Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson

Sir Robert William Robson CBE was an English footballer and football manager. His professional playing career spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals. After his playing career, he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal. He took England to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which remained the national team’s best run in a World Cup since 1966 until they reached the 2018 World Cup. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said, ‘I am going to die sooner rather than later

About Bobby Robson in brief

Summary Bobby RobsonSir Robert William Robson CBE was an English footballer and football manager. His professional playing career spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals. After his playing career, he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal. He took England to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which remained the national team’s best run in a World Cup since 1966 until they reached the 2018 World Cup. His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Republic of Ireland national team, while his final official club job was at boyhood club Newcastle United, whom he left in 2004. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said, ‘I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute’ He died just under a year later. Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town F. C. He was also the founder of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity which has so far collected over £12 million. He is buried at St James’ Park, Newcastle, where he was a fan of Newcastle United until he left the club in the late 1950s.

He described Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton as his childhood heroes. He played football whenever he possibly could but left school aged 15 to start work as an electrician’s apprentice for the National Coal Board in the Langley Park colliery. In May 1950, Bill Dodgin made a personal visit to the Robson household to offer Bobby a professional contract. Despite being offered a contract by nearby Middlesbrough, the offer made by Dodgin was too attractive to turn down, so he signed for Fulham and moved to London, playing as a wing half and inside forward. In 1950, Robson made his first-team debut for Ful Ham, in a match against Sheffield Wednesday. He came to regard Fulham as a social club, but never a serious, championship-challing club. Four years later, he made his West Brom debut for Vic Buckingham’s First Division club. He made his return to the top-flight in the 1951–52 season, but he was relegated from the club four years later. In March 1956, he was sold for a club record fee of £25,000, a record fee for the time at the time. He later played for West Brom for four years, before moving to the First Division’s Vic Buckingham’s First Division. He won the UEFA Cup with West Brom in 1959, and then the Premier League with Ipswich in 1961. He spent the day working at the Festival of Britain site and trained three nights a week at Fulham. His father insisted he continue to work as a electrician.