The forgotten legends of football - Bryan Robson

“A leader is a dealer in hope” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Leaders are people who inspire others, leaders are people who themselves go to the limit and make everyone follow them to it. Leaders are people who act and not people who say. If there is one man in football who fulfills all the criteria for leadership, it has to be ‘Captain Marvel’, Bryan Robson.

This man was voted Manchester United’s best ever player ever in a poll of former United players. And if being the best player ever in one of the world’s best clubs was not enough, Robson also holds the distinction of being the longest serving captain at Old Trafford. Scholes and Keane are often accorded the distinction of being the best midfielders United has had. But when you talk to old-time Manchester United fans, you realize that this man was, if humanly possible, a combination of the best in Keane and Scholes.

But Manchester United was not where he started off. Though not many would be aware of it, Robson is still something of a cult figure for West Bromwich Albion’s fans, as it was here that he made his name. He established himself in the team for the first time in the 1977-78 season. The effect was instantaneous. West Brom finished third and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup.

The 1980-81 season was again a good one for Robson. He was the mainstay in Ron Atkinson’s team and again led his team to a fourth place finish. At the end of the season, Ron Atkinson moved to Manchester United and took Robson along with him. It was going to be one of the best decisions in Manchester United’s history. At the time Robson joined United, they were still a club that were attempting to recapture its legacy. Matt Busby had departed and the search for success was being undertaken with earnest. The purchase of Robson for 1.5 million pounds was then the British transfer record for a player, and subsequent events proved that it was money well spent.

Watching his old videos, one realises that not only was Robson a goal-scoring midfielder, he was the master of everything a player does in midfield. He was tough in his tackles, and his organization and leadership on the field were as good as Keane’s. Also, during his time at West Brom, he had often alternated between left-back and central midfield. In his own words, it was this need for versitality that gave him his much envied defensive game. Also, he was a brilliant reader of the game and made a huge number of interceptions.

Under Atkinson, his game flourished and soon he was a mainstay for the Red Devils. He had a decent first season, but it was the next season when he really started to come into his own. The first midfielder at United to wear the number ‘7’ jersey, he got United to the finals by scoring against Arsenal in a 2-1 win and then scored a brace in the FA Cup final replay against Brighton. While this was no mean achievement, what followed is a salient example of Robson’s leadership and selflessness. To complete his hat-trick, he could have taken the penalty himself, but opted not to. Instead, like the true captain he was, he let regular penalty taker Arnold Muhren have a share in the glory.

At the international front too, Robson was now an integral part of the national team. While his 1986 and 1990 world cup campaigns were brutally cut short by injuries, his 1982 campaign was an excellent one for him. In the group stage when England faced France, Robson was the complete midfielder. He neutralized the threat of a young Michel Platini throughout the game. Also, he scored a goal in 27 seconds after kickoff, which was at the time a world cup record. After France equalized, Robson again scored to re-establish dominance. It is generally reckoned to be one of the most complete performances given by Robson, who was earning a reputation as one of the best midfielders of his time. Like any world class midfielder, Robson had bags of energy in him. He displayed the same commitment at full time, as he did at kickoff. The thing I feel that makes him better than most other midfielders, be it Figo or Zidane was his pace, and sustained pace at that.

It is Sir Alex Ferguson who is generally credited with United’s never-say-die spirit. But for me, it was the United captain that epitomized it. In the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1984, a Maradona inspired Barcelona defeated United 2-0 at the Camp Nou. The general feeling was that the best United could do was earn a draw. Bryan Robson, though, had other ideas. He was unstoppable on the night. Not only did he completely eclipse Diego Maradona, he left the Catalans reeling. Every pass was perfect and every tackle accurate, and he also got the two goals which equaled the scores on aggregate. But he did not stop there; the midfield metronome was still churning. Frank Stapleton might have got the winner, but everyone knew it had been Robson’s night.

One particular feature that stood out to me was his distribution of the ball. He did not have the passing range of someone like Scholes, but he was the man everything went through; his role was very similar to that of Carrick’s today. One thing he possessed that Carrick does not was terrific anticipation. He made brilliant runs on and off the ball. And while Robson was tough on the ball, he played with an elegance that had rarely been seen in Britain. As if this was not enough, he was considered better than most strikers when it came to heading ability.

Twice he came to lifting the Division One title, but both times late-season collapses found them in fourth place. Atkinson’s job was rumored to be unsafe and although Atkinson did win one more FA Cup in 1985, it was the arrival of a Scotsman from Aberdeen which was going to change United and its captain forever. Sir Alex Ferguson recognized Robson’s value to the side and went about building a team around the enigmatic captain. Three trophy-less seasons later, Robson was finally able to get his hands on another FA Cup trophy, making him the only Manchester United captain to lift the trophy thrice.

Slowly, though, age and injuries were taking their toll. His fitness restricted his number of appearances, and with 38 appearances, the 1991-92 season was the last he played as a regular first team player. The biggest disappointment of his career for Robson was being overhauled by rivals Leeds and losing the final Division One title. Despite competition from the likes of Kanichelkis, Phelan and Lee Sharpe, Robson still was United captain. His pace, though, was wearing away and his legendary stamina was starting to fade. While the mind was as sharp as ever, the body was getting slower. He did lift the Premier League for two seasons in a row and the inaugural Premier League win was one of the best moments in United’s history. They had won it after 25 years, and the fact that their best player in the last decade was the man lifting it, made it all the more sweet.

But like every romance, this one too had to come to an end. When squad numbers came out for the 1993-94 season, Robson’s favorite number ‘7’ jersey was handed to Cantona. Captain Marvel was restricted to mere substitute appearances, and at the end of the season, after scoring 99 goals in 461 appearances, he left for Middlesbrough as a player-manager. But his effect was more far reaching than goals. He was the spine of a team looking to recapture its glory days. He was the leader of a team that delivered success to the Stretford End. He was, in true sense, a complete leader.

He had a short career as manager of various teams, and the best of it was at Middlesbrough. He got them to three cup finals, and even though Middlesbrough was relegated, the board kept his trust in him and Middlesbrough came back up the very next season. He had a string of forgettable jobs as manager, and wisely retired. Robson now serves as an ambassador for Manchester United.

While there have been other greats at Old Trafford, there have been none like him. Be it the late winner, the defence splitting pass, the crunching tackle to stop a counter-attack, a lunging header that was impossible to attempt or a fearless block to a stinging shot, Robson has done it all. For the national team, he made 90 appearances and captained the team in 65 of those. While his England career left a sense of what might have been, his United career is his everlasting legacy to the game. He did not have a mercurial game like Cantona, he did not have the striking prowess of Hughes, did not have the temper of Keane, neither did he have Scholes’ eye for a pass. He was a mixture of all of them and that is what makes him Captain Marvel. My deepest tribute to the best Manchester United player no one remembers.

You can read about other legends of football as well.

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Edited by Staff Editor