Sir Bobby Robson, r.i.p. (31/07/2009 12:20)

Just a few minutes ago, I saw an article on the Dutch football-website VI, that Sir Bobby Robson died. This is a great loss for the footballing world.

Sir Bobby Robson, former national coach of England and ex-manager of clubs like PSV Eindhoven, Fc Barcelona and Newcastle United died at the age of 76. For a while now, Robson was fighting a battle against cancer.

Sir Bobby, born on February 19th 1933 in Sacriston, started his career in 1950 at Fulham. After playing for Fulham for 6 years he went to W.B.A. Another 6 years later he returned to London to continue his career. At the end of his active footballing career, he was player/manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps, which was a small adventure.

Successfull as manager
He enjoyed working as a manager at the Whitecaps and in the many years that followed he became one of the best and most famous managers in (U.K.) football. Especially in the period at Ipswich Town he gained respect and got well-known, ending twice on the 2nd spot in the Premier League and 3 times on the third spot.

National coach of England
The FA noted Robson's skills and in 1982 asked him to become coach of the national team of England. His last job as FA manager, on the World Cup of 1990, he led a team, including stars like Gascoigne, Platt, Ince and Lineker into the semi-finals. After losing on penalties against Germany (who else...), they also lost the "Little" Final (3rd and 4th place) against Italy...
After this, he became manager of clubs like PSV, Barcelona and Newcastle United...