Stars pay final tribute to Sir Bobby

Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Lineker and Fabio Capello were among 1,000 guests at a memorial service here on Monday for Sir Bobby Robson, the former England manager who died in July.

Paul Gascoigne and others who played under Robson at the 1990 World Cup, where England reached the semi-finals, were also at Durham cathedral to pay tribute to one of football’s best-loved figures.

Lineker, one of the veterans of Italia 90, praised his “hugely supportive and fiercely loyal” ex-coach, telling the congregation: “Sir Bobby Robson, we will miss you but we will never, ever forget you.”

The service was broadcast live on television and beamed to giant screens at Ipswich and Newcastle, two of the clubs Robson managed during a career which also included successful spells at Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and FC Porto.

Robson, who had fought repeated battles with cancer, finally succumbed to the disease on July 31, at the age of 76. In the final years of his life he raised 1.8 million pounds for his own foundation, which funds research into the early detection of cancer.