Sir Alex Ferguson pays tribute to his great friend Sir
Bobby Robson, who died on Friday morning...
"Bobby’s passing is a very sad loss to the game. He
was a dear friend of mine and a friend to many people in football.
We owe him a great sense of gratitude for the life he’s spent in
the game - no-one in my time has shown such passion and love for
football than Bobby did. He used to phone me before every big game
to wish me all the best, I remember him calling on the afternoon of
the Champions League final in ’99 to say good luck. No matter how
busy he was, he always took the time to think of others which was
fantastic. That was a very special part of Bobby.
"My first contact with him came in 1981 when Aberdeen played
Ipswich in the UEFA Cup. He’d won it [with Ipswich] the previous
season and had a great team at the time. We managed to beat them at
Pittodrie and I’ll always remember him coming into our dressing
room after the game, standing in the middle and saying to all the
players, ‘You’ll win this cup – anyone that beats Ipswich Town will
win it!’ It was a fantastic moment.
"I always followed his career as a manager and looked out for the
results of the teams he was managing at the time, from Sporting
Lisbon to Barcelona to PSV. He was simply a true legend across the
world. After he finished his spell as England manager he didn’t
wait to see the daisies come up, he went out into Europe because he
knew he had a life to live and a big contribution to make. You need
something special in you to be able to say to yourself, 'I'm going
to up roots and start anew in another country', but he had that.
There are very, very few
English managers who have ever done that and that’s what sets
him apart.
"We’ve been away for two weeks on tour, but I was due to go and see
him on Monday with Sir Bobby Charlton. The two of us attended his
charity dinner last October and he was so courageous in the way he
fought his illness.
Everyone at Manchester United, the players, the staff and the fans,
appreciate people who devote themselves to football and who are
passionate about the game in the right way, and for that reason
Bobby’s death is a very sad loss to everyone."
Denis Law says Sir Bobby will be sadly missed...
"I was extremely sad to hear the news about Bobby. I
was with him last year at a charity event in Portugal where he was
raising funds for an orphanage over there with a friend of mine and
he was struggling a bit [with illness] then. He got up to make a
speech and I thought he’d probably just do a few minutes, but he
ended up speaking for half an hour! I couldn’t believe it, but that
was Bobby all over. He was enthusiastic about everything he
did.
"Not only was he a wonderful player and manager, he was a
wonderful man and a very brave man. Despite his health problems, he
just kept battling on. He was someone who was extremely well liked
by everyone, even opposition teams and fans. And he was just
football crazy, that’s all he talked about. His life revolved
around the game. He was a wonderful, wonderful guy who will be
sadly missed by everybody."
Bryan Robson reflects on his time under Sir Bobby for
England...
“It’s a very sad day for football. Sir Bobby was a
great guy who was so passionate about football. He always
encouraged his players to express themselves and enjoy the game. If
his players were happy, he was happy. He was a great player and
manager in his own right, but as a person he was just fantastic -
he always had time for everyone.
“I was fortunate enough to be given the England captaincy by him
and I thoroughly enjoyed that role and everything about playing for
him for eight years. We had some great times – the World Cups in
Mexico in 1986 when we reached the quarter-finals and then Italy in
1990 when we got to the semi-final… he was just a pleasure to work
with.
“I was with him in Portugal only a few weeks ago when I went over
to play in his charity golf day which was a fantastic event. He was
struggling [with illness] at the time and had been advised not to
travel, but he wanted to be there. And last weekend he was
at a charity football match at St James'
Park raising money for others. That just shows the character
of the man.”