Sir Bobby Robson
Friday, July 31, 2009
Article summary
Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson has died aged 76 after a career in which he led Ipswich Town FC and FC Barcelona to UEFA trophies and won league titles in the Netherlands and Portugal.
Article top media content
Article body
Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson has died at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer.
Ipswich success
Born on 18 February 1933 in County Durham, Sir Bobby was capped 20 times by England during a playing career in which he represented Fulham FC, West Bromwich Albion FC and Vancouver Royals. It was as a manager, though, that he really made his name – following a brief spell in charge of Fulham, he spent 13 years at Ipswich Town FC, winning the 1978 FA Cup and 1981 UEFA Cup.
International honours
The next year he was appointed England manager, his reign culminating in the run to the 1990 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, the Three Lions' best campaign outside their own country. After that competition he moved to coach PSV Eindhoven and FC Porto – with a stint at Sporting Clube de Portugal in between – winning two league titles with both clubs. Sir Bobby then led FC Barcelona during the 1996/97 season, lifting the Spanish Super Cup, Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He returned to PSV in 1998/99 before enjoying five years at the helm of Newcastle United FC, guiding his boyhood team into the UEFA Champions League. Between 2006 and 2007 he was the Football Association of Ireland's technical consultant. Sir Bobby was awarded the UEFA Order of Merit in Emerald in March this year. He had received the UEFA President's Award in 2002.