When we speak of football legends there a few finer that our very own.
As the Vital Ipswich website serves as a lasting reminder to the great man himself, I thought I would devote this column to legend that is Sir Bobby Robson.
I remember I had arranged to meet him through the then Public Relations officer at Ipswich Town Mel Henderson. I was working as a presenter for a hospital radio network at Newsham General Park Hospital in Liverpool and he phoned me to say that because I was doing some important voluntary work, the club had agreed that I could indeed interview a player or two the morning of the game. The only condition was that I disturbed the team for the minimum amount of time.
It was Saturday 24th March 1979 when I turned up at the Holiday Inn in the centre of the city, armed with my portable tape recorder. Those were the days!
The receptionist said, “Just a moment I will put you through to his room,” and he handed me the phone. As it began to ring I became overwhelmed with a feeling of anxious anticipation. It was early in the morning so how would he react?
And then I heard his voice sternly say, “Hello Bobby Robson.”
I replied nervously.
“Oh it`s Frank Weston from Radio Newsham and I have come to interview one of your players for my Home and Away series.”
Now I was a little more nervous because he did not sound in a very good mood.
My fears soon receded however when I came face to face with the man. He shook my hand and smiled and said, “Come with me and I will introduce you to the players. Firstly though, he wanted me to meet the directors and they were all very cordial and polite and I could clearly see what this club meant to Sir Booby too.
“Now then, let`s go into the Breakfast Lounge and get a few victims?I mean volunteers,” he said, with typical Robson wit.
Then he introduced me to the team as they eat their pre-match breakfast.
“I want to introduce you to Frank who is doing wonderful work for people in hospital so can I have a few volunteers please to help him with his interviews?”
There was a moments silence as they all looked up and stared in our general direction but Sir Bobby was not very a patient man.
“Come on, you`ll do it won`t you Mick!” And he singled out our captain at that time Mick Mills. Without a moment`s hesitation the man from Godalming agreed. Mr.Robson was not content with this however, although I was!
“Come on guys?I know it is early in the morning but he is doing this for a good cause so hands up everyone! Remember it is for sick people in hospital!”
To my delight Paul Mariner and John Wark also raised their hands after he uttered these words and now I had three players thanks to this managerial intervention!
The Bobby Robson experience may have been a brief one but it will live with me forever. Having sounded a bit grumpy in his hotel room when I first made contact, by the time he had reached reception Sir Bobby was the very essence of human kindness and nothing seemed to be too much trouble.
Cyril Lea, our first team coach at the time, asked me afterwards if everything went well and assured me that they would be happy to help again sometime if need be.
I still have those recordings somewhere but what matters most is not so much the interviews I got but the one I didn’t!
Why did I not ask to interview Sir Bobby instead? At the age of 24 though, I could not have wished for more and the only disappointment was that game at Anfield later that day.
Mick Mills had been crystal football glazing when I asked him did he have a message for the patients in hospital he said, “You may be suffering a lot at the moment in hospital but it is nothing compared to the suffering we will go through this afternoon at Anfield!”
He was right. Ipswich Town lost 2-0 to Liverpool, as had been expected.
Do you have any memories of meeting the great man himself? If you do, or have anecdotal records of those golden years then drop me a line and let us share in your memories too!
Frank Weston – Editor Vital Ipswich
