He moved on to PSV Eindhoven, where he twice won the Dutch championship, and then went to Portugal with Sporting.

He subsequently led Porto to two championships, before moving on to Barcelona, with whom he won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1997.

Then it was back to PSV for a season before, as he saw it, returning home to Newcastle United, the club he had supported as a boy.

When he arrived in 1999, Newcastle were bottom of the table, but they put eight past Sheffield Wednesday in his first home game in charge, and survived comfortably.

They went on to finish fourth in 2001-02, and third the following season, earning two qualifications for the Champions League.

Dismissed near the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Robson remained in the club's affections, and was their honorary president until his death.

'He just mesmerised everybody, it was a pleasure to be in his company,' said the former Newcastle assistant manager Terry McDermott.

'He always had a story to tell, a very amusing guy. Our hearts go out to his wife and all his family.'

A crowd of 33,000 turned out at St James' Park on Sunday to honour a wheelchair-bound Robson at a charity match between an England XI and a Germany XI, recalling their World Cup semi-final meeting in 1990.

'Sir Bobby is a legend over the world,' said the former midfielder Paul Gascoigne who played in the game.

'He was the one who gave me my first run-out for the England team. When I saw him it was quite heartbreaking to see him that way.'