‘Captain Marvel’ prepares to tackle his greatest challenge

As former England captain Bryan Robson battles with throat cancer, Nick Westby looks back on a career in which the midfielder-turned-manager has remained a prominent figure.

Never one to shirk a challenge in his playing days or managerial career, Bryan Robson is now facing the toughest fight of his life.

England’s ‘Captain Marvel’ is battling throat cancer and underwent surgery to remove a tumour on March 3, according to a statement from Manchester United, the club he served for 14 years.

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Specialists are said to be optimistic about the 54-year-old’s chances of recovery following the surgery at a hospital in Bangkok, and the fact that the illness appears to have been caught early is a positive.

Yet news of such ill-health for the former Middlesbrough, Bradford City and Sheffield United manager still comes as a shock.

A statement from Manchester United read: “Bryan Robson underwent an operation to remove a tumour from his throat on March 3, 2011, in a hospital in Bangkok.

“The laboratory report revealed a cancerous tumour, which will need further treatment. The oncologist is confident that the condition is treatable.

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“At this moment Bryan is fine to continue with his role as Thailand coach and his role as ambassador of Manchester United.

“Bryan and his family have requested that he can continue with his treatment in private and ask that their privacy is respected.”

Robson will no doubt meet the challenge head on.

On the pitch he was known for his unrelenting commitment to whichever cause he was fighting, whether for West Brom for whom he made his debut against York City in April 1975, or for Boro, for whom his last appearance was on New Year’s Day, 22 years later.

Regarded as one of the fittest players of his era, he was nevertheless prone to injury. The sight of him clutching a strapped-up shoulder and being helped from the pitch on a sun-baked Mexican afternoon at the 1986 World Cup is one of the most memorable images of his playing days. That he should not have been playing anyway due to the injury said everything of his character and drive.

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He won 90 caps for his country, 65 as captain, and went to three World Cups, despite a succession of major injuries. It was his England manager Sir Bobby Robson who dubbed him his ‘Captain Marvel.’

Sir Alex Ferguson was just as enthusiastic about Robson’s contribution at Old Trafford and he left United in 1994 having led them to three FA Cups, the European Cup-winners’ Cup and two Premier League titles.

If playing came naturally to Durham-born Robson, management proved more of a struggle.

He started out promisingly with Middlesbrough when he took over as player-manager in 1994, leading Boro back to the top flight in his first season in charge and then to the club’s first major Cup final in their history in April 1997.

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Two more finals would follow in the next 12 months, though none of them ended with Middlesbrough celebrating victory.

They were relegated from the top flight only to bounce back, but his days were numbered in November 2000 when, again battling relegation, Terry Venables was brought in by chairman Steve Gibson to work alongside him.

His inevitible departure from the Riverside Stadium was con firmed in the summer of 2001 and it would be more than two years before he returned to management, this time with Bradford City.

The Bantams were struggling in Division One and Robson could not halt their slide as his 27-game reign ended in relegation.

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After rescuing his beloved West Brom from the Premier League trap door he wound up at Bramall Lane in May 2007, as successor to Neil Warnock following the Blades’ relegation from the Premier League.

He lasted only 38 games and was dismissed in February 2008, after which he became an ambassador for Manchester United and manager of the Thailand national team, succeeding Peter Reid in September 2009.

Remembered fondly on Teesside for the memorable days he gave Boro fans, though perhaps not as warmly by Bradford and Blades fans after unsuccessful managerial stints, he will nevertheless be in the thoughts of every football fan throughout England as he embarks on his greatest challenge.