By Sportingintelligence
1 October 2011
Harry Redknapp is the latest Premier League manager to pay tribute to the late England manager Sir Bobby Robson and donate a unique prize to the charity auction in Sir Bobby’s memory.
Tottenham will donate a shirt signed by the all squad to be presented to the winning bidder by Redknapp himself during an ‘insider’ visit to the club’s training ground.
‘Bobby was a fantastic football man – probably the most enthusiastic football man I’ve ever come across,’ said Redknapp. ‘He loved the game, lived for the game, and he was so brave late in his life.
‘Even when he was seriously ill, he still gave up all his time and used all his energy helping other people. He was a fantastic man and we are delighted to donate this prize to the auction.’
Another prize donated this week came from England bowler Graeme Swann, a lifelong fan of Sir Bobby’s hometown club, Newcastle United.
Swann is donating a pair of tickets for the Friday and Saturday action at next summer’s Lord’s Test against the West Indies, and VIP hospitality on both days.
‘As any Newcastle United supporter will tell you, Sir Bobby was a wonderful man, a brilliant manager and a great inspiration,’ Swann said. ‘To have somebody of his calibre as our manager was wonderful.
‘His passion for the club and his passion for the north-east and his passion for life was extraordinary and will be remembered forever.
‘I was fortunate enough to meet Sir Bobby, although it was sadly quite near the end of his life, in a game we won 3-1 against Middlesbrough. It was an honour just to be a couple of seats away from him. The north-east, and football, owes him a massive debt of gratitude and I’m proud to be able to help and support his ongoing charity work.’
The ‘money can’t buy’ prizes will be among more than 100 available in an online auction between 8-23 October from a huge range of sporting and non-sporting benefactors.
Sir Bobby died two years ago at the age of 76. The online auction, from 8-23 October, and a charity ball next month will raise funds for The Sir Bobby Foundation and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
The auction has also been supported by HRH the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister David Cameron. Auction founder Gina Long added: ‘When I started planning the auction, I could only have dreamt that I would get support from such magnificent people and great companies.
‘But now that has been turned into reality, it can only help us achieve our goal of raising more than £250,000 for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and Suffolk Breakthrough Breast Cancer.’
Last month we reported how Jose Mourinho has donated his World Coach of the Year award from 2010 to the auction and was just the latest manager among the biggest names in the game to donate auction lots and pay tribute to the influence of Sir Bobby.
Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas has given a donation (link here), as has Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson (link here) and Leicester’s Sven Goran Eriksson, a former England manager, as Sir Bobby was. Last week we reported how the England and India cricket teams, and Wolves, are also involved.
For me details follow the link to the auction site, www.sirbobbysbreakthroughauction.com
Sportingintelligence is proud to be among the supporters of the auction.
Some of the sports-related lots already pledged include:
A chance to attend England national football training as a guest of Fabio Capello … A chance to play a match at Sir Bobby’s old club, Ipswich Town, with two winning bid teams being trained by Robson-era stars and using the dressing rooms, executive box and boardroom … Tickets to the glitzy, star-studded PFA Player of the Year award bash next April … A rare, signed, limited-edition copy of the autobiography of Pele … one of John Motson’s commentary charts from a big game … the signed Chelsea shirt, tickets and chance to meet Villas-Boas … an England Shirt signed by the majority of the squad involved in the recent friendly with Ghana … hospitality and premier enclosure badges at Newmarket races … a pair of Centre Court tickets in the first week of Wimbledon2012 … a pair of tickets to the final of the Masters snooker at Wembley in January … a racing shirt signed by the British Touring Car Championships drivers, Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal … a framed print of the old Wembley Stadium, signed by Bobby Charlton and Sir Geoff Hurst … a day at “The Audi Driving Experience” at Silverstone, with qualified instructors flown in from Germany especially … a Liverpool shirt signed by Andy Carroll (and match tickets).
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A full list of ‘money can’t buy’ lots, with more to come, can be found at www.sirbobbysbreakthroughauction.com. The auction takes place in October, online.
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