 |
|
| Timeline |
|
|
Sir Robert William Robson CBE |
| Birth |
18 February 1933 in 28 George Street, Langley Park, County Durham [registered in Chester-le-Street, March 1933]. To Philip George and Lilian (née Watt). Fourth of five sons (Thomas, Philip, Ronald and Keith), brought up in Langley Park. Attended Waterhouses School. |
|
Bobby's father, Philip, was living at 14 George Street in Langley Park in 1911, with his parents, Bobby's grandparents, Philip and Emily. Philip was the third of seven children. |
| And according to the 1939 Register, Robert, along with his family, were living at 28 George Street. His father is a coal mine hewer. |
|
|
According to passenger lists, Robson was part of a group of Fulham FC footballers that left Liverpool, bound for Quebec, on 15 May 1951, on board the Empress of Scotland, under the mastership of E.A. Shergold. |
| Marriage |
to Elsie M. Gray, on 22 June 1955 at St. Michael's Church, Esh [registered in Durham Central, June 1955]. Three sons, Andrew, Paul and Mark. |
,%20Bobby.JPG) |
Died: 31 July 2009 , at his home in County Durham, aged 76 years 163 days, following a long battle with lung cancer. Private Funeral Service held on 5 August 2009 at St Michael's Church in Esh, buried at Langley Park cemetery, County Durham (left).Memorial Service held on 21 September 2009 at Durham Cathedral, beamed to TV screens at St James' Park, Craven Cottage and Ipswich town centre. Attended by Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Fabio Capello, Sven Goran-Eriksson, Graham Taylor, Steve McClaren, Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne and upto a thousand others made up the congregation. |
| Height/Weight |
5' 9½", 11st. 10lbs [1960]. |
| Source |
 Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] , Bobby Robson's Farewell but not Goodbye [2004] & |
| Biographies |
Time on the Grass - Bobby Robson (Arthur Baker 1982)An Autobiography - Bobby Robson (Hutchinson 1990)An Englishman Abroad - Bobby Robson and Bob Harris (Macmillan 1998)Sir Bobby Robson: Living the Game - Bob Harris (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2004) Farewell but not Goodbye - Bobby Robson (Hodder & Stoughton, London 2005)Newcastle: My Kind of Toon - Bobby Robson (Hodder & Stoughton, London 2008) |
|
x. - A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999). |
| Club Career |
|
| Club(s) |
A wing half and inside forward who started playing football with Waterhouses School and had amateur schoolboy forms with Middlesbrough FC, also Chester-le-Street FC juniors and Langley Park FC juniors. Despite being offered a contract to play for Middlesbrough FC and interest from Newcastle United FC, Robson signed for Fulham FC in May 1950, making 152 league appearances, scoring 68 times, before transferring to West Bromwich Albion FC in March 1956 for an Albion record transfer fee of £25,000 where he would make another 239 league appearances, scoring 56 times, becoming club captain. He returned to Fulham FC in August 1962 for £20,000 for a higher salary and another 192 league appearances followed, scoring only nine times. With interest from Arsenal FC, and an offer who became the player-manager of Southend United FC, Robson became the inaugural player/coach of Vancouver Royals FC in Canada from May 1967 to January 1968 in the United Soccer Association. |
| Club honours |
"In all my time as a footballer, I didn't win a thing." - R.W.Robson |
| Individual honours |
Football League (five appearances). Represented London in 1955. |
| Source |
Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & Bobby Robson's Farewell but not Goodbye [2004]. |
| Management Career |
|
,%20Bobby.jpeg) |
Club(s): Coached Oxford University between 1965 and 1966. Then player-coached Vancouver Royals FC in Canada from May 1967. The club merged and placed Ferenc Puskás in charge, whom Robson assisted for a while, until he returned to Fulham FC for the third time in his career who became the manager on 23 January 1968, a position who would only hold until he was sacked in November. After scouting for Chelsea FC, he returned to management with Ipswich Town FC in January 1969, a position he held until July 1982, when he became themanager of the England national team until he ended his reign in the summer of 1990. Following the decision not to renew his England contract, Robson was appointed manager of Philips Sport Vereniging NV in the Dutch Eredivisie. He remained for two seasons despite domestic success. He joined the Primeira Liga and Sporting Clube de Portugal in July 1992 until his sacking in December 1993. Then FC Porto picked up his services immediately, and a reversal of fortunes and success followed. Barcelona FC picked up his services in July 1996 with further success. He was General Manager in 1997-98, a position that did not sit right, so he returened to Philips Sport Vereniging NV for the 1998-99 season. He returned to England to serve the FA as an advisor, but soon took up his 'dream job' at Newcastle United FC in September 1999, and despite interest from the FA again, to take on the England manager's job in late 1999, Robson remained with Newcastle until he was sacked on 30 August 2004, after a poor start to that season. Robson turned down the offer who became the Director of Football at Heart of Midlothian, but did serve to assist Steve Staunton as a Republic of Ireland national team advisor between 13 January 2006 and 13 November 2007. |
| Club honours |
Texaco Cup winners 1973, FA Cup winners 1977-78; UEFA Cup winners 1980-81; Eredivisie Champions 1990-91, 1991-92; Taça de Portugal winners 1993-94; Primeira Liga Champions 1994-95, 1995-96; Supercopa de España winners 1996; Copa del Rey winners 1996-97; European Cup Winners Cup winners 1996-97; |
| Individual honours |
CBE for services to football1990; FWA Tribute Award for outstanding contribution to the national game 1992;European Manager of the Year 1996-97; British Sports Writers' Association Pat Besford Trophy for Outstanding Achievement 2001; Knighted for services to football 2002;Football Association Hall of Fame 2002; LMA Special Merit Award 2002-03; Football Hall of Fame 2003; Sports Coach UK Lifetime Achievement Award 2005; Eircom International Personality of the Year 2006; BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award 2007; Emerald UEFA Order of Merit Award March 2009; FIFA Fair Play Award December 2009; |
),%20Bobby.jpg) |
Also has the Freedom of three cities, Newcastle upon Tyne, Ipswich and Durham.Has a Class 91 loco named after him by East Coast Trains (click on pic, left), the second player afterGerard Powys Dewhurst, to receive such an honour, and a workboat, by Port of Tyne Authority. |
| England Career |
|
| Player number |
765th player to appear for England. |
| Position(s) |
Inside-right/right-half; Right-midfield |
| First match |
No. 317, 27 November 1957, England 4 France 0, a friendly match at The Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, aged 24 years 282 days.  |
| Last match |
No. 397, 9 May 1962, England 3 Switzerland 1, a friendly match at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, aged 29 years 80 days. |
| Major tournaments |
World Cup Finals 1958, 1962 (injured); British Championship 1960-61, 1961-62; |
| Team honours |
British Championship winners 1960-61; |
| Individual honours |
FA Tour of West Indies 1955 and South Africa 1956,England B (one appearance), England U23 (one appearance, one goal, 1955) |
| Distinctions |
The sixtieth Durhamer to represent England |
| Beyond England |
|
| x. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.x. |
|
1957-62 captain: noneminutes played: 1800