Sir Bobby Robson

Sir Bobby Robson dies at the age of 76

• Former England manager died this morning
• Robson had fought a long battle with cancer

• Louise Taylor
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 July 2009 10.35 BST
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Sir Bobby Robson attended a charity match at St James' Park last Sunday. Photograph: Steve Drew/Empics Sport

Sir Bobby Robson has died at the age of 76. The former England manager, who had fought a long battle with cancer, passed away at his home this morning.

"It is with great sadness that it has been announced today that Sir Bobby Robson has lost his long and courageous battle with cancer," read a statement released by Robson's family. "He died very peacefully this morning at his home in County Durham with his wife and family beside him.

"Sir Bobby's funeral will be private and for family members only. A thanksgiving service in celebration of Sir Bobby's life will be held at a later date for his many friends and colleagues.

"Lady Robson and the family would very much appreciate it if their privacy could be respected at this difficult time."

The prime minister Gordon Brown led the tributes, saying that Robson's "Passion, patriotism, dedication and professionalism knew no equal during his time both as a player and a manager", and countless others echoed such sentiments.

"It is difficult to accept such a person is no longer with us," said the Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, who worked as Robson's translator at Sporting Lisbon, and then as his assistant at Porto and Barcelona. "But he is immortal because he leaves in everybody who knows him a mark of his personality - a great coach but, more than that, a great person."

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was similarly effusive in his praise, saying: "In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend, a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed." Brown's predecessor Tony Blair, a Newcastle supporter, described Robson as "one of the nicest, most caring and genuine people I ever met - a real Geordie gentleman."

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Gallery: Robson's colourful life and career in pictures

Stricken by cancer Robson had looked frail when, in a wheelchair, he made his final public appearance last Sunday. Appropriately it was at St James' Park, the home of the Newcastle United team he always supported and, for five uplfiting years, managed.

The occasion was a fund-raiser for Robson's cancer charity involving a re-run of the England v West Germany Italia 90 semi final featuring many of the original participants. That World Cup semi-final saw England, then under Sir Bobby's charge, lose to Germany on penalties in the cruellest moment of Robson's often glittering managerial career.

Robson's playing career had come to an end in 1968 after 18 years in which he featured for Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and, briefly, as player-manager, the Vancouver Royals in the now defunct NASL. He also won 20 England caps, scoring four times.

After Vancouver he began a lengthy spell as manager of Ipswich Town - from 1969 to 1982 and embracing winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the Uefa Cup in 1981 - ahead of eight years in charge of England. His career would also take in stints in charge of Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and, finally, his beloved Newcastle.

One of just a handful of English coaches to have prospered abroad, Robson had travelled a long way from his upbringing in Langley Park in County Durham but, never forgetting his roots, always hankered after the return to north-east England occasioned by Ruud Gullit's resignation from Newcastle in 1999.

Although, as his wife Elsie and three sons rarely tired of reminding him, Robson remained a football obsessive he proved a far more rounded man than many of his peers. Well aware of life's shades of grey, he was unusually generous spirited towards critics and opponents and consistently magnanimous in defeat.

Moreover Robson never failed to support fellow managers experiencing tough stints and took great pleasure in mentoring young coaches - most notably a certain Jose Mourinho, whose football life began as Sir Bobby's interpreter in Portugal before later accompanying him to Barcelona.

On the pitch, Robson's teams invariably played bold, expansive football frequently featuring two orthodox wingers and, if things were not proceeding to plan, he delighted in making sometimes match-winning triple substitutions.

Told he was destined to lose his fifth battle against cancer - something which first afflicted him in 1991 - Robson opted to spend his final months endeavouring to improve the lot of fellow cancer sufferers in the north-east and at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital in particular.

In March 2008 he established the Sir Bobby Robson foundation. By that November he had raised £1m and in the August he reflected on his own position with a typical realism and impressive lack of bitterness.

"My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy," said Robson. "I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometimes and I have enjoyed every minute."