Sunday 2 August 2009

1773 Sir Bobby Robson

I was on my way to watching Durham play Sussex at the Riverside yesterday morning when I switched from listening to the third of Classic FM box set on the CD player to the radio and found Talk Sport announcing the death of Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby immediately became a Football and national saint with a plethora of managerial and former players coming forward to sing his praises as manager and as a man. It has been a great example of the hypocrisy of the British media and public. Quiet right his widow, three sons and family have not commented in public, insisted that the funeral remain private and their privacy be respected, while accepting that there would be a memorial service at which the great and the good could have their say.

Sir Bobby was a miner’s son from Sacriston in County Durham, a pit village long since without a pit but still has a Colliery band. His father is reputed to have only missed one shift in his fifty years as a miner. Bobby and his family moved to Langley Park when he was still a child and this was where he was raised, another pit village and both north of Durham and not far from Chester Le Street Durham’s cricket ground which he visited, supporting the club and its development. He supported and was interested in the widest range of sports and sports men and women especially those from the North East of England.

As I have commented before the love of watching and playing football sued to be in the blood of boys from the northeast pit village communities and the towns which developed on the back of coal and the heavy industries of the industrial revolution, steel making and shipbuilding. Many got extremely rich and the middle class expanded as men and boys, women and girls led nightmare lives in appalling conditions below and above ground, developing their own way of life within closely knit communities. Bobby remembered all his life the joy of being taken to watch Newcastle United with his father just as I remember being taken to watch Stanley Matthews play against Arsenal at Highbury and Crystal Palace became my boyhood club after being taken as part of family visits at Christmas and Easter.

Bobby was one of the few who translated his love of the game into playing with ability and also similar to many others it was a local club at Langley Park rather than his school which promoted his enthusiasm. The available information suggests that that his father was a levelled headed man who insisted that Bobby had a dependable career other than football and arranged an apprenticeship as an electrician with the National Coal Board at the Langley Park pit. When Fulham knocked one the family home and offered him a better contract that nearby Middlesborough, his father agreed but insisted that he continue to work as an electrician part time and Booby had the experience of working on the Festival of Britain site on the south bank of the River Thames between the Waterloo and Charing Cross Stations.

One of several outstanding qualities was his lifelong enthusiasm for football, as a player, manager, commentating expert and supporter which never waned despite his years of serious illness and consequential disability. He was also an ambitious man who wanted success for himself and his club and when this did not appear to be happening at Fulham, he joined just before the era of Johnny Haynes and Jimmy Hill with Fulham then the fashionable London club of the day, he moved to West Bromwich then a top flight club.

Bobby joined the then top flight club West Bromwich and became its top goal scorer and captain as well as playing for England. This was the era in which Jimmy Hill emerged as the player’s representative in the fight to break the existing feudal wages and employment system, Players were contracted on slave conditions in which they could be bought and sold for large amounts of money but where the maximum official earnings were so comparatively low that the majority had to rely on other earnings to provide for their families, unless they fitted into the wishes of club chairman and their managers in which underhand bonus payments would be made. Football was still a masculine working class game, standing crushed together on open terraces regardless of the weather. Only those who have done this can understand the change that has taken place over the past thirty years, although in case I used to support a club with under 1000 supporters as it require reselection to thee old third division south for year upon year.

Bobby fell out with the Albion hierarchy over wages and returned to Fulham alongside Jimmy Hill as the player‘s official wages ceiling was dismantled. Altogether he played 627 games for the two club during his seventeen season career and scored 141 goals. He also had a short international career playing for England some 20 times, selected for two World Cup Squads but was injured in a pre tournament friendly in the second instance. It was his regret, along with that of Alan Shearer who admits Bobby rescued his career when he came to Newcastle as Manager regretted their lack of success in winning things internationally and for their club although Shearer did win a championship medal at Blackburn.

An aspect of Robson’s approach to football is that he was open to new ideas and approaches so that when his playing career was coming to an end he accepted the position as Player Manager for the Vancouver team which had joined the new North American League intended to promote and develop the game in the continent.

Forty years ago in 1968 he was appointed manager at Fulham, recruiting future Newcastle and England Star and present North East radio football pundit Malcolm MacDonald. A year later he was sacked learning of the development through a headline in the Evening Standard.

There was therefore nothing during this part of his career to indicate the honours which were to come his way. He met a Director of Ipswich club while on a scouting mission after his departure from Fulham he was invited to become manager of Ipswich where he was allowed to develop his approach to management despite a lack of success during his first four years. The key to his subsequent success was the development of young players at the club, bringing in only 14 players from other clubs over a thirteen year period. He won the F A Cup and the League cup and the European Cup, finishing twice second in the Premiership. Ipswich before or subsequently has never known such times in the same era that Brian Clough was also being successful at then unfashionable Derby and Nottingham Forest. In 2002 a life size statue was unveiled outside the club and he was also made a honorary President of the club. I suspect that after the present adoration does down there will be more of an objective analysis of his managerial style and abilities.

Whereas managers such as Brian Clough and Alex Fergusson are reported to have had and in the case of Sir Alex still has a forceful and at times aggressive personality which some respected and others hated, Bobby’s approach was always that of a father and grandfather in which he was able to bring out the best of the players whatever their natural abilities. He made them feel good about what they did even when they lost. He was always there for his players and his team, even if he was not good at putting names to faces. I know this problem so well.

His success and amenable personality meant that he became the front runner to manage England as Walter Greenwood’s term came to an end. The chairman of the Football Association in England could not stand the man the public and media wanted, Brian Clough. The media and public turned on Robson quickly as England failed to qualify for the European Cup in 1984. Robson is reported to have offered his resignation in favour of Brian Clough but the FA Chairman was having none of this and persuaded him to stay on. His faith in Robson appeared to have been justified as England not only qualified for the world cup but progressed through to the quarter finals where they were defeated by Argentina on a cheat and are referee who failed to see what everyone else in the world could see that Maradona had put the ball in the net with his hand. If football was not also a political and commercially corrupt game the game would have been declared void and Maradona expelled from professional football, Robson became philosophical about an incident which remains a stain on the integrity of the game and cup competition.

When England again failed to qualify for the European Cup the public and the media again tuned on Robson. This period should not be forgotten. As the media makes much of the present adoration of Newcastle fans it is important to remember that he was spat on by Newcastle fans who hated him then as they do now towards the present owner Mike Ashley for when Robson dropped Kevin Keegan from the England Team. The media devoted enormous resources to discovering his private life and one a headline said In the Name of Allah go. Robson stayed for the next world cup on the understanding that he would leave at the end regardless of the outcome. Again the team performed significantly better than expected and reached the semi finals where they nearly beat Germany during the first ninety minutes and extra time but then lost notoriously on penalties. However Italia 90 continues to live in everyone’s memory because of Pavarotti’s Nessum Dorma and the Three tenor’s concert but most of because Paul Gascoigne burst into tears when he received a yellow card which meant he could not play in the final had England won the semi. There is the picture of Gary Linekar calling for Bobby to console Paul which he did and the nature of football changed in that the reality of the lives of the players became universal. How far this incident or the response of the football authorities to organised hooliganism, the disgrace at Hysel stadium in 1985 when 39 people attending were effectively killed by the Mob and led to British Clubs being expelled from European competition for five years, led to the changes in the way stadiums were designed, and authorities took steps to prevent racist chants, swearing and the behaviour of right wing terror gangs. One should also not forget the loss of life with the fire at Bradford stadium in 1985 and at Sheffield Hillsborough the year before the World Cup

I had direct experience of this organised fascist behaviour on and off the field and had campaigned behind the scenes for change writing to the football authorities and political interests and the approach of the football authorities in the 1980’s was to argue that they could not be held responsible for the actions of thugs within and especially outside the stadium. When I complained to Newcastle about the drunken behaviour of fans after cup semi final at Manchester United when the majority of supporters refused to sit down and children and older people were forced to stand, the children on seats in order to see anything of the game, I was told that Bobby Robson liked an enthusiastic crowd at away games.

For Robson the end of the 1990 World cup marked his return to club managements, but abroad at PSV Eindhoven and the move infuriated some sections of the British press. Under his leadership the club won the domestic championship in both years but he was still sacked, officially because they had not progressed in European competitions. However the underlying problem was his relationship with players, something which continued to affect the next decade and a half of his management remaining decade. At Eindhoven he is reported to have been “surprised” by the extent to which players expected to debate with the manager his decision including the substitutes wanting to know why they were not called on to play if this did not happen.

He then moved to Portugal where he commenced his association with Jose Murinho, in the first instance as interpreter. Again the situation is one where despite the team heading the league for the first time in 15 years he was told his contracted was not being continued into the second year. The official reason was the early exist from the UEFA cup. He was immediately appointed Manager of F C Porto with Jose his Assistant Manager. He then beat his former cub to win the Portuguese Cup and to head the league in 1994 95 and 1995 1996. It was at this time he was first diagnosed with Cancer.

He was then approached and accepted the appointment as manager of Barcelona, insisting that Jose moved with him as Assistant Coach. He was also responsible for singing the Brazilian Ronaldo for $19.5 million. In his first year his won the Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the European Cup Winner’s Cup. Robson was voted European Manager of the Year. For some reason Barcelona then required Robson to become the Director of Football when he was always a hand’s on manager, in track suit attempting to have a personal relationship with all the players despite the difficulties of language. After a year he returned to PSV. Robson then returned to England to take up a position within the technical department of the F.A.

It was at this point that Ruud Guillet was sacked from Newcastle following allegations about his private life and the decision to leave Alan Shearer on the bench. together with Newcastle failing to perform in the manner spectators had become accustomed under Kevin Keegan. With the team bottom of the league Freddie Shepherd, the Club Chairman, approached Bobby Robson who jumped at the opportunity to manager the club to which he had been taken by his father as a boy. Over the next two seasons Robson took Newcastle to third and fourth in the Premiership and the club returned to playing in the Champions League. However behind the scenes there were difficulties. The club had become fashionable with almost a full house of 52000 for every game. It had built up a national and international following large because of the Kevin Keegan era and the support of Sky. However the fur coat and no knickers approach was beginning to reveal the cracks!

The team relied upon already proven stars and its reserves and academy were neglected, There were concerns about the condition of the training ground something which subsequent manager Graham Souness also criticised claiming the ground was responsible for the excessive level of injuries at the club. Robson was also unhappy about the lack of involvement in the construction of player contracts and the negotiations for new and departing players. He was opposed to the sale of Jonathan Woodgate and was disappointed when after the sudden departure of Kevin Keegan as the England’s manager he was asked to take over as part time caretaking manager and Newcastle \re reported to have said no..

He was not as popular with the high paying fans as the media presently suggest. I had invested in one of the more expensive season tickets at the club which enabled one to attend a special lounge before and after the game as well as half time and there was considerable criticism among these supporters about Bobby claiming he was too old, failing to appreciate his charisma with players and the continuing struggle he was experiencing to beat cancer. I listened to an interview with Freddie Shepherd when the death was announced and was confused. He admitted the board had been divided about asking Robson to leave and that with hindsight it had been a mistake, but when pressed to comment further that he had been opposed to the departure he refused to comment further suggesting that he was part of some confidentiality agreement. The public may never know the truth but where the evidence is available that Robson did not break with the club for good as many managers have in the past throughout the country in general. He remained an enthusiast although what he thought when the club was bought by Ashley and his southern management structure no ties and little apparent understanding of the region, remains unknown.

Robson’s popularity continued to grow, particularly because of his fight with cancer and the way he appeared to refuse to let it get in the way of supporting Newcastle. He was made a knight of the realm but the honour which pleased him most was that of Freeman of the City of Newcastle. He was given a similar honour at Ipswich. He was also given a lifetime achievement award in the annual sports personality of the year round up. Last year he was invited to financially support a cancer research trials unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and which has been named after him. He formed a charity foundation to raise the half a million pounds required and before the special events just a week before his death he had raised over £1 million in this way.

A week ago, when I was in London otherwise I would have attended the event, thirty three thousand people sported a special game arranged between the players of the semi final between England and Germany in 1990. Bobby was only well enough to attend in a wheel chair but pictures of the event revealed that it was important for him to be present, andn I believe it will have made a lasting impression on all those present, especially the youngsters.

I am concerned that the Newcastle Football club appear to be cashing in on the death by opening up the ground to allow people leave shirts and scarves to show their appreciation for his life. These will have to be replaced by buying new ones from the club or from the sports wear companies with which Mr Ashley is associated, Meanwhile the club remain in dire straits. It is up for sale although one enquiry states they received no response to a bid which was then withdrawn. The club is without a manager with only a caretaker appointed. Player are sold. The club was beaten 6.0 in friendly with a second rate team and managed a goalless draw at home. I am sure I am not alone in hoping the family continue to protect his memory and their interests and avoid being caught up with the machination of Mr Ashley and his cronies.

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