Barney Corkhill's "A Tribute To..." series returns with a very special tribute on a sad day for football. This morning, July 31, 2009, the legendary manager Sir Bobby Robson passed away after a long battle with cancer at age 76.

Here, I will reflect on the illustrious career of the great man.

Born on Feb. 18, 1933, Robert William Robson grew up as a Newcastle fan, adoring the skills of the likes of Jackie Milburn from the stands.

While he is most famous for being a legendary coach, Bobby Robson was also a very talented player. At 17, he was signed by Fulham, and he made his debut for the club later that year against Sheffield Wednesday.

The young Robson showed plenty of promise and potential, being touted as one of the brightest prospects in English football, but he couldn't prevent Fulham slipping into the Second Division in 1952.

After seeing little progress in the four years that followed, Robson moved to West Bromwich Albion for a club-record transfer fee of £25,000 in 1956. It was here that he started to fulfill his potential.

In the 1957-58 season, Robson finished as West Brom's top league goalscorer with 24 goals, including four in one match against Burnley.

This form earned Robson a place in the England squad, making his debut against France in 1957, scoring twice in a 4-0 win.

Despite a short run of matches in 1960 and 1961, Robson never became a regular in the England set-up, largely due to the competition from Bobby Charlton and, early in his career, Stanley Matthews and Nat Lofthouse.

He went on to make 20 caps for the national team, scoring four times.

Things weren't running entirely smoothly back at West Brom either. His good form and leadership qualities made him a favourite at the club, but his team-mate, Jimmy Hill, was beginning a revolution to abolish the maximum wage.

Therefore, despite captaining the side in both the 1960-61 season and the 1961-62 season, Robson was sold back to Fulham in 1962 after a wage dispute with West Brom's vice-chairman.

Fulham, at the time, were a club on the rise, with players the calibre of Rodney Marsh and Alan Mullery. Those two, however, were soon sold, and Robson once again found himself at a club lacking ambition and championship credentials.

He stayed there for another five years before moving for a short and unsuccessful spell as the player-manager of Vancouver Royals.

He eventually retired as a player after this stint, but he wasn't out of the game for long as, in 1968, he returned to Craven Cottage as manager.

Once again, however, it wasn't the most successful of times for Robson, as his first season in management led to relegation, and him being sacked just 10 months after taking the job.

In 1969, Robson bounced back into management with Ipswich Town, a struggling provincial club side still yearning for a return of the glory days they experienced under World Cup-winning manager Alf Ramsey.

The legend of Sir Bobby Robson had begun.

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