Tears and cheers for Sir Bobby at charity football match

Jul 27 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

THOUSANDS of fans flooded St James’s Park last night as a host of Tyneside legends came out of retirement to honour local hero Sir Bobby Robson.

The former Newcastle manager made an emotional return to St James’s Park as more than 33,000 supporters turned out for a touching testimonial.

Paul Gascoigne and Peter Beardsley were among those who pulled on their boots to pay homage to the legend in an all-star England team who played Germany in a re-run of the 1990 World Cup semi-final.

And even Alan Shearer refound his scoring touch in front of the Gallowgate – despite the fact he has not been handed the full-time managerial post.

Newcastle’s all-time leading goalscorer tucked away a penalty on 78 minutes to give England a 3-2 a lead they never relinquished to the German side.

Both before and after the tightly-fought contest Sir Bobby’s name echoed around St James’s Park as thousands of fans paid tribute to the Tyneside hero.

Speaking before the game Shearer said it was an honour to be playing in the game for his cancer charity, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

He said: “It’s nice to be back playing a special game for a special man. He means a lot, not only to me but to this region and world football. He’s a very special man.

“He puts his heart and soul into everything and he is certainly doing that now with his charity. He is going through a tough time but he keeps going and that’s the Bobby I know.

“There aren’t a lot of people who could get these sort of players to come back and play, but Sir Bobby has done that and it’s a testament to the person he is.” At least 25,000 match tickets were snapped up prior to the big kick-off and it is thought the event will have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds.