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Jim Rosenthal (born 6 November 1947) is a sports presenter on British television.

Early life[link]

Rosenthal was born in Oxfordshire, the son of Maud Ruth (née Levy) and Albrecht Gabriel "Albi" Rosenthal, a music scholar and book seller.^[1][2] His father was born in Munich, Germany, to a Jewish family. His paternal great-grandfather, Leo Olschki, founded the Leo S. Olschki Editore publishing house, and his maternal grandfather was German Jewish physician and writer Oscar Levy.^[3] Rosenthal grew up in Oxford and attended Josca's Preparatory School before going to Magdalen College School. He then joined the staff of the Oxford Mail went on to BBC local and national radio.^{[citation needed]}

Broadcasting career[link]

In his radio career Rosenthal presented Sports Report on the then Radio 2 for several years. He was also the journalist on duty at BBC Radio Birmingham on the night of the Birmingham Pub Bombings.^{[citation needed]}

In his television career, which began when he joined ITV in August 1980, he has presented football, boxing and athletics, plus other minor sports. He has also been part of the teams covering the FIFA World Cup since 1982 and the Olympic Games.^{[citation needed]} He worked on three Rugby World cup campaigns for ITV, including presenting the victorious 2003 final. In 2011 he presented the Rugby World Cup for the OSN network based in Dubai and watched throughout the Middle East and Africa.

He was the presenter for Formula One (F1) on ITV for eight years and has presented over 150 Grands Prix since 1997. Rosenthal grew into his role as ITV F1 anchor, and gained popularity with his direct questioning of leading figures in the sport.^{[citation needed]}

2005 saw him return to boxing as ITV got back in the ring on Saturday nights.^{[citation needed]} In October 2005, it was announced that Steve Rider had been recruited by ITV from BBC Sport, to assume Rosenthal's former role for the 2006 Formula One season.^{[citation needed]}

Rosenthal instead became the new 'face' of ITV Champions League football coverage, as well as their boxing output. He left by saying: "Covering Formula One has been an amazing time for me and I've really enjoyed the sport, but I don't think I ever made a secret of the fact that football is my first love."^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Rosenthal worked on his seventh World Cup^{[citation needed]} and he continued to front ITV's Big Fight Live boxing coverage throughout the year.^{[citation needed]}

He also presented ITV4's Champions League Live show and the channel's live match coverage, until he was dropped for the 2008 games, attracting much controversy within the media.^{[by whom?][citation needed]}

Internationally, Rosenthal regularly hosted the UEFA Gala Dinner in Monaco, a football spectacular that is broadcast across the world.

Jim filmed Superstars for Channel Five in May 2008 at K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley West Sussex.^{[citation needed]}

He currently presents the live FA Cup draws for ITV. FA Cup,^{[citation needed]} and editions of BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek show while regular presenter Garry Richardson is on holiday.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Rosenthal reported for ITV Sport during the opening ceremony for the World Cup.^[4]

In September 2010, Rosenthal joined the British broadcaster Channel Five to front their Europa League football coverage.^[5] His first appearance was on 16 September covering the game between Liverpool and Steaua Bucharest from Anfield.

In 2011, Rosenthal became the lead presenter on the boxing channel BoxNation.

Acting[link]

Rosenthal has tried his hand at acting in Renford Rejects and Footballers' Wives.^[6]

Awards[link]

Rosenthal was named Royal Television Society Sports Presenter of the Year in 1997 and 1999^{[citation needed]} and has won other awards^{[clarification needed]} at home and abroad. He was the main anchor of ITV's BAFTA winning coverage of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, which took him to Australia for the final.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Rosenthal has always been a loyal supporter of his childhood home team of Oxford United. He famously wore an Oxford United hat whilst hosting the ITV coverage of the Milk (League) Cup final in 1986 from Wembley Stadium.^{[citation needed]} On 15 June 2010, Rosenthal was announced as a member of the Oxford United board of directors. ^[7]

His 23-year-old son, Tom Rosenthal, is a comedian and stars in Friday Night Dinner; which began in February 2011 on Channel 4.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jim Rosenthal itv.com

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Stan Collymore

Personal information
Full name	Stanley Victor Collymore
Date of birth	(1971-01-22) 22 January 1971 (age 41)
Place of birth	Stone, Staffordshire, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1988–1989	Walsall
1989–1990	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990	Stafford Rangers	-	(-)
1990–1992	Crystal Palace	20	(1)
1992–1993	Southend United	30	(15)
1993–1995	Nottingham Forest	65	(41)
1995–1997	Liverpool	61	(26)
1997–2000	Aston Villa	46	(7)
1999	→ Fulham (loan)	6	(0)
2000	Leicester City	11	(5)
2000–2001	Bradford City	7	(2)
2001	Real Oviedo	3	(0)
Total		251	(99)
National team
1995–1997	England	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England national football team but never scored.

Early life[link]

Collymore's mother Doreen, a swimming pool receptionist in Cannock, Staffordshire, had four daughters from her first husband, who was from nearby Wolverhampton. When she met his father, a former military man and Barbadian national (who was also called Stanley Collymore), they moved to Barbados but returned to Cannock.

Playing career[link]

Early career[link]

Collymore was born in Stone, Staffordshire. As a young boy he supported Aston Villa.^[1] A centre forward, Collymore played junior football for Cannock Peelers and Penkridge Juniors before starting his career as an apprentice footballer with Walsall, and also Wolverhampton Wanderers, before being released and signing for then Conference team, Stafford Rangers. It was there he caught the eye of several football league clubs by demonstrating the ability to score spectacular goals before being given his chance as a full-time professional with Crystal Palace at the age of 19, when he signed for them in December 1990.

Crystal Palace and Southend United[link]

After nearly two years of learning his trade as understudy to the prolific Crystal Palace partnership of Mark Bright and Ian Wright, Collymore dropped down a division in the autumn of 1992 to sign for Southend United and there scored 18 goals in 31 games to help keep the club in Division One (Now Championship) when relegation had seemed likely.

Collymore enjoyed his time at Southend saying, "I count helping to keep Southend in the First Division in my season there as one of my finest achievements."^[2]

Nottingham Forest[link]

In June 1993, Collymore signed for Nottingham Forest in an initial £2 million deal rising to £2.75 million based on certain clauses being met, including an international cap. He was signed by newly-appointed Frank Clark, who had just taken over as manager at the end of Brian Clough's 18-year reign as manager. Forest had just been relegated from the Premier League, but Collymore's good form in the 1993–94 campaign helped take them back to the top flight as Division One runners-up. He scored 22 Premier League goals in 1994–95 as Forest finished third in the league and achieved UEFA Cup qualification to secure their first European campaign of the post-Heysel era.

Halfway through the 1994–95 season, Collymore came close to joining Manchester United. Alex Ferguson was looking for a younger striker to sign as a possible long term successor to the 31-year-old Mark Hughes, and had identified Stan Collymore and Andy Cole as the two players who best fitted the bill. For a while it seemed certain that Collymore was on his way to Old Trafford, but United signed Cole instead and Collymore remained at the City Ground until the end of the season,^[3] by which time Liverpool and Everton were in the hunt for his signature.^[4]

Liverpool[link]

Collymore signed for Liverpool in June 1995, for a British record fee of £8.5 million. He scored on his Liverpool debut against Sheffield Wednesday and would spend two years at Anfield. He scored at a ratio of a goal every 2.5 games and created many goals in a partnership with Robbie Fowler, ousting the veteran Ian Rush. He also scored two goals, including the winner, against Newcastle United at Anfield in a game that was regarded as one of the most exciting in the history of the Premier League – a game which helped end Newcastle's title challenge (which they had led by 10 points at Christmas 1995) and hand the title to Manchester United. Indeed, it was voted by viewers of Sky Sports as the greatest sporting moment in the channel's first ten years.^[5] Collymore was at the club at a time when the club were widely labelled as Spice Boys and although Collymore claimed he was not one of them and left the club shortly after the labelling began, was often lumped with the likes of Jamie Redknapp, Jason McAteer and David James, though he constantly attempted to distance himself from associations with them, even revealing sordid details about a lack of discipline at the club, hedonistic sexual romps in hotel rooms, and the problems they all faced in his autobiography.

At the end of his first season with Liverpool, he was in their side for the FA Cup Final, but was substituted in favour of Ian Rush (in his final appearance for Liverpool) in the 74th minute with the match still goalless, and watched from the sidelines when Manchester United's Eric Cantona fired home the winning goal with five minutes left on the clock. It would be the closest that Collymore would come to winning a major trophy in his playing career.^[6]

Despite his controversies at the club, Collymore helped Liverpool to third place in the Premier League. After two seasons at Anfield the striker was sold to Aston Villa in 1997, for £7 million, making him Liverpool's most expensive sale and Villa's most expensive signing.

Aston Villa and Leicester City[link]

In the three years that he spent at the club, Collymore scored 15 goals but failed to hold down a regular place. Highs included being only the third Aston Villa player in history to score a hat-trick in European competition (the other two being his boyhood idols Gary Shaw and Peter Withe) and also bagging two goals against former club Liverpool in a 2–1 home victory. Poor form and Clinical Depression saw Collymore receive treatment at the Priory Hospital Roehampton for several weeks, and on his return to professional football he went on a 3 month loan to Fulham, where he scored once in the League Cup against West Bromwich Albion.^[7] Ultimately he was allowed by manager John Gregory to leave on a free transfer to Leicester City where under Martin O'Neill he regained some of the early form when he scored a hat trick against Sunderland in a 5–2 victory, in which Martin O'Neill went on record to describe the Leicester City side on that day, as the best side he has managed to date. Shortly after, O'Neill left Leicester City to Manage Celtic and Collymore, Steve Walsh and others were forced to depart following the arrival of new manager Peter Taylor.

Bradford City, Real Oviedo, and retirement[link]

He moved to Bradford City in October 2000 on a free transfer.^[8] He scored an overhead kick on his debut against Leeds United in a West Yorkshire derby at Valley Parade on 29 October, which ended 1–1.^[9] However, Collymore celebrated in front of the visiting Leeds fans and he faced Football Association charges.^[10] He was substituted at half-time in his second game as Bradford lost 4–3 to Newcastle United in the League Cup,^[11] and missed the following game at Charlton Athletic because of flu and a sore wisdom tooth.^[12] In Collymore's absence, City lost 2–0, and manager Chris Hutchings was sacked two days later.^[13] Jim Jefferies was appointed as new City manager, and he won his first home game in charge 2–1 against Coventry City when Collymore scored Bradford's first goal.^[14] However only a month later, Collymore, and other highly-paid players Benito Carbone and Dan Petrescu were transfer-listed.^[15] Collymore was linked with various clubs, but eventually signed for Spanish La Liga side Real Oviedo on 31 January 2001, when he was greeted by 1,500 fans.^[16] He had played just eight games for Bradford, scoring two goals.^[17]

Collymore's debut for Oviedo was as a second half substitute away to Las Palmas on 4 February 2001, which resulted in a 1–0 defeat.^[18] He was again brought on during the second half of his home debut a week later against Villarreal, but was then dropped by coach Radomir Antić and warned to improve his fitness.^[19] He played just one more game for Oviedo, before he announced his retirement at the age of 30, on 7 March 2001, just five weeks after he had joined the Spanish club. A statement issued through his spokesman said, "Stan Collymore has decided, after discussions with his family and close friends, to give up playing professional football. He has just turned 30 and believes that the time is right to explore other career opportunities which are available to him."^[20] He was offered a chance to return to Southend United^[21] and he was also approached by Boston United and Wolverhampton Wanderers,^[22] but never made a return to football, and was also turned down for the manager's position at Bradford City, following the dismissal of Jim Jefferies in December 2001.^[23] Before the end of 2001, Oviedo began court proceedings against Collymore for breach of his contract.^[24]

Post-football career[link]

Collymore contributed to his biography Stan: Tackling my demons with Oliver Holt^[25] which was released to critical acclaim for its portrayal of the modern footballer. In 2005 he played the character Kevin Franks in the film Basic Instinct 2 alongside Sharon Stone. It was during this stint in which he became affiliated with rapstar Ice-Cube. The rapstar encouraged Stan to pursue his life long ambition of pursuing a music career which he eventually did. However, the album which he produced was never picked up by any record label and became a free download on "villa-legends" website.^[26] Collymore is seen and heard regularly on television and radio in the UK, and owns Maverick Spirit Productions, a UK Television Production Company.

In 2006 he appeared on a Reality TV Special of The Weakest Link but was voted off in the third round for missing too many questions.

In 2007 Collymore went back to full time sports broadcasting. He summarised for Australian television on the FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley and the UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan in Athens. Collymore was part of the BBC Radio Five Live commentary team in 2007–08 for the Champions League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow and for the station's Premier League coverage that season.

He has hosted the weekly football magazine show, Central Soccer Night on ITV Central, and commentated on the 26th Africa Cup of Nations for British Eurosport. He is also a regular commentator and studio analyst for two foreign broadcasters, GTV (Ghana) & SBS Sport (Australia).

Collymore left 5 Live after the 2008 Champions League final to become a presenter and co commentator on talkSport he also hosts the phone-in show, Call Collymore which is on after every Premier League game that talkSPORT cover. He also features as an analyst on the station's matchday live programme. When he first joined talkSPORT he co-presented their evening show with Danny Kelly on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening on the football programme and commentated on the Saturday afternoon matches with Nigel Pearson, replacing Alvin Martin as co commentator. For the 2009–10 season Collymore moved to Monday to Wednesday nights with Mark Saggers as well as keeping his commitments on Saturday afternoons. Collymore worked at the 2010 World Cup becoming the main co commentator on talkSPORT and usually commentated with Jim Proudfoot on the biggest matches including the final and all of Englands matches. He claimed on Twitter he was the subject of a move for the BBC to move to 5 Live and also do television work but he turned this down and remained on talkSPORT. He also appears on Kick Off on Monday to Wednesday nights usually with Mark Saggers and commentating on Champions League on these nights.

He writes a Monday Column for the Daily Mirror newspaper. He appears regularly as a studio guest and co-commentator for UK television Channel 5 for the channel's UEFA Europa League coverage, and co-commentated on the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. For the 2009-10 season, Collymore began writing an article in The Villa News and Record called "Stan The Man" that talked about the week's events for Aston Villa F.C. as well as addressing the match taking place in that week's issue, taking over from Ian Taylor's "Tayl End" in the previous season. Collymore returned for the 2010-11 season with "Stan The Man".

He is a high-profile supporter of Republic, a campaign group that campaigns for a democratic alternative to the monarchy.^[27] Since talking in 1999 for the first time about his experience of depression,^[28] he has supported the charity Depression Alliance,^[29] and in 2011 raised £20,000 for it in 3 days.^[30]In 2012 a man admitted in court racially abusing Collymore on Twitter.^[31]

Financial advice and subsequent court case[link]

On 20 October 2008, in a landmark case that may have set a precedent for cases in the future, Collymore won more than £1.5 million in damages from his financial advisers, for the poor investment advice he had been given since retiring from professional football in 2001. The judge ruled that Collymore had indeed been given advice that was in breach of statutory obligations.^[32]

Depression and separation[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (February 2010)

During the 1998 World Cup when his then partner Ulrika Jonsson was doing a show in the Eiffel Tower about the Scottish national football team, he assaulted her.^[33] After an abusive phone call on BBC 6-0-6 where he was working with Alan Green for the 2002 World Cup, Collymore went into depression again, and problems with the threat of legal action by Oviedo for breaking his contract drove him to a suicide attempt. He and a subsequent partner separated when he was found engaged in lewd acts at Cannock Chase by an undercover News of the World reporter.^{[34][35][dead link]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Stan Collymore

• Stan Collymore career stats at Soccerbase
• LFC History Profile
• Daily Mirror Column
• Call Collymore radio Show

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2012)

Tessa Sanderson

Theresa Ione "Tessa" Sanderson, CBE (born 14 March 1956) is a former British javelin thrower and heptathlete who competed in the javelin competition in every one of the six Olympics from 1976–1996 winning the Gold medal in 1984. She is the second track and field athlete, after Lia Manoliu (discus), to compete at six Olympics. ^[1]

Early life[link]

Sanderson was born in St Elizabeth, Jamaica of Ghanaian ancestry, she later emigrated to Wolverhampton, England.

Athletics career[link]

Sanderson was the UK's leading javelin thrower from the mid-1970s, winning silver in the 1978 European championships and gold in the Commonwealth Games three times (1978, 1986, 1990), but was eclipsed during the 1980s by the up-and-coming Fatima Whitbread, with whom she shared a long standing rivalry.

When Sanderson won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the javelin, becoming the first British black woman ever to win Olympic gold, her victory was quite unexpected. In the end, her career outlasted Whitbread's, and she competed at senior international level until 1996.

Sports administration[link]

Sanderson served as Vice-Chairman of Sport England from 1999 to 2005.

She is helping to run an academy in Newham, London that finds and helps train athletes to represent Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In September 2009 Tessa registered her own Charity sports academy carrying on her work alongside the established Newham Sports Academy. The name of the Charity is the Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy. The charity is helping Tessa to work on a wider bases to help other youngsters who are disabled and non disabled achieve their goals and creating a pathway and more opportunities not just in Newham but the wider areas of London and with a vision of a national roll out.^[2]

In April 2009 Tessa again because of her work in the community made history again by organising the first 10K road run to run through the Olympic Park offering the community and other visitors to Newham the Host Borough of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games a fantastic birds eye view of the Olympic 2012 athletics stadium. The Newham Classic 10K^[3] was so successful that it takes place annually and has led to other active running events for anyone such as the City of London West Ham Park Runs which takes place most Sunday mornings in West Ham Park in the East End of London.

Tessa was been appointed as a Board member of the Olympic Park Legacy Company chaired by Baroness Ford to oversee and help with the formation of the Olympic Park for the Newham community and people living in the East End of London.^[4]

Tessa organised and was associated with the Redbridge 10k on 24 July 2011, which was the first ever run in the Borough of Redbridge.

Media work[link]

In 1988, Sanderson made an appearance on Bullseye. In 2005, she took part in the one-off special, Strictly African Dancing, as part of the Africa Lives season on the BBC. She was voted into third place by the viewers.

Honours[link]

Sanderson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1985 New Year's Honours, following her Olympic gold, raised to Officer (OBE) in the 1998 New Year's Honours for her charity work, and to Commander (CBE) in the 2004 New Year's Honours for her services to Sport England.

There is a housing estate named after her in her adopted home town of Wednesfield, Sanderson Park. It is located on the playing fields of her former school, Wards Bridge High School.

Personal life[link]

On 1 May 2010, Tessa married Densign White, former Olympic Judo player at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.^[5]

Achievements[link]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  United Kingdom and  England
1974	British Commonwealth Games	Christchurch, New Zealand	5th	48.54 m
1978	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	1st	61.34 m
	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	2nd	62.40 m
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	19th	48.76 m
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	4th	64.76 m
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	1st	69.56 m
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	1st	69.80 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	4th	67.54 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	21st	56.70 m
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	1st	65.72 m
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	12th	57.56 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	4th	63.58 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	14th	58.86 m

See also[link]

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tessa Sanderson CBE
• The Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy
• Tessa Sanderson Track and Field Statistics
• Tessa Sanderson Biography and Olympic results Sports Reference

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Sir Bobby Robson

Bobby Robson at the Republic of Ireland versus Slovakia match in Croke Park, Dublin on 29 March 2007.
Personal information
Full name	Sir Robert William Robson
Date of birth	(1933-02-18)18 February 1933
Place of birth	Sacriston, County Durham, England
Date of death	31 July 2009(2009-07-31) (aged 76)
Place of death	County Durham, England
Playing position	Inside forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1950–1956	Fulham	152	(68)
1955	London	1	(1)
1956–1962	West Bromwich Albion	239	(56)
1962–1967	Fulham	192	(9)
1967–1968	Vancouver Royals	0	(0)
Total		583	(133)
National team
1957–1962	England	20	(4)
Teams managed
1968	Fulham
1969–1982	Ipswich Town
1982–1990	England
1990–1992	PSV Eindhoven
1992–1994	Sporting CP
1994–1996	Porto
1996–1997	Barcelona
1998–1999	PSV Eindhoven
1999–2004	Newcastle United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009)^[1] was an English footballer and manager, who managed seven European clubs and the England national team during his career.

His professional playing career as an inside-forward spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals.

After his playing career he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup. His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Irish national football team.

Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. From 1991 onwards he suffered recurrent medical problems with cancer, and in March 2008, put his name and efforts into the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said: "My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy...I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute". He died just under a year later.

Early life[link]

Born in Sacriston, County Durham, Robson was the fourth of five sons of Philip and Lilian Robson (née Watt).^[2] When he was a few months old, Robson's family moved to the nearby village of Langley Park where his father was a coal miner. As a boy, he was often taken by his father to watch Newcastle United at St James' Park, requiring a bus ride or a walk of several miles.^[3][4][5] Robson describes Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton as his childhood heroes.^[4] Both played for Newcastle in the inside-forward position, the position Robson would later assume during his playing career.

Robson attended Waterhouses Secondary Modern School but the headmaster did not allow the school football team to join a league.^[6] Instead, he began to play for Langley Park Juniors on Saturday mornings at the age of eleven, and by the time he was 15, he was representing the club at Under-18 level.^[7] Robson played football whenever he possibly could but also worked as an electrician's apprentice for the National Coal Board in the Langley Park colliery.^[8] In May 1950, Bill Dodgin, the Fulham manager made a personal visit to the Robson household to offer Bobby a professional contract. Despite being offered a contract by nearby Middlesbrough, the offer made by Dodgin was too attractive to turn down, so he signed for Fulham and moved to London,^[9][10][11] playing as a wing-half and inside-forward.^[12] Robson had also interested his beloved Newcastle, but he opted to join Fulham as, in his opinion, "Newcastle made no appreciable effort to secure [my] signature".

Playing career[link]

Club playing career[link]

Although Robson had signed professionally, his father insisted he continue to work as an electrician. He spent the day working at the Festival of Britain site and trained three nights a week at Fulham.^[13] Eventually this took its toll on Robson and he gave up his trade for full-time football.^[14]

Robson made his debut in 1950 for Fulham, recently promoted to the First Division, in a match against Sheffield Wednesday.^[15] He came to regard Fulham as "a nice club, a social club..." but "never...a serious, championship-challenging club".^[16] Indeed, he and Fulham were relegated from the top-flight in the 1951–52 season,^[17] but he made his return to the First Division, four years later, when he signed for Vic Buckingham's West Bromwich Albion in March 1956.^[9] The transfer fee of £25,000 was a club record for Albion at the time.^[18][19]

He made his Albion debut in a 4–0 home defeat by Manchester City on 10 March 1956.^[20] In 1957–58 he was the club's top league goalscorer; his tally of 24 goals included four in a 5–1 win against Burnley.^[21][22] He went on to play 257 games and score 61 goals for West Bromwich Albion and captained the team for the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons.^[23] In August 1962, however, he returned to Fulham after a disagreement with Albion vice-chairman Jim Gaunt over his salary.^[24][25] The on-going dispute over both minimum and maximum wages in the game, instigated by Robson's team-mate Jimmy Hill and the Professional Footballers' Association, combined with the birth of Robson's second son, prompted Robson to demand a higher salary.^[26] Gaunt refused to negotiate Robson's contract, so Robson placed a transfer request and was sold to Fulham for £20,000 in a deal which doubled his salary.^[27] Soon after Robson joined Fulham, the club sold Alan Mullery and Rodney Marsh, meaning Robson's chances of securing any significant honour there were substantially reduced.^[28] Robson himself stated "In all my time as a footballer, I didn't win a thing."^[28]

Despite press reports of interest from Arsenal,^[29] and the offer of a player-manager role by Southend United,^[30] Robson left Fulham in 1967 and accepted a three-year deal with Canada's Vancouver Royals. He was to be player-manager in their inaugural 1968 season in the North American Soccer League and believed it "...was a chance too good to miss".^[9][31] The position proved difficult; a long-distance joint-ownership agreement gave the Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskás control over the San Francisco section of the squad,^[32] while Robson took care of the Vancouver squad. Robson was dissatisfied by this situation and when, in January 1968, Fulham offered him a contract as their manager, he accepted the position at Craven Cottage.^[33]

International playing career[link]

During his first spell at Fulham, Robson participated in two ambassadorial Football Association tours in the West Indies in 1955 and South Africa in 1956.^[15] However, it was during his time at West Bromwich Albion that he graduated to the full England squad, with his first call-up in 1956. His manager, Vic Buckingham, advocated the "push and run" approach to the game, a precursor to "total football",^[34] and playing this, Robson graduated to the full England squad in 1956,^[35] It was also at West Bromwich Albion that Robson met future England international and assistant coach Don Howe.^[36]

He went on to make 20 appearances for the England national team, making his debut in a November 1957 victory against France, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory.^[37] Although he made a successful debut, he was dropped for England's next game against Scotland, in favour of Bobby Charlton.^[38] He was, however, selected for the 1958 World Cup squad, ahead of Nat Lofthouse and Stanley Matthews but returned from Sweden disappointed, as England were defeated by the Soviet Union in a group play-off match.^[39]

Following the 1958 World Cup, Robson became an established member of the England squad, enjoying considerable success in a period between October 1960 and March 1961 when he played in six England victories, including scoring a goal in the record 9–3 defeat of Scotland at Wembley Stadium.^[40] He was selected for the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile but an injury to his ankle sustained in a pre-tournament friendly against a Chilean club side ruled him out of most of the tournament. As Robson recalled, "I never played for England again...my international career was unfulfilled".^[41]

Career statistics[link]

International goals[link]

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.^[42][43]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	27 November 1957	Wembley Stadium, London	France	2–0	4–0	Friendly
2.	27 November 1957	Wembley Stadium, London	France	4–0	4–0	Friendly
3.	15 April 1961	Wembley Stadium, London	Scotland	1–0	9–3	1961 British Home Championship
4.	10 May 1961	Wembley Stadium, London	Mexico	3–0	8–0	Friendly

Managerial career[link]

Early club management[link]

In 1959, the then England manager and the Football Association director of coaching Walter Winterbottom suggested to Robson that he take a coaching course at Lilleshall.^[36] Robson made his debut as a manager in January 1968 at his former club Fulham, against Macclesfield Town, then in the Cheshire League, in the third round of the FA Cup. Fulham were struggling with 16 points from 24 games.^[44][45] Despite the acquisition of the young Malcolm Macdonald, Robson could not save the club from relegation to the Second Division,^[46] and he left them in November,^[47] with the club sitting eighth in the Second Division. He discovered that he had been sacked, not from the club itself, but from the headline "Robson sacked" on an Evening Standard placard outside Putney station.^[48]

Statue of Robson at Portman Road

He moved on to Ipswich Town in 1969 and it was there that he established his reputation as a successful manager. He won the vacant job at the Suffolk club after a chance encounter with Town director Murray Sangster while scouting at Portman Road for Chelsea manager Dave Sexton.^[49] After four mediocre seasons, Robson led Ipswich to fourth place in the First Division and success in the Texaco Cup in the 1972–73 season.^[50] In the following nine seasons, Ipswich finished lower than sixth place in the First Division only once, in the 1977–78 season. However, that season was a success with a 1–0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.^[51] His reign at Ipswich lasted 13 years, during which time the club twice finished as League runners-up, and made regular appearances in European competitions, capturing the UEFA Cup in 1981 with a 5–4 aggregate victory over Dutch side AZ 67 Alkmaar.^[52] During his thirteen year tenure, he brought in only 14 players from other clubs, relying instead on players developed through Ipswich's youth programmes.^[12]

In 2002, in recognition of his achievements with the club, a life-size statue of Robson was unveiled opposite the Cobbold Stand of Ipswich Town's ground Portman Road.^[53] On 7 July 2006, Robson was named as honorary president of Ipswich Town Football Club, the first since Lady Blanche Cobbold who had died in 1987.^[54]

England manager[link]

Robson's achievements with Ipswich earned him a job offer from the Football Association for the position of national coach, and he declined an offer of a ten-year contract extension from Ipswich director Patrick Cobbold.^[55] On 7 July 1982, two days after England were knocked out of the 1982 World Cup, he succeeded Ron Greenwood as coach of the English national football team,^[9] selecting former West Bromwich Albion team-mate Don Howe as his chief coach.^[56]

Robson's first game in charge saw immediate controversy, as he dropped Kevin Keegan for the match against Denmark.^[57] On 21 September 1983, Robson suffered his only loss in the 28 qualifying matches he was to undertake as England manager.^[58] The defeat, once again to Denmark, ultimately led to England's failure to qualify for the 1984 European Championships,^[59] and resulted in Robson offering to resign in favour of Brian Clough.^[60] The resignation was rejected by the FA chairman, Bert Millichip (primarily down to his and the FA's disdain for Clough), and Robson went on to lead the England team to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.^[61]

England began the competition poorly and captain Bryan Robson was injured with a recurrence of a dislocated shoulder.^[62] Bobby Robson changed the team's tactics for the final match of the first round, selecting Peter Beardsley ahead of Mark Hateley as a striking partner for Gary Lineker.^[63] The team won its next two matches, against Poland and Paraguay, 3–0 and qualified for the quarter-finals.^[64] England were defeated in the last eight by Argentina with a brace of goals from Diego Maradona; the infamous "Hand of God" goal, and the "Goal of the Century" he scored five minutes later.^[64] Robson was unimpressed by Maradona's claim of divine intervention:^[65]