Sir Bobby Robson Fifty Defining Fixtures

Fifty fixtures that defined the career of one of England's most successful and best-loved football managers.

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Born in County Durham in 1933, Bobby Robson started his career at Fulham before moving to West Bromwich Albion, scoring 61 goals in 257 first-class appearances and winning 20 full caps for England (1957-62). He returned to Fulham, where he ended his playing career, in 1967. But it was as a manager that Bobby really made his mark on the game. He had always been a model competitor; a hard-grafter with great awareness who could inspire his team-mates. These characteristics stood him in great stead during his long and distinguished managerial career, which began at Fulham but took off during his thirteen years in charge at Ipswich Town, leading them to FA Cup and UEFA Cup final victories in 1978 and 1981 and to runner's-up spot in the First Division, also in 1981. After managing England from 1982 to 1991, taking them to a World Cup semi-final for the first and only time since 1966, Robson managed PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto and Barcelona before spending five years in charge of Newcastle United (1999-2004).
Awarded the CBE in 1991, knighted in 2002, granted the Freedom of Ipswich in May 2008 and made a Freeman of the City in Durham seven months later, he was also presented with a Special Lifetime Achievment Award by UEFA. In Sir Bobby Robson: fifty Defining Fixtures, football writer Tony Matthews examines the career of the great man and remembers the games that have defined one of the most respected and successful football managers of the modern era.