RIP Sir Bobby Robson - one year on

"What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.

It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love"

Sir Bobby Robson (1933-2009)

THESE are the beautiful words of a man who truly loved football for all the right reasons. Sir Bobby Robson died from lung cancer exactly a year ago today, aged 76.

To mark the occasion, his boyhood club Newcastle United play another of Sir Bobby's former teams, PSV Eindhoven, in a friendly match at St James Park at 3pm.

Sir Bobby enjoyed his time in Holland, winning back-to-back Dutch championships in 1991 and 1992.

Of course, by then, he had already enjoyed a decent career at West Bromwich Albion and Fulham as a player, winning 20 England caps as a deep-lying forward.

After failing in his first job as a manager at Fulham, his major breakthrough came at Ipswich Town where he won the FA Cup in 1978 and the Uefa Cup in 1981.

The feat of bringing European silverware and regular top-half finishes to the provincial Suffolk club convinced the FA to offer Sir Bobby the England job.

At the end of his eight-year reign in 1990, his team reached the World Cup semi-final against West Germany but lost on penalties.

It remains the closest that England have come to winning the World Cup since 1966.

Once his time with the national team ended, Sir Bobby moved his interests abroad, first with Eindhoven and then at FC Porto where he won two league championships and a cup in three seasons.

Sir Bobby was unable to repeat his league championship wins at his next club, Barcelona.

However, he still managed to win three trophies - the Spanish Super Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Copa del Rey - in a single season, a feat which earned him the accolade of European Manager of the Year for 1996-7.

After his sojourn in Spain, Sir Bobby returned to PSV for a brief spell in which they qualified for the Champions League by finishing third.

Then came a job which he simply could not resist - with Newcastle at St James Park where 50 years earlier he watched Jackie Milburn play.

But Sir Bobby arrived at a club on its knees after the divisive reign of Ruud Gullit, with just one point from the first seven league matches in 1999-2000.

Once again, he worked his magic and an 8-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday was the start of a fine recovery in which the Magpies eventually finished 11th.

Sir Bobby's first full season at St James Park was a disappointment as Newcastle settled for another 11th-placed finish but he gradually built a team of pace and flair, ready to challenge England's best.

In 2001-02, Newcastle led the Premier League on Christmas Day after successive away wins at Arsenal (3-1) and Leeds United (4-3) before eventually finishing fourth.

The Magpies under Sir Bobby reached their peak in 2002-03, progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League and challenging genuinely for the league until a devastating 6-2 defeat to Manchester United in mid-April.

Newcastle ended the season in third position behind Manchester United and Arsenal.

In 2003-04, Newcastle were well off the pace after a series of away draws but still finished in fifth place and reached the Uefa Cup semi final.

Some supporters voiced their disapproval at the decline and then-chairman Freddy Shepherd undermined Sir Bobby by announcing 2004-05 would be his last season.

In fact, Sir Bobby lasted just four games into that season after his team took just two points.

Sir Bobby ended his career in football with a brief spell as a consultant with the Republic of Ireland under Steve Staunton.

But, after the Irish failed to qualify for Euro 2008, he retired to put his efforts into his cancer research charity, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

Sir Bobby was the perfect man for the job, having beaten cancer four times, and many joked this time last year that the final score was still 4-1 in his favour.

For the record, Sir Bobby defeated bowel cancer in 1992, a malignant melanoma in 1995, and a tumour in his right lung and a brain tumour, both in 2006.

His last public appearance came at St James Park as England XI beat Germany XI 3-2 in a match which raised funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

His funeral, a small private gathering, took place on 5th August before a memorial service on 21st September saw a thousand guests invited to Durham Cathedral.

The memorial service was screened on live television and to fans on screens at St James Park, Ipswich Town's Portman Road and Fulham's Craven Cottage.

We still miss you, Sir Robert William Robson of Sacriston. RIP x

Sir Bobby Robson Trophy

Sir Bobby Robson RIP (1933-2009)

ENGLAND (2) 3 Ferdinand, Thompson, Shearer (pen)
GERMANY (2) 2 Helmer, Bobic

SIR Bobby Robson watched on as Alan Shearer helped England XI come back from two goals down to beat Germany XI 3-2 at St James' Park on Sunday.

Sir Bobby, who is battling cancer for a fifth time, made a pre-match appearance on the pitch in his wheelchair.

There was hardly a dry eye in the house as the Italia 90 theme Nessun Dorma was sung while he shook hands with both teams.

Although he looked frail, he was also bursting with pride as he took his place in the directors' box for the game which raised funds for his charity, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

Germany started much better and it was no surprise when ex-Sunderland striker Thomas Helmer gave them the lead after just five minutes following a neat move.

On 18 minutes, Fredi Bobic doubled the Germans' advantage with a simple finish after England's defence again struggled to match the pace of their opponents.

England almost replied instantly when Rob Lee fired over his team's first effort from 25 yards before a streaker interrupted proceedings to the mirth of all.

Shortly afterwards, the tide turned in the Three Lions' favour as Shearer became more involved.

First, Shearer won a free-kick down the left which was whipped in by Alan Thompson and converted with a trademark flick-header from Les Ferdinand on 28 minutes.

Then, just four minutes later, Thompson scored direct from another free-kick won by Shearer, curling the ball over the ball and into the top corner to make it 2-2 at half time.

England enjoyed a much more comfortable start to the second half but still relied on some excellent interceptions from Des Walker who looked as lean as ever at centre half.

The Forest fans were clearly right when they sang, "You'll never beat Des Walker". Along with Shearer and Thompson, he was among the most impressive England performers.

The match seemed to be petering out to a draw and yet another penalty shootout against Germany when Shearer made another surge towards the box.

Jens Nowotny made a clumsy challenge on the former England captain in the box. Shearer picked himself up and converted a classic penalty in the corner.

Germany still had time to rattle the Leazes End crossbar after a stunning strike from ex-Rangers man Jorg Albertz.

And only a goalmouth scramble prevented an equaliser as England relaxed and brought on their 'celebrities'.

All in all, a fantastic night for a magnificent man and his very worthy cause.

*To donate online to cancer research charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, click here.