Sir Bobby Robson is considered one of the greatest English football managers of all time. The former midfielder led his nation from the hot seat for eight years, competing in a handful of major international tournaments with them. Aside from his work with the Three Lions, he was also a fine head coach for the likes of Ipswich Town and Newcastle United.
Having passed away in 2009, Robson is still held in high regard to this day, 16 years later and he’s regarded as one of the best managers to never win the Premier League. In short, fans, pundits and players alike all thought very highly of him and his opinion held a lot of weight. Especially when it comes to sharing his thoughts on the beautiful game.
Robson once gave his opinion on the greatest defensive player to ever come out of England and it’s not a name many will expect. In fact, the star only managed to represent his country on nine occasions. Still, the former Newcastle boss thought very highly of him and that was Kevin Beattie.
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Robson Thought Beattie Was the Best Defensive Player in England History
He played under Robson at Ipswich
While his stint as England manager is what Robson is most famous for in the eyes of younger football fans these days, he spent 13 years in charge of Ipswich Town before he became Three Lions boss and it was during that time with the Tractor Boys that he worked with Kevin Beattie.
In 1971, two years after Robson became the Ipswich manager, he signed Beattie as an academy prospect. The Carlisle-born star had been playing non-league football at the time and was still just 15 years old. It was after Beattie was described as a ‘collosus’ to Robson by one of his scouts, Ron Gray, that he decided to bring him into the fold.
It was a move that paid off too. Beattie ultimately spent nine years with Ipswich, leaving one year before Robson did. Their time together left the manager very impressed and in a quote shared via BBC, he said that Beattie was the “best defensive player that this country [England] has produced.”
By the time he left the Tractor Boys, Beattie had played 290 times for them. Despite Robson’s high opinion of him, the defender only received nine caps with his national team, England. His debut came in 1975, but his international career lasted just two years and his last game for the Three Lions came in 1977.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 08/06/2025
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