Bryan Robson

West Bromwich Albion

Towards the end of the 1973–74 season, his second as an apprentice, Robson made his reserve team debut, against Everton reserves at Goodison Park. He signed a professional contract in the summer of 1974, earning £28 per week plus a £250 signing on fee. During the 1974–75 season, he was a regular in Albion's reserve team, but was not selected by Don Howe for the first team. Following Howe's departure with three matches of the season remaining, Robson was called up to the senior team for the first time by caretaker manager Brian Whitehouse. He made his first team debut away at York City on 12 April 1975 at the age of 18, helping Albion to a 3–1 victory. In the following game, his home debut, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win over Cardiff City, and also scored in the final match of the season away at Nottingham Forest. During the following season, Robson played only sporadically. He faced stiff competition for midfield places, not least from player-manager Johnny Giles, and was utilised by Giles in various positions, including centre-half, left-back and midfield. Albion finished third in Division Two to win promotion back to the top-flight. Robson experienced top-flight football for the first time during the 1976–77 season, and began to appear more regularly in the side, although he was still alternating between the positions of left back and his preferred central midfield role. His rapid progress was halted when he received the…

In the summer of 1975, Robson was called up to the England youth team for the "mini World Cup". He played as a centre-half during the tournament, which England won, beating Finland 1–0 in the final. He was selected for the England under-21s for the first time in March 1977, but was withdrawn from the squad by his club West Bromwich Albion, who needed him for a league match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Albion drew 2–2, with Robson scoring one of the goals. On 6 February 1979, he finally made his England under-21 debut, albeit as an overage player (he was 22 at the time) as England beat Wales 1–0 at Swansea's Vetch Field. He made his England B debut on 12 June 1979, and scored after just five minutes to give England a 1–0 lead against Austria B in Klagenfurt, although the match was abandoned after 60 minutes. He appeared three times for England B in all, captaining the side on his third and final appearance as England drew 0–0 with Algeria's A team in Algiers on 11 December 1990. On 6 February 1980, Robson made his full international debut, and his first appearance at Wembley, as England beat the Republic of Ireland 2–0 in a UEFA Euro 1980 qualifier. His second cap came in the final preparation game for the finals—a 2–1 win over Australia in Sydney—but he didn't feature in the tournament itself, from which England were eliminated in the first round. On 9 September 1981, he marked his 13th cap by scoring his first goal for England, in a 2–1 defeat to Norway in…

Middlesbrough

Robson accepted Middlesbrough's offer to become player-manager at the end of the 1993–94 season, and made a dream start to his managerial career as the club won the Division One title and promotion to the Premier League. Robson oversaw Boro's final season at Ayresome Park before relocation to the new 30,000-seat Riverside Stadium on the banks of the River Tees. He was assisted by Viv Anderson, another former Manchester United and England player. Middlesbrough made an ambitious return to the Premier League and attracted expensive big names like Nick Barmby and the Brazilians Juninho and Branco. They went fourth in the Premier League in October 1995, sparking hopes of UEFA Cup qualification, but an injury crisis sparked a slump in form and they slid down the table to finish 12th. In the summer of 1996, Robson paid £7 million to sign the Juventus and Italy striker Fabrizio Ravanelli, who became the highest-paid player in English football with a weekly wage of £50,000 as well as being one of the most expensively signed. In the 1996–97 season, Robson led Boro to both domestic cup finals, but they were on the losing side both times, losing 1–0 in a replay to Leicester City in the League Cup final replay and 2–0 in the FA Cup final to Chelsea, while they suffered relegation from, the Premier League. This relegation would have been avoided if they had not been deducted three points in mid-season for cancelling a fixture at late notice due to many players being…

Robson was born in Northlands, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, to Brian, a long distance lorry-driver, and Maureen Robson. He was the second of four children, after sister Susan and ahead of younger brothers Justin and Gary (also footballers). Robson was brought up in Witton Gilbert until he was six, when the family moved to nearby Chester-le-Street, the town where he was born. As a boy, he supported Newcastle United; his childhood hero was Newcastle forward Wyn Davies. A keen footballer from a young age, he joined the local Cub Scout group purely so that he could play for their football team. Robson attended Birtley South Secondary Modern School, and later, Lord Lawson of Beamish comprehensive school, where he competed for the school in athletics and football. He was captain of both his school football team and the Washington and District team. As a teenager, he had trials with Burnley, Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion. Robson was in the final academic year of pupils who still had the option of finishing education at the age of 15, and in the summer of 1972, he accepted Albion manager Don Howe's offer of a two-year apprenticeship, worth a wage of £5 per week in the first year and £8 per week in the second year.