BUMP--RIP - Bobby Robson Has Died

Ipswich Official Site

SIR BOBBY ROBSON - A FOOTBALL LEGEND

Posted on: Fri 31 Jul 2009

Ipswich Town legend Sir Bobby Robson has passed away after a long and brave battle against Cancer.

Born in Sacriston in County Durham in February 1933, the fourth of five sons for Philip and Lilian Robson, the man who was to become Sir Bobby Robson began his footballing life turning out for local side Langley Park juniors.

An accomplished wing-half or inside forward, Robson's professional career spanned 20 years at Fulham (in two spells) and West Bromwich Albion in the Football League - making a total of 583 League appearances, scoring 133 goals. He also had a brief spell with Vancouver Royals.
Capped 20 times by England, scoring four goals, he was selected for squads for the 1958 and 1962 World Cup finals.

His first coaching job was at Vancouver in July 1967 and six months later he was appointed manager of Fulham. His stay at Craven Cottage was only 10 months but in January 1969, he was appointed Ipswich Town boss and he was to oversee the most successful period in the club's history.

Robson spent 13 years at Portman Road, establishing Town as one of the best and most attractive sides in England and in Europe. He lifted the FA Cup with Blues in 1978 and the UEFA Cup three years later.

He became the second Ipswich Town boss to be named England national team manager in the summer of 1982 - following in the footsteps of Sir Alf Ramsey - and took England to the World Cup Quarter-Finals in 1986 and the Semi-Finals four years later, losing in a penalty shoot-out to Germany.

After the finals he took charge of Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, winning two Dutch League Championships, then followed successful spells at Sporting Lisbon and Porto, where he won three League titles before becoming manager at Barcelona in June 1996, steering the Spanish giants to European Cup-Winners' Cup glory in his time at the Nou Camp.

A return to PSV followed in 1998 and then in February 1999, he returned to his native North East to become manager of Newcastle United, the club he supported as a boy.

In his five years at St James' he became immensely popular with the home fans as he guided the club away from relegation battles and into the Champions' League.

He took on an advisory role to Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton in January 2006 and remained with the Irish for 18 months, his last job in football.
Awarded the CBE in 1990, Robson was knighted in June 2002 for his services to football. He was named an Honorary Freeman of Newcastle in 2005 and in July 2006, became Honorary President of Ipswich Town.

In December 2007, he received the lifetime achievement award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year and a year later was granted the Freedom of Ipswich and the Freedom of the City of Durham.

There will be tributes on the Club website through the day.

www.itfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10272~1739068,00.html

Sad news that. A true gent. R.I.P.

Truly sad news.....

A great great football man. He was football through and through.

My favourite Bobby Robson story was regarding the way he got names mixed up. When Shola Ameobi reported for England U21 duty there was a session for everybody new to get to know each other and Shola was asked if he had a nickname. When Shola said he didn't have one they asked "Well what does Bobby Robson call you during training sessions at Newcastle?".

"Carl Cort" replied Shola.

Sad to lose one of the games great characters.

Of course I know him for his history in England and his warm character but you should all know how much he was adored in Portugal. "A Bola" the Portuguese sports daily is running the story on its front page and many of the non sports paper are also. Very few men will ever have that measure of respect in their chosen profession. Adeus Bobby.



www.abola.pt/nnh/ver.aspx?id=171866

www.correiomanha.pt/

What an amazing factoid "....[D]uring his 13 years in charge at Portman Road. In all that time he signed only 14 players from other clubs, preferring to reap the benefits of an outstanding youth scheme..."


David Lacey - Guardian Obituary

Sir Bobby Robson was the heart and soul of English footballThe former England manager was a natural fighter who never let the game get him down

Bobby Robson became the heart that English football wore on its sleeve. Throughout a long career as player and manager his passion for the game refused to be weakened by the inevitable ups and downs and remained as strong as ever during his long fight with Cancer.

Robson was a natural fighter. The game would have him on the canvas but he kept coming back for more. In his early days as manager of Ipswich he actually did become involved in a fist fight with two players, Tommy Carroll and Bill Baxter, who objected to being dropped but usually, with Robson, it was less a matter of exchanging punches than showing a steely resolve not to let football's vicissitudes get him down.

Towards the end of his life he became a revered figure in the English game, and a knight to boot, although for much of his time in football he did not come across as a national treasure in the making. His playing career was not distinguished by winner's medals. As he said: "In all my time as a footballer I didn't win a thing." As a manager he did not enjoy the success of Matt Busby or Bill Nicholson let alone Brian Clough or Alex Ferguson. Not until he managed abroad did he win league titles.

Had Robson retired after taking England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup he would now be remembered as a manager who twice followed in the footsteps of Alf Ramsey without quite making it all the way. Ramsey won the league with Ipswich in 1962, Robson led them to second place in 1981. Ramsey's England won the World Cup in 1966, Robson's England reached the last four in Italy.

It was Robson's enduring presence in the game, whether abroad as a club manager in Holland, Portugal and Spain or back in this country at Newcastle, or simply as a spectator at St James' Park, that reminded people of the essentially English footballing values which he represented in an age of strong foreign influences on and off the field.

Robson was fiercely proud of England's traditions. As a player he epitomised the virtues of speed, stamina and technical ability which English players were developing in the late 1950s and early 60s once the most important lessons of the heavy defeats Hungary had inflicted on England had been absorbed.

For all the skills of Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti and the others the Hungarians were basically about intuitive movement off the ball and few of Robson's contemporaries had a better sense of space and movement when he was winning his 20 caps, covering much ground as an attacking midfielder and saving the legs of Johnny Haynes. He was considered essential to England's chances of making serious progress in the 1962 World Cup in Chile but suffered an ankle injury in a warm-up game and missed the tournament. England went out to Brazil in the quarter-finals and Robson never won another cap.

He had first attracted international attention as a West Bromwich player, appearing for them 257 times and scoring 61 goals. His playing days began and ended at Fulham and even now the mind's eye can recall the gaunt, vociferous figure urging the team on as they kept escaping relegation in the mid-60s.

Robson once described Fulham, where he was manager briefly, as "a nice club, a social club, but never a serious championship-challenging club". But for Ramsey it is a description which would have fitted Ipswich, regarded by its bosses, John and Patrick Cobbold, as a nice place to entertain their friends. Crucially, the Cobbolds did not interfere in team matters and Robson had a free hand during his 13 years in charge at Portman Road. In all that time he signed only 14 players from other clubs, preferring to reap the benefits of an outstanding youth scheme.

Not that Robson was averse to change or innovation. Ipswich were among the first to go shopping overseas after the ban on foreign imports was lifted in 1978. By signing Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen from Twente Enschede he added a fresh dimension to the team and the Dutch pair were crucial to the winning of the Uefa Cup in 1981, Ipswich giving what was arguably their finest performance under Robson when they beat a St Etienne side that included Michel Platini and Johnny Rep 4-1 in the away leg of their quarter-final.

Robson could get angry but it never lasted long. His occasional spats with reporters were quickly forgotten. He was never one to hold a grudge. During the 1990 World Cup his fiercest critics were among those who gave him a farewell lunch in Sardinia. And Robson did suffer some vitriolic criticism shortly before England left for Italy.

Following some ancient kiss-and-tell revelations in a newspaper Bert Millichip, the chairman of the Football Association, as good as told Robson his contract would not be renewed after the tournament. Robson wasted no time getting himself fixed up with PSV Eindhoven for the new season and was labelled a deserter by the more hysterical sections of the press.

Yet when England returned home after losing to the Germans on penalties in the Turin semi-final a large crowd at Luton airport greeted Robson with loud cheers. He had left the country a condemned man but came back a hero of sorts.

Nothing quite became Robson as his calm reaction to the way England went out of the 1986 World Cup to Argentina when they lost to Diego Maradona's fiendish handball and quite outrageous prance through the best part of an entire team. When any losing manager could have been forgiven for spitting blood Robson kept his cool although he was to reflect later that "it wasn't the Hand of God, it was the hand of a rascal. God had nothing to do with it".

His time on the switchback of the European coaching circuit was followed by the move to Newcastle, whose fans had spat on him after he dropped Kevin Keegan on taking over England from Ron Greenwood on 1982. Under Robson Newcastle finished fourth, third and fifth in the Premier League, so naturally they sacked him. By then he was well into the struggle with Cancer and despite the manner of his departure as manager it was fitting that he should watch his last matches at the home ground of his boyhood heroes, Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton.

A football man to the last, Bobby Robson, and an England football man through and through.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/jul/31/sir-bobby-robson-dies

Was/Is there another man with as much passion and love for the game in general?? No matter how bad things got, he still gave it his best shot. A good winner and an even better loser. Sportsmanship surpreme. And to see his reactions when he won that major award, so humble when being honoured. Last of the working class managers. No Amani in his wardrobe.

I am glad he is out of the pain now and he will be remembered with respect and appreciation. And he gave plenty of QPR players a chance to shine for England.

Some nice photos from BBC

"Sir Bobby Robson's Life in Photos"
news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7601960.stm

BUMP

Two years on today...the more I hear about the man the more I admire and think football misses him