More than a thousand well-wishers packed into Durham Cathedral yesterday to say their farewells to Sir Bobby Robson. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson was part of the congregation that paid tribute to the North-East’s best-loved character.

SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Sandra was walking down Saddler Street, going away from the Cathedral, seemingly oblivious to the crowds pushing past her.

“Are you going to the service?” she asked suddenly, as if waking from the day-to-day worries of her shopping list.

“Well, will you say a prayer for Sir Bobby for me? I’ve been a Sunderland supporter all my life, but I think he was a wonderful man.”

With the rain dripping off her umbrella, she continued: “I’ll never forget when I said ‘hello’ to him in Tescos and he smiled. If anyone deserves a special day, he does.”

As far as days go, they don’t come more special than this. The North-East has never held a state funeral, but with thousands of onlookers lining the streets winding up to Durham Cathedral, it certainly felt as though the region was laying a member of its royalty to rest yesterday.

Family and friends mingled with the great and the good of the football world. Onlookers in the black-andwhite of Newcastle rubbed shoulders with well-wishers wearing the red-andwhite of Sunderland. And wherever you looked, people were determined to carry a smile. In death, as in life, Sir Bobby was able to bring happiness where otherwise faces might have been sad.

“The final word must belong to Sir Bobby,” said The Right Reverend Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle, in his address.

“In the weeks before his death, he said ‘I was born into a black and white world, but as my last great challenge draws to a close, I am more convinced than ever that we are surrounded by light, not darkness’.”

Yesterday, Sir Bobby’s light shone on thousands who knew him, and thousands more who did not.

They came from Byker and Barcelona, Lisbon and Langley Park, to attend what was billed as a thanksgiving. In reality, it turned into a service of celebration. While the grey skies outside the cathedral were funereal, the mood among the congregation inside was bright.

The richness of Sir Bobby’s life demanded a fitting send-off, and in the city that meant more to him than any other, County Durham’s favourite son was lauded as never before.

The journey from his birthplace of Sacriston to the doors of the cathedral can be completed in less than ten minutes, but the route travelled by Sir Bobby took in most of the great footballing centres of the world.

So while yesterday’s service provided a final chance for the North-East to pay its respects, it also afforded the footballing world an opportunity to remember one of its all-time legends. It is hard to imagine any other figure who could command such a roll call of footballing greats.

Fellow England managers Fabio Capello, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren. Fellow Premier League managers including Sir Alex Ferguson, Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce and David Moyes. Fellow Newcastle United heroes such as Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Malcolm Macdonald and Bob Moncur.

Everyone who was anyone in English football was there, but the most moving tribute was paid by a former player who meant more to Sir Bobby than any other.

Tom Wilson was Robson’s room-mate when he signed his first professional forms with Fulham at the age of 17, and his best man when he married his beloved Elsie in 1955.

Frail and fragile, he evoked the human side of Sir Bobby that touched anyone who had spent a moment or two in his company.

“He had innate charm and a ready smile, but was modest all his life and even somewhat shy,” said Wilson. “He was always very passionate about football and had a deep love of his family and a deep loyalty to his friends.

“I have so many memories of Bob, but I’ll always remember the way we were partial to Spam fritters, which we could just about afford to buy out of the princely sum of £7 a week, which was our wages at that time. How times have changed.”

How indeed, but while the footballing world changed irrevocably during his lifetime, Sir Bobby never lost his love for the beautiful game.

To him, football was inviolable, so while he never lost sight of his working-class roots – Robson’s humility ran through yesterday’s service like one of the coal-seams he helped mine in his youth – he was perfectly at home rubbing shoulders with modern-day superstars earning sums he could never dream of. “I never came across anyone with such a passion for football,” said Bryan Robson, who captained England under his namesake in the 1986 World Cup.

“He was like my second dad,” added Paul Gascoigne, the star of Italia 90. “I can’t describe how much he meant to me. I loved him.”

To many, Italia 90 was the tournament that transformed Sir Bobby from national manager to national treasure.

Yesterday, as Tenors Unlimited brought the service to an end with a stirring rendition of Nessun Dorma, it was impossible not to think back to those days. Nineteen years on from Turin, Gazza again couldn’t hold back the tears.

He wasn’t the only one. Tears that reflected a grief at Sir Bobby’s death, but also a gratitude for his 76 years of life.

His North-Eastern background that remained so integral to his character and personality throughout the rest of his life. His playing and managerial career that catapulted him to the top of the sporting world. His tireless charity work that helped raise £1.8m for a new cancer research centre in the final 18 months of his life. All the facets combined to produce a life like no other.

“He was a lion of a man – no make that three lions,” said former England international Gary Lineker.

“Sir Bobby Robson, we will miss you, but we will never forget you.”

From all-time England greats to Sandra, the 70-year-old still cherishing a smile from Sir Bobby in a shopping aisle, thousands travelled to Durham to prove exactly that.