The statue of Sir Bobby sitting on a bench overlooking the eighteenth green is a fitting tribute to a man loved throughout the football world but especial in Portugal where he managed Sporting before achieving cult status at FC Porto when he won the Primeira Liga and Portugal Cup in the mid-1990’s.
Lady Elsie Robson and her family duly unveiled the statue in front of a whole raft of football stars and honoured guests at the 13th Sir Bobby Robson Celebrity Golf Classic last weekend. But the most important guests had not been born when Sir Bobby passed away seven years ago.
The Refúgio Aboim Ascensão is a highly respected homeless children’s charity in Faro that cares for children who have been abandoned, and in some cases, abused.
The Refugio, through the wonderful work of Director Dr Luis Villas-Boas and his team, has developed a specialised model of care ‘Emergencia Infantil,’ dedicated to infants and young children at risk which has earned numerous national and international awards including the prestigious Diana Princess of Wales Award in 1998.
Lady Elsie Robson spoke passionately about the work of the Refúgio and was delighted to announce that the golf classic has raised 842,000 euros since its inception twelve years ago. Thanks to the continuing support of many sponsors including the Pestana Golf Resorts, it is hoped to top the million euros mark in the next two years.
Roger Eastoe, the driving force behind the Golf Classic, introduced a number of guests including André Villas-Boas, one of many young coaches that Sir Bobby helped in their careers.
André had driven down from Porto especially for the unveiling and joined such football legends as Ossie Ardiles, Ray Clemence, Clive Allen, Steve Lomas, Paul Miller, Martin Chivers, George Burley, Mick McCarthy, Russell Osman and John Wark in honouring a very special man.
As Sir Alex Ferguson said, “There is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson in all my years working in England. He was a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man, whose passion and knowledge of the game was unsurpassed, and a great friend. His character was hewn out of the coal face; developed by the County Durham mining background that he came from”.
As the sun set and cast its last rays over the statue they highlighted the relaxed image of Bobby, as he used to be at Vila Sol, after his game of golf sitting and watching other players as they finished their rounds. No more fitting tribute could there be to a dignified, passionate and humanitarian gentleman.