We all had so much fun with Bobby Robson, who has died at the age of 76.
A few thoughts off the top of my head in 5 minutes :
Reporters loved the guy. He got the England job because he played cricket with Sir Bert Millichip, so the FA chief knew what a marvellous, honest guy he was. A sense of fair play was vital for that role. He never whinged, always took defeat on the chin, and I loved his sportsmanship.
Bobby got interested in coaching through his friendship with Don Howe, when they played together at West Brom and used to travel around together to watch England games at Wembley.
As a reporter for The Scotsman I saw all his England games at Wembley from 1982 to 1990. After his press conferences, some of us often walked back through the stadium with Bobby to the Banqueting Hall at the front. He was brilliant and those are some of my happiest memories in football.
Once, long after that, I was watching England’s opponents training at Wembley the night before a game. I was with Martin Tyler and news came through that Bobby Robson had become the coach of Barcelona. We were surprised but delighted for him.
Another time I needed a quote on Luis Figo and called Bobby in Lisbon and got straight through to him and he gave me what I needed.
He was a wonderfully friendly, humble man who wore his heart on his sleeve. One of England’s greatest sporting characters.
Reviving Alan Shearer, he put the pace of Bellamy, Dyer and Laurent Robert alongside that old warhorse, and saw Newcastle beat Arsenal 3-1 at Highbury on December 18, 2001.
Looking just now in the index of The Professor to see what I had written about that controversial game, I found Bobby’s quote : “Some people around here don’t know how to lose.”
Genuine, super-passionate, knowledgeable and funny, Sir Bobby Robson stands tall among the hundreds of football managers that I’ve met.