12 September 1984
England 1-0 East Germany: Highlights

Bryan Robson scored a spectacular right-footed volley to beat East Germany in a friendly at Wembley in September 1984.


West Bromwich Albion pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks ever at the weekend as the club defied the odds to stay in the Premiership for another season.

For manager Bryan Robson, keeping the club in the top flight of English football is another in a long line of successes which have lit up the former England captain's career.

Having begun his playing career at the Hawthorns as an apprentice in 1974, making his League debut against York City, Robson won his first England cap against the Republic of Ireland in February 1980.

Having made more than 225 appearances for West Brom, during which he scored 46 goals, Robson moved to Manchester United in October 1981 for a British record fee of £1.5million.

A few months later, Robson was part of Bobby Robson's England squad that qualified for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1970.

The United man was an important cog in the England machine and in the first game against France, he scored one of the fastest goals in the history of the Finals.

Robson's influence on the side was growing and in a European Championship qualifier against Greece in Salonkia in November 1982, he was made captain for the first time.

On the club scene, Robson's United were still struggling to win their first League title since 1967 but they did win The FA Cup in 1983, Robson scoring twice in the 4-0 replay win over Brighton, and again in 1985 when Norman Whiteside scored the decider.

Having failed to qualify for Euro '84, England made it to the World Cup in 1986 in Mexico, with Robson playing a leading role in the qualifying campaign.

He hit a hat-trick as Turkey were beaten 8-0 in Istanbul and Robson got further goals in the home matches against Turkey and Finland as England topped their group.

England had reason to feel confident going in to the tournament but things went wrong for Robson in the build-up to the tournament after he picked up a shoulder injury.

Tragedy struck Robson in the second match of the World Cup against Morocco when he dislocated his shoulder, bringing his tournament to an end.

Injury again robbed England's captain of a starring role at the World Cup in Italy in 1990 as he went off in the 65th minute of the second group game against Holland with an Achilles tendon strain.

The World Cup had been due to be Robson's international swang-song but it was not to be and two years later he retired from international football with 90 caps, 65 of them as captain, and 26 goals to his name.

However in the final days of his playing career at Old Trafford, the trophies started to flood in with United securing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1991, and the Premiership title in 1993.

His final season in Manchester, 1993/94, saw the club win their first-ever double and by the time he had left Old Trafford he had played 450 times for United and scored 97 goals.

Bryan Robson Factfile

Nationality: England (90 caps, 26 goals)
Clubs: West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United, Middlesbrough
Date of Birth: 11 January 1957
Place of Birth: Chester-le-Street, Durham 

Year

Club

Apps

Goals

1974/75

West Bromwich Albion

3

2

1975/76

West Bromwich Albion

16

1

1976/77

West Bromwich Albion

23

8

1977/78

West Bromwich Albion

35

3

1978/79

West Bromwich Albion

41

7

1979/80

West Bromwich Albion

35

9

1980/81

West Bromwich Albion

40

10

1981/82

West Bromwich Albion

5

0

1981/82

Manchester United

32

5

1982/83

Manchester United

33

10

1983/84

Manchester United

33

12

1984/85

Manchester United

33

9

1985/86

Manchester United

21

7

1986/87

Manchester United

30

7

1987/88

Manchester United

36

11

1988/89

Manchester United

34

4

1989/90

Manchester United

20

2

1990/91

Manchester United

17

1

1991/92

Manchester United

27

4

1992/93

Manchester United

14

1

1993/94

Manchester United

15

1

1994/95

Middlesbrough

22

1

1995/96

Middlesbrough

2

0

1996/97

Middlesbrough

1

0


Statistics refer to League appearances/goals only