By Gary Lineker, a retired English international football striker and a sports broadcaster for the BBC and Eredivisie Live (THE TIMES, 01/08/09):

Playing for Bobby Robson was a privilege. I will always think of it that way. He had a great understanding and knowledge of football, coupled with great passion. You only have to look at his career record to see a story of remarkable success.

My memories of Bobby are totally bound up with memories of England, and of the World Cup in particular. For any player, or manager, it is the pinnacle of your career.

In the 1986 World Cup England didn’t start well, losing our first two games. The pressure on the manager of England was just as intense in those days as it is today. There are no grey areas: when you win you are brilliant and when you lose you are the worst manager there’s ever been.

As England manager in 1986, Bobby was vilified. We players also came in for heavy criticism, but Bobby stood by us. He could easily have left me out of the team — I had gone five or six games without a goal — but he was such a loyal man. Despite all the sniping he stuck with his players. I was, and still am, eternally grateful for that and I went on to score several goals.

Looking back on Bobby’s career I think his one regret would be that England didn’t beat Germany in the 1990 World Cup. I feel the same way. We were very unlucky not to get to the final, losing on penalties.

My favourite memory of him comes from the end of that game. It was a huge emotional moment for us all and Bobby was part and parcel of it, but he handled it with such dignity. He walked over to put his arm around Franz Beckenbauer, the German manager, then came back and told us to stick our chests out and hold our heads high because we had done ourselves proud.

It was typical of the man. He was hugely likeable but also a proper man in a sport often tainted by less noble characteristics. He stood for everything good in the game.

When he discovered he was ill, it was the same. His immediate response was to start helping others with cancer.

I did a documentary with him a few years ago, when he was already ill. He never once complained. It’s important that people understand just how special he was. There are not that many like him in the game these days.

That 1990 World Cup was a watershed moment for football in this country. It was the point when it stopped being a sport just for working-class men. Women, children, people from all classes — everyone was excited about football. It was the best performance by an England side since 1966 on the biggest possible stage and the public response reflected that.

Ask anyone about Bobby and they will tell you what a lovely man he was, but what came over at the time was his incredible enthusiasm. He always took training sessions, never leaving it to the coaches. He would be there in his tracksuit, driving everybody on, demanding great effort. It’s one of the reasons he was so hugely respected.

Growing up, my memories of him are as the manager of Ipswich Town, where he achieved extraordinary success. Ipswich was a small-town club and he took them into Europe. He produced a terrific side, bringing in top foreign players for the first time — the Dutchmen Arnold Mühren and Frans Thyssen.

He was way ahead of his time. We’ve grown used to the idea that small clubs can come up into the Premier League now, but he was the person who set the precedent. It was a remarkable achievement in a remarkable career.

Bobby will be hugely missed. We’ve lost one of football’s great people.