A Tractor Boy says farewell, Bobby Robson.
Bobby Robson has moved on to the great dug-out in the sky.
As one of the original 'Tractor Boys', CF can well remember rushing in to Portman Road, with his beer crate (to stand on: CF was only about 12) to watch Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town take on the world. And, often, beat them.
Micky Mills, Kevin Beattie, Paul Mariner, Clive Woods: Robson built a great team in the seventies, being a shrewd talent-spotter and building a great pool of skills in the youth team, which fed both Ipswich Town and the national squads for many years.
CF was also proud to be at Wembley in 1978, to watch Bobby and his youthful team trounce Arsenal (1-0) in the FA Cup Final. On the coach on the way back to Ipswich, we all held up the morning's papers to the windows, the headlines of which wrote off Ipswich's chances, saying Arsenal would "find it easy".
He was hugely admired by the fans for his skills; at half time, and even in slower parts of the game, the whole ground would unite in chanting his name. "Bobby Robson; Bobby Robson".
To this very day, when CF's father is drunk and over-excited while watching a sporting event (usually on television - he's in his seventies) he will begin chanting 'Bobby Robson; Bobby Robson', even if the event in question is golf's Ryder cup, or some obscure rugby league quarter final.
Hard to think of a better tribute to a giant of the sporting world.
.
Posts
3 comments:
Footy is a game which I loathe.
Having said that, Robson always seemed a genuine type of bloke.
Arguably, Englands greatest manager, although not sharing the sucess of Ramsay neither did he have home advantage when he almost took England all the way in 1990. Probably the most passionate communicator in the game. Will be missed. And Im a Scot.
All genuine football fans will mourn the loss of Bobby Robson. I speak as a Gooner who was at that Cup Final in 1978. Apart from his unquestionable skills as a coach, he brought great dignity to the game.
When you see some of today’s overpaid and uncouth yobs being treated as gods, you know how much the game has declined since Sir Bobby’s heyday.
It’s a well used cliché, but in his case it is almost certainly true. We will not see his like again.
Post a Comment