderland on a permanent basis. He then became a mainstay of the side which stormed to the Championship title the following season. Robinson signed a new two-year contract in the summer of 2005.

But after starting the first three Premiership matches he lost his place in the side, featuring only sporadically from the bench. That led to a loan move to Norwich City at the end of November. Robinson made his Canaries debut in a 2-2 draw at Coventry City.

Carl's move to Carrow Road became substantial on 17th January 2006 for a fee of £50,000. It was the first time in his career that a transfer fee had been paid for his services. Robinson scored his first goal for Norwich in the 5-1 win against Barnsley on 26 August 2006. He netted once more with a headed goal in the 3-1 victory over Leicester City on 28 November 2006.

Never that popular with the Carrow Road faithful, Carl was released in January 2007 so that he could sign for Major League Soccer new boys Toronto FC, who also field Jim Brennan.

After three years with Toronto, Carl was released in March 2010 and was believed to be training with the New York Red Bull. New coach Preki Radosavljevic confirmed on 8th March 2010 that the former Welsh international had left the team. “It’s a case of the numbers. It’s a case of the salary cap. It’s a case of everything,” Preki said of the veteran midfielder. New York clenched his signing on 12th March as part of the 4th round of the MLS superdraft, along with former Toronto colleague Greg Sutton. "Carl is a very consistent player who will immediately contend for a spot in our starting lineup," said general nanager and sporting director Erik Soler. "He has a significant amount of experience at both the club and international level and we expect that he will bring a strong veteran presence to our locker room."

On 20th January 2012, Carl took up a post as Assistant Coach with the Vancouver Whitecaps who play in the MLS..