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.”