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Amidst a game of little moral fibre and financial thuggery, it is easy to forget that the beautiful game has presented us with some real heroes, people that instantly command respect and are true role models to young aspiring footballers across the globe.

Real Heroes of Football, Sir Bobby Robson, a Tribute to a Brave English Knight.

by Chris Kirk (Scribe)

19

393 reads

History

August 11, 2008


Amidst a game of little moral fibre and financial thuggery, it is easy to forget that the beautiful game has presented us with some real heroes, people that instantly command respect and are true role models to young aspiring footballers across the globe.

Sir Bobby Robson was born in Sacriston, County Durham in 1933. His father was a miner in the Langley Park coillery and Bobby followed his father into the pit trade aged 15.

Bobby grew up during the war years a tough upbringing but a happy one, which helped shape the man we see today.

After the war he regularly made the pilgrimage to St James Park to watch his beloved Newcastle United watching players like Jackie Milburn and Albert Stubbins grace the turf of the famous old ground. From an early age his only ambition was to become a footballer and his wish came true aged 17, when Fulham manager Bill Dodgin visited his house and offered the lucrative contract of £7 during the seaon and £6 in the summer.

He spent six years at Fulham rising through the ranks to gain a reputation as a fine goalscorer. At one point Newcastle made the biggest transfer the game had ever seen offering £60,000 for Jonny Haynes, Bobby Robson and Bedford Jezzard, seems even in those days money burned a hole in the clubs pocket. Bobby would have loved to return to his hometown club but the Fulham board were not to grant him his wish and he eventualy left to join West Brom in 1956.

Robson was a strong, robust attacking midfielder with an eye for goal and was rewarded with 20 international caps for England, scoring 2 goals on his debut against France at Wembley. He spent 6 years at Albion before returning to Fulham for the final 5 years of his playing career.

Sir Bobby never won a trophy in all his playing days, he was however about to more than make up for that statistic during his long and fruitful managerial career.

A turbulent 2 tears spent as manager of Fulham was followed by 14 seasons at Ipswich, during which he led the unfancied Suffolk club to F.A cup glory and even more remarkable, Uefa cup triumph. Those exploits at Ipswich meant England came calling, and he twice came, oh,so very close to claiming the world cup, in 1986 at Mexico and in 1990 in Italy.

Diego Maradona literaly punched England out of the competition at the quarter-final stage, and an agonising semi-final penalty shootout against Germany was to thwart his efforts 4 years later in Italia 90.

Dutch club PSV were anither club to benefit from Robsons excellent coaching ability and management skills, he went on to win consecutive league titles before moving onto Portugal to manage, firstly Sporting Lisbon before moving onto F.C Porto where he won 2 league titles and a Portugese cup.

Europes glamour club F.C Barcelona were the next club to come calling for his services and the prospect of managing the Catalan giants must have been a daunting task to a modest Englishman. A man who has fought numerous battles with cancer and who saved his wife from drowning on their honeymoon is not someone who would shirk such a challenge however and he went on to lead them to 2nd place in the league and the Spanish cup. During his years in Portugal and Spain he took under his wing a young ambitious coach called Jose Mourinho, who personaly credits much of his coaching ability to learning from Robson during their time together.

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19 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Anthony Sanchez 11 months ago

    I've never cared much for England.Got no real opinion on Newcastle but always loved Sir Bobby.Sad to hear about his cancer.

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    • Chris Kirk 11 months ago

      He has done so much for English football as a whole, I think he has the respect of every true football fan.
      I wonder whether we will ever see a top English coach manage the top teams in Europe again.

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  2. Ricky O'Neal 11 months ago

    A real great he is, it's upsetting how sometimes British football forgets who it's real heroes are.

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    • Chris Kirk 11 months ago

      Thanks for commenting, Hero and Legend are terms used very loosely these days, contributing 55 yrs of ones life must surely earn a person such an accolade.

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  3. XXX XXX 10 months ago

    Got a wee shiver reading this, I love the man reminds me of a generation in the UK of men of that ilk like my grampa and many others. I was quite upset to see him at the FA Cup final a reminder we are all mortal he looked very frail but still wanted to be part of it all, he is respected like no other English manager is today.

    Be it Italia 90 or just his personality he has a place in the nations heart...

    He was an educated man travelled the world and had class and grace and the brain on him, I love listening to him.

    At Barca he bought Ronaldo from PSV (his greatest season) the very same day Newcastle bought Alan Shearer... I was in the Metro Centre on a summer holiday with my mum and dad and all these sports shops started putting Newcaslte shirts in the window with Shearer's name and number on the back and I am thinking what is going on the news spread like wild fire he'd digned from Blackburn... The metro shopping centre in Newcastle it was a magical day Chris lol

    Loved this Chris big thanks for giving me the heads up...

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  4. Marc Kaveh 10 months ago

    Sir Bobby has a special place in my heart as the reason I became a Newcastle fan, he is honest, a gentlemen and never has a bad word about any one. That's why I chose to follow him and Newcastle, The memories he has left me with are the core of my childhood and it will be a very sad day when he passes on.

    You are a great man and are loved by all...

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    • Chris Kirk 10 months ago

      The way he was treated in his final days at Newcastle was a disgrace, but he still would never come out and bad mouth the club in any way. The mark of a great man.
      Thanks Marc.

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  5. Michael Griffin 10 months ago

    What a bloody brilliant article mate, tribute to a true hero, POTD and 5 stars by a clear margin mate.

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  6. Salaar Arshad Shamsi 10 months ago

    Good stuff here, Chris..Sir Bobby was a true legend...POTD from me too..

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  7. Andrew McNair 10 months ago

    Brilliant mate. A true hero of mine too. An honest gentleman and true character.

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  8. Shyam Parthasarathi 10 months ago

    I love Bobby Robson, he was an amazing manager, a truly good person and it's sad that he has such a disease. The amount of respect and adulation that he gets is something which he deserves..

    Great article.

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  9. Simon Williams 10 months ago

    Sir Bobby definitely had that 'something' that separates great managers from good. He could sound like a bumbling fool at times, but you can't argue with his record and his teams always played football the right way.

    The way he transformed Newcastle in to Champions League competitors in his time was as impressive as any of his other achievements, considering he had been a manager for so long and the game had changed so much in that time. To still be at the top of the game doing a great job was testament to the man.

    If only more English managers (and players) would take the 'foreign' route, testing themselves as people as much as managers. Steve Mclaren is much maligned, but it could just be the making of him.

    Great stuff Chris.

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  10. Danny Brown 10 months ago

    Good article, Chris mate, and I agree - in an age where money and lack of club loyalty seems to be key, Sir Bobby stands head and shoulders above most.

    May his battle be a successful one.

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  11. Saraswathi Siriginia 5 months ago

    Lovely read Chris, he was quite a character...

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