IF North East football is a family, then its father figure was Sir Bobby Robson.

And on Monday evening an elite group that has learned and benefited from the former Newcastle United manager’s wisdom produced a marvellous show at The Sage Gateshead to celebrate what would have been his 80th birthday.

Sportsmen and comedians regaled the respectful crowd with stories from his life and offered wonderful snippets about his career, while musicians from across the country performed powerful renditions of some of Sir Bobby’s favourite pieces.

The event, benefiting the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Alan Shearer Foundation, set about doing just that as folk star and former Lindisfarne frontman Billy Mitchell, and commentator and co-host Jim Rosenthal, led the audience through a touching narrative of the great man’s life.

The pair were charming and witty throughout, and enabled guest speakers including Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew and Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas Boas to feel at ease in front of a sell-out crowd.

It was only right that Newcastle United, the club Sir Bobby managed for five successful years, were well represented.

The two longest-serving players at the club, Steve Harper and Shola Ameobi, took to the stage and gave illuminating insights into the man as a manager.

One particular story involving Sir Bobby’s handling of a misfiring Craig Bellamy had Hall One in stitches.

There was particular emphasis on bands and solo performers from the North East such as The Unthanks, Scarlet Street and Joe McElderry.

McElderry had the crowd on their feet when he sang Nessun Dorma, a song guaranteed to prompt memories of Sir Bobby due to its prominence during the 1990 World Cup in Italy when he was England manager.

However, it was the performance of Ruby Turner singing Try A Little Tenderness alongside Mark Knopfler and the rousing delivery of Land of Hope and Glory by Russell Watson in the final moments that really stood out.

As the evening unfolded, clips were shown on a large screen of Sir Bobby’s finest moments as a manager, and it was these montages, along with the footage Sir Bobby knowingly recorded for this event before his death in 2009, that will have stayed with the crowd as the show drew to a close.

Just as the audience prepared to leave, our focus was drawn to the screen for one final time.

Paul Gascoigne, fittingly, was the last person to pay tribute to his cherished former mentor, describing him as “like a second dad to me”.

The evidence from this touching tribute would suggest he was not the only one who felt that way.

Charlie Scott