Sir Bobby Robson's 'Doris Day'

He played alongside the perfectionist Johnny Haynes, who captained England as well as his club, Jimmy Hill, the loveable Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain and left back Jim Langley. George Cohen, right back in England's World Cup winning team of 1966, and Alan Mullery were also at Craven Cottage.

Frank Osborne, the secretary-manager or general manager from 1948-64, was one of my mentors in football and comedian Tommy Trinder the chairman. Trinder regularly used his team for gags in his comedy routines.

He once famously remarked of his under-achieving side: "They want to do a lap of honour when they win a corner". He made Haynes Britain's first £100-a- footballer; one day I was standing outside Craven Cottage with him when there was a loud crash from within as a billiard table collapsed and Trinder, quick as a flash, said: "Haynesy has dropped his wallet".

I was "the Fulham man" for the national papers around this time. Osborne paid £1,000 at the end of each season to take over the Criterion at Piccadilly Circus to celebrate the club avoiding relegation; he instituted bonuses from 16th place to half way in the old First Division to give the players more incentive to keep away from the bottom rungs.

Young Robson, an elegant player, seemed aloof to it all although very much a part of the happy Fulham band. He had supported Newcastle United as a boy and was always first in the queue at St James' Park at home games; his father never understood why he opted to move to London from his Geordie roots to start his career.

He often told the story of how Fulham team-mate Charlie Mitten turned up at Craven Cottage with his greyhound and persuaded Haynes to vacate the physiotherapy table so the dog could have short wave treatment on a strained fetlock.

I was in the board room with the manager one morning after training when centre forward Maurice Cook came in and demanded a transfer.

Frank, who was sorting out some bills, pushed his trillby to the back of his head and told Maurice to forget it as he was the best striker in England. "No I'm not", Cook replied, "Haynesy calls me a -----".

Frank started perambulating around the board room table insisting that Cook was highly rated, with the player protesting that he was not worthy of playing in the First Division.

Finally Frank stopped in front of me. "This wouldn't happen at Arsenal, Dennis, would it?" he said. You got it in one Frank.

Bobby came to an eve-of-Cup Final party Mrs S and I organised in Hendon and we have often recalled his Sinatra-style singing as the night wore on. I was around at the Cottage as Robson had an unhappy period as manager of Fulham in 1968, before making his name at Ipswich Town as successor to Alf Ramsey there and later with England.

The Ipswich chairman was Etonian John Cobbold - always 'Mr John' to miner's son Bobby - and a trip to Ipswich was a treat for a football writer. The Cobbold hospitality meant a battle to get the last train back to Liverpool Street on a Saturday or midweek evening.

At one stage when he was under heavy fire from the tabloid Press for England under-achieving Bobby sought my advice on how to deal with The Sun.

To his credit he remained courteous to even the most savage of his critics and years later Mrs S and I organised a tribute evening for Sir Bobby at The Savoy at which he stood up and spoke emotionally and without rancour to many of those who had made his life so awkward in his role in the international hot seat.

Sir Bobby, as has been written so many times in the past few days, was a gentleman, a football man who became a national treasure, a proud Geordie and a patriot. He had a knack for picking you out in a crowd and making you feel 10 feet tall.

Mrs S and I were at a football function in Manchester one day when he came bounding across a crowded room and embraced her. It was the first time he had seen her with white hair.

"Ah, it's Doris Day", he said. Mind you, he'd never heard Mrs S sing! From then on, though, she was always Doris Day to him.

I know he had a penchant for getting names wrong. He called England captain Bryan Robson 'Bobby' and, so the story goes, French forward Laurent Robert 'Lauren Bacall".

One thing's for sure. Bobby Robson's name won't be forgotten. I invited him to be guest of honour at a Barnet Sports Development dinner last November. He had to decline as he was already booked for that evening.

"Ask me again next year", he said. 'Doris Day' and I are sad that that is not be be now.