One Two Magazine Edition 1 December 2015 One Two Magazine Edition 1 December 2015 | Page 27

Sir Bobby Robson

Sir Bobby Robson:
Player, manager and football legend
Sir Bobby Robson, one of

lifted a major trophy for the second time.
Bobby was appointed England manager the
following year. His team missed out on
qualification for the 1984 European
Championship but there were better times
to come. Eight days after a Wembley defeat
to USSR, England faced Brazil in the opening
match of their South American tour.

Barcelona days with Jose Mourinho and
Pep Guardiola

six years ago.

Sir Bobby Robson talking to Bryan Robson
during an England Training Session.

As a top-class player Bobby was a wing-half
or inside-forward who could both create and
score goals. He began with Fulham and was
at West Bromwich Albion when he won the
first of his 20 England caps in 1957.

The Brazilians were said to be ‘on a
different planet’ but a John Barnes wonder
goal, dribbling from the halfway line, and a
powerful Mark Hateley header inflicted on
Brazil their first defeat in the famous
‘Maracana’ for 27 years.

Two tired teams were dragging themselves
through to the end of extra-time, the match
still goalless, as Paul Gascoigne chipped a
long free-kick into the Belgian box with a
minute to go.
David Platt, a substitute, allowed the ball to
drop over his shoulder before hooking it
across the flat-footed Preud’homme and
into the net. Cue delirium.

English football’s most
loved personalities,
passed away after a
long battle with cancer

It was a dream debut, Bobby scoring twice
as France were beaten 4-0 in a Wembley
friendly. He linked up superbly with
Blackburn right-winger Bryan Douglas and it
was a partnership that promised much with
the World Cup in Sweden only a few
months away.
Tommy Taylor gave England an early lead
before Bobby made it 2-0 on 24 minutes,
converting Douglas’s low cross with aplomb.
He notched the fourth too on a grey
November afternoon.
The England star had a disappointingly short
spell as Fulham’s manager before
commencing a glorious 13 years as Ipswich
Town boss in 1969. The Suffolk side were FA
Cup semi-finalists in 1975 before finally
making it to Wembley three years later.
Bobby’s Final team included five full
internationals but it was the little-known
Roger Osborne who scored the goal that
beat Arsenal. Bobby’s Ipswich were
Champions in Europe in 1981, winning a
two-legged UEFA Cup Final against AZ 67
Alkmaar from Holland.
Goals by John Wark (penalty), Frans Thijssen
and Paul Mariner as 27,000 fans wedged
into Portman Road gave them a 3-0
advantage going into the second leg. They
lost 4-2 in Holland but it was Mick Mills who

Bobby’s charges went on to reach the semifinals, still England’s best performance on
foreign soil, and there was a memorable
climax to their match with Belgium in
Bologna.

England suffered a traumatic
start to the 1986 World Cup in
Mexico, dropping points against
Portugal and Morocco, and
Bobby delayed announcing his
team until an hour before the
all-or-nothing clash with Poland
in Monterrey.
But England, and Gary Lineker in
particular, gave everything that
their manager could have asked
for and pride was restored after
a 3-0 win.
England qualified for the next
European Championship in style. The match
with Yugoslavia in the Red Star Stadium had
to go down as one of the best away
victories ever achieved by an England team.
The Yugoslavs were thought to be difficult
opponents but they were blown away as
the inspired visitors netted four times in the
first half through Beardsley, Barnes, Robson
and Adams.
With a battling point won against the
Swedes in Solna, England edged towards
the 1990 World Cup. Terry Butcher famously
finished the match with a