Bryan Robson

For the 1960s–1980s footballer of the same name, see Pop Robson.

Bryan Robson
OBE
Robson in 2009
Personal information
Full name Bryan Robson[1]
Date of birth (1957-01-11) 11 January 1957 (age 67)[2]
Place of birth Chester-le-Street, England
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Manchester United (global ambassador)
Youth career
1972–1975 West Bromwich Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1981 West Bromwich Albion 198 (40)
1981–1994 Manchester United 345 (74)
1994–1997 Middlesbrough 25 (1)
Total 568 (115)
International career
1979–1980 England U21 7 (2)
1979–1980 England B 3 (1)
1980–1991 England 90 (26)
Managerial career
1994–2001 Middlesbrough
2003–2004 Bradford City
2004–2006 West Bromwich Albion
2007–2008 Sheffield United
2009–2011 Thailand
2009–2011 Thailand U23
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain, before moving to Manchester United in 1981, where he became the longest-serving captain in the club's history. He won two Premier League winners' medals, three FA Cups, one Football League Cup, two FA Charity Shields and a European Cup Winners' Cup during his time there. Nicknamed "Captain Marvel",[4] Robson was voted in August 2011 as the greatest ever Manchester United player in a poll of the club's former players as part of a book, 19, released to celebrate the club's record-breaking 19th league title.[5]

Robson represented England on 90 occasions between 1980 and 1991, making him at the time the fifth-most capped England player.[6] His goalscoring tally of 26 placed him eighth on the list at the time. He played for England at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and at Euro 1988. Robson captained his country 65 times; only Bobby Moore and Billy Wright have captained England on more occasions.[citation needed]

Robson began his management career as a player-manager with Middlesbrough in 1994, retiring from playing in 1997. In seven years as Middlesbrough manager, he guided them to three Wembley finals, which were all lost, and earned them promotion to the Premier League on two occasions. Between 1994 and 1996, he also served as assistant coach to England manager Terry Venables, which included Euro 96.[7][8] He later returned to West Bromwich Albion for two years as manager, helping them become the first top division team in 14 years to avoid relegation after being bottom of the league table on Christmas Day. Less successful have been his short-lived spells as manager of Bradford City and Sheffield United, the former lasting barely six months and ending in relegation from what is now the EFL Championship, and the latter lasting less than a year and seeing his expensively-assembled side fail to challenge for promotion to the Premier League. On 23 September 2009, Robson was appointed manager of the Thailand national team. He resigned on 8 June 2011. On 1 July 2011, Robson was appointed "Global Ambassador" at Manchester United.

  1. ^ "Bryan Robson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  2. ^ The Times 10 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2010
  3. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Bryan Robson (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Manchester United: Who was your favourite Man Utd captain?". BBC Sport. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  5. ^ Harry Harris (9 August 2011). "Bryan Robson named as Manchester United's most marvellous". Daily Express.
  6. ^ Robson was behind Peter Shilton, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright. Others have since won more caps and Robson has moved down the list.
  7. ^ Ridley, Ian (14 January 1996). "Lessons of the long goodbye". The Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ^ Gibbons, Mike (9 July 2018). "Redemption Song? Gareth Southgate, semi-finals and football coming home". Eurosport. Retrieved 7 April 2019.