***PRESS RELEASE***

SIR BOBBY CALLS UP HIS ENGLAND WORLD CUP STARS TO PLAY FOR HIM ONCE AGAIN!

Sir Bobby Robson is calling for football fans to get behind the exciting new venture to raise money for his cancer charity, The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

On 26 July at St. James’ Park, Newcastle, the former England manager is reuniting players who formed his 1990 World Cup squad – the side which famously came so close to reaching the final of the competition only be cruelly knocked out by West Germany on penalties.

Sir Bobby says: "I’m thrilled at the prospect of re-uniting my 1990 England squad in support of my charity. It will be a pleasure to see them together again and hopefully this time we’ll get the result we want against Germany!

"We had a good group of players that year, very talented, very tough and ambitious. We got better as the tournament progressed, more accomplished, and the fact we lost on penalties and not in open play tells its story.

"I found out in World Cup football that some teams, over a long spell, are happy to get knocked out and go home but we weren’t like that.

"We were determined to stay in the competition as long as possible and had great will to win. Some players get homesick but we had great staying power in the team and our ambition was to stay to the bitter end. We were so near, but so far."

Arguably Sir Bobby’s finest moment came as he led England to the semi-final in Italy and this game will give him and his team an opportunity to redress the balance. In addition to reuniting 1990 England players, Sir Bobby is also planning on calling on some other very special guests to add to his team.

Sir Bobby adds: "I’m very grateful to my former players who are coming up to Newcastle to help us raise money for my charity. I’m also very appreciative of the efforts of the German players who have so much further to travel.

"During the World Cup we all had the same aim and that was to win the tournament – but we were on opposing sides. It’s very special for me now, all these years later, to know we’re all pulling together with the same aim, as the same team, fighting cancer.

"The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is extremely important to me and I’ll keep going just as long as I can to help raise money for the experts trying to find a cure for this terrible disease. I understand one in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer and the effects can be devastating.

"It happened to me in an instant. One minute I was sitting watching the football at Ipswich Town and the next minute I was being told I had a cancerous tumour on my brain. It happened to me like that, in an instant, and it can happen to anyone."

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation launched last March (2008) and has raised more than £1.2 million to fight cancer in our region.

Incredibly, its initial target of £500,000 to equip a cancer trials research centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care in Newcastle was reached in just seven weeks.

This new centre, the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, was constructed by the Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the Northern Institute for Cancer Research and Newcastle University.

It is at the forefront of research into cancer and offers patients from across north east England, North Yorkshire and Cumbria access to early trials and potential new treatments.

Working closely with the Imaging Research Centre to improve diagnosis and study the effects of new drugs, often ‘first in human’ trials, the clinical staff also coordinate trials of new drugs at later stages of development.

In addition to equipping the new centre, The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation has funded two specialist cancer research posts.

Tickets for England v Germany at St James Park are available via Newcastle United's Box Office 0844 372 1892 website www.nufc.co.uk and cost £10 for adults and £5 for children.

To make a donation, view messages of support, or for more information on The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, please visit www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.co.uk or donate by sending a cheque to Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, PO Box 307, Heaton NE7 7QG.

All donors will receive a personalised certificate and a letter of thanks from Sir Bobby.


Sir Bobby Robson Trophy - Sunday 26 July, KO 6:15pm
England v Germany - Featuring the World Cup squads from Italia 1990 plus selected special guests.
Adults £10 & Juniors £5
Bar Areas - Adults £15 & Juniors £7.50
Tickets for England v Germany at St James Park are available via Newcastle United's Box Office 0844 372 1892 website www.nufc.co.uk.