Timeline
1933 Born in Sacriston on 18 February, the fourth of Lillian and Phillip Robson's five sons
1950 Gives up work as a colliery electrician's apprentice to sign for Fulham, for whom he would make 152 appearances and score 69 goals
1956 Signs for West Bromwich for a club record £25,000 and becomes club captain
1957 Makes his debut for England in November, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over France
1958 Plays in the World Cup in Sweden
1962 International career ends after an injury before the World Cup. He made 20 appearances for his country
1962 Returns to Fulham after a dispute with West Brom over his salary
1968 Becomes Fulham manager after a short spell as player-manager of the Vancouver Royals. Rejoins Fulham as manager in January, but fails to avoid relegation and is sacked
1969 Becomes Ipswich boss
1972 Leads Ipswich to fourth place in the First Division
1978 Wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal in the final
1981 Wins the Uefa Cup with a 5-4 aggregate victory over AZ Alkmaar
1982 Appointed as England manager in July
1986 Reaches the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but knocked out by a Diego Maradona inspired Argentina
1988 Eliminated in the group stages of Euro 88 after defeats to Republic of Ireland, Holland and the USSR
1990 Reaches the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, going out on penalties to West Germany. Awarded a CBE for his services to English football. Leaves England to take over at PSV Eindhoven, where he won back to back league titles
1992 Diagnosed with cancer for the first time. After failing to make an impression in Europe, sacked by PSV. Becomes the manager of Sporting Lisbon, with Jose Mourinho as his interpreter. Finishes third in his first season at the club, despite admitting that the club was in "a terrible state"
1994 Fired in December due to an early Uefa Cup exit. Becomes manager of FC Porto
1995 Diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. Despite this, takes Porto to a league and cup double, beating his old team, Sporting, in the final of the Portuguese Cup
1996 Appointed coach of FC Barcelona. Wins the Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup in his only year at the club, after signing Ronaldo from his old club, PSV
1997 Voted European Manager of the Year for 1996-1997
1998 Returns to PSV for one season, finishing third and qualifying for the Champions League
1999 Becomes Newcastle manager in September, with Newcastle bottom of the Premier League. Guides them to 11th place
2002 Receives a knighthood for his services to football
2003 Finishes third with Newcastle, but fails to get through the qualifying rounds of the Uefa Cup
2003 Becomes part of the England Hall of Fame due to his managerial success.
2004 Dismissed in August by Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd after a poor start in the league
2005 Becomes an honorary freeman of the city of Newcastle in March, declaring the award as " the proudest moment of my life"
2006 Accepts a post as Ireland coach Steve Staunton's assistant, but steps down after Ireland fail to qualify for Euro 2008. In May, has an operation to remove a tumour from his lungs. Months later, another operation was needed to remove a brain tumour. The operation left him with partial paralysis
2007 Reveals that he has been diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time. Awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year ceremony
2008 Launches the Sir Bobby Robson foundation, a charitable organisation to help cancer prevention
2009 Dies aged 76 on 31 July
Factfile
Player
1950-56 Fulham 152 appearances (69 goals)
1956-62 West Brom 239 (56)
1962-67 Fulham 192 (9)
1957-1962 England 20 (4)
Manager
1968 Fulham
1969-82 Ipswich Town
1982-90 England
1990-92 PSV Eindhoven
1992-94 Sporting Lisbon
1994-96 FC Porto
1996-97 FC Barcelona
1998-99 PSV Eindhoven
1999-2004 Newcastle United
Honours
European Cup Winners' Cup, Uefa Cup, FA Cup, 2 Dutch league titles, 2 Portuguese league titles, Spanish Cup, Portuguese Cup