Posted by Stuart Grimshaw | Posted in tribute | Posted on 31-07-2009
Sir Bobby Robson, the England manager who came within a whisker of taking England to only their 2nd World Cup Final, has lost his long battle against cancer, aged 76.
Photo by Rockface
Sir Bobby and his trademark inability to remember the names of his players made his first foray into management at North American Soccer League side the Vancouver Royals, his first job in England was a short spell at Fulham before achieving his greatest success with Ipswich, guiding them to the FA Cup and UEFA Cup.
Robson succeeded Ron greenwood as England manager in 1982, and perhaps it’s a sign of how things have changed as his team failed to make the 1984 European Championships yet he still kept his job and guided England to the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup, the infamous Hand of God match. (”It wasn’t the Hand of God, It was the hand of a rascal. God had nothing to do with it.” was Robson’s take on the matter.) A poor European Championships in 1988 still saw Robson in the hotseat and in 1990 he guided the team to the semi finals, where England’s inability to beat Germany in penalty kick shootouts all started.
A spell with a various clubs in Europe saw Bobby win 2 Dutch League Titles with PSV and The Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup AND the European Cup Winners Cup with Barcelona, that latter earned him the prestigious European Manager of the Year.
The UEFA website has some fascinating extracts from an interview Bobby did in 2004, where he explains how he got into management and the development of his skills at Ipswich.
There are not many more successful English managers, and certainly non that will be as fondly remembered.
Update: The BBC has some very moving tributes from the greatest names in football.
Sir Bobby Robson, 1933 – 2009.
