Former England captain Bryan Robson was born on this day in 1957. Bryan Robson, 67, was Manchester United’s longest-serving captain before leaving Old Trafford in 1994 to become player/manager at Middlesbrough.
‘Captain Marvel’ played 90 games for England between 1980 and 1991, wearing the captain’s armband in 65 of them. He definitely would have gotten more if he hadn’t been injured.
Robson played in the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups, as well as England’s dismal Euro 1988 campaign. He left the 1986 and 1990 tournaments early due to injuries.
At the 1982 World Cup, Robson scored England’s first goal of the tournament after just 27 seconds against France. It remains England’s fastest goal of the tournament.
He began his career at West Bromwich Albion, where he played for six years from 1975 to 1981. Former manager Ron Atkinson spent a British record £1.5 million to take Robson to Old Trafford in October 1981.
After Robson’s playing career ended in January 1997, he became full-time manager of Middlesbrough. He took the Teesside club to the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1997, but the club were relegated at the end of the season.
Boro won automatic promotion the following season and also reached the League Cup final for the second successive season. He remained at the Riverside Stadium until the end of the 2000/01 season.
Robson took over as manager of Bradford City in 2003 and returned to manager West Brom the following year. He started his professional career on the final day of the 2004/05 season, leading the club to Premier League safety.
After leaving the club in September 2006, Robson took charge of Sheffield United. He spent less than a year at Brammall Lane before being sacked in February 2008. His last managerial position was with the Thailand national team, which he managed from 2009 to 2011.
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