Cross Bars

2009 will be a year to remember one of football’s greatest, Sir Bobby Robson who died in July following a long battle against cancer. He will be remembered as one of the most charismatic coaches to come out of England, well worthy of his knighthood appointed in 2002 for his services to the game of football.

Bobby Robson’s career as a playing footballer spanned out over 20 years , playing at Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Vancouver. But it will be his career as a manager for which he will be both remembered and recognised. Robson started out as a player manager at Fulham but it was at Ipswich Town that his success as a manager began to flourish. During the 13 year period at Ipswich Bobby Robson bagged the club an FA Cup title and also UEFA.

Perhaps the late Sir Bobby Robson showed his finest managerial skills on the international stage in particularly for his spectacular management of the England squad to the semi finals of the 1990 World Cup. When he learnt his contract for the national team would not be renewed Robson tried his luck at PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona. One of the key decisions made by Robson during his reign at Barcelona was the signing of Ronaldo for 19.5 million dollars. In that same period Barcelona went on to win the Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. It was at Newcastle where Robson performed his last major role as a manager before retiring and moving on to carry out charitable work in aid of cancer patients and terminally ill children.