soccer24-7.com Forums - It's Arise Sir Bobby Robson!!

Newcastle boss Bobby Robson has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for a career spanning more than 50 years which shows no signs of drawing to a close.

The 69-year-old coal miner's son from County Durham has seen triumph and disaster, unbounded joy and utter despair, but has never lost his love for the game which has been his guiding light for as long as he can remember.

Robson refuses to sit on the shelf and reflect on what once was. He has proved in his time at
Newcastle he remains a vibrant manager, and it is the continuing results of his efforts as much as his longevity which has seen him honoured.

When Robson's footballing talent began to emerge as a youngster, a host of league clubs courted him but, after turning his back on the Magpies, he opted to join Fulham and begin one of the many love affairs of his professional life.

Robson made 245 appearances in two spells at Craven Cottage over 11 years, scoring 77 goals, and spent the interim period at West Bromwich Albion, where hewas on target 56 times in 239 appearances.

His form at club level won him 20 England caps and trips to the World Cup finals of both 1958 and 1962.

But although Robson was a top-class international player, it is his achievements since hanging up his boots which have made him a household name around the globe.

After a nine-month spell at Fulham which ended in the sack, Ipswich rescued him from unemployment - a move which saw the sleepy Suffolk club transformed into a genuine power in English football and one of the most respected in Europe.

They twice finished second in Division One, losing the title on the final day of the season on both occasions, and qualified for Europe no fewer than nine times.

But Robson wrote himself into the Town history books by taking silverware back to Portman Road after a famous FA Cup final victory over mighty Arsenal in 1978 and UEFA Cup triumph against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar three seasons later.

In 1982 England's need was Robson's duty, and one he was to fulfil to the letter on an eight-year roller-coaster journey which saw him, like most of those who have gone before or since, occasionally pilloried.

Diego Maradona's `Hand of God' goal helped propel England out of the 1986 World Cup finals, and the post which denied Chris Waddle and England a place in the final four years later plays an equally large part in his waking nightmares.

Just as bitter is the recollection of the day he discovered, even before the 1990 finals, his contract would not be renewed by the Football Association.

Having served his country, he left to continue his education abroad, twice winning the Dutch league with PSV Eindhoven, repeating the feat with Porto after a spell with Sporting Lisbon and also lifting the Portuguese Cup, and then tasting success in Spain with Barcelona, where he added the European CupWinners' Cup and the Spanish Cup.

Even a serious cancer scare during is time in Portugal could not quench his thirst for the game, but after a short-term appointment back at PSV came to an end in 1999, it looked as though retirement might be just around the corner.

However, fate then played its part as Ruud Gullit's controversial reign at Newcastle came to an end and Robson, who had two years previously turned the job down to honour his contract at Barcelona, was handed perhaps the toughest task of his career.

United were heading inexorably for the First Division after a Kevin Keegan-inspired flirtation with the big time, but Robson halted the runaway train, turned it around, and less than three years on, the dreams he
once held as a boy have been rekindled in the autumn of his career.

Robson joins six other illustrious footballing knights - Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Geoff Hurst, Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Tom Finney and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Other football figures to be honoured are England women's coach Hope Powell (OBE), Celtic defender Tom Boyd (MBE) who has made 72 international appearances for Scotland and is their fifth most-capped player of all time and David Will, vice-president of FIFA'S executive committee, who receives a CBE.