Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in 1981, where he became the longest-serving captain in the club's history and won two Premier League winners' medals, three FA Cups, one Football League Cup, two FA Charity Shields and a European Cup Winners' Cup. In August 2011, Robson was voted as the greatest ever Manchester United player in a poll of the club's former players as part of a book, 19, released to celebrate the club's record-breaking 19th league title.

Robson represented England on 90 occasions between 1980 and 1991, making him at the time the fifth-most capped England player. His goalscoring tally of 26 placed him eighth on the list at the time. Robson captained his country 65 times; only Bobby Moore and Billy Wright have captained England on more occasions. Robson is also known by the nicknames Robbo and Captain Marvel. Bobby Robson stated that Robson was, along with Alan Shearer and Kevin Beattie, the best British player he ever worked with.

Robson began his management career as a player-manager with Middlesbrough in 1994, retiring from playing in 1997. In seven years as Middlesbrough manager, he guided them to three Wembley finals, which were all lost, and earned them promotion to the Premier League on two occasions. Between 1994 and 1996, he also served as assistant coach to England manager Terry Venables, which included Euro 96. He later returned to West Bromwich Albion for two years as manager, helping them become the first top division team in 14 years to avoid relegation after being bottom of the league table on Christmas Day. Less successful have been his short-lived spells as manager of Bradford City and Sheffield United, the former lasting barely six months and ending in relegation from what is now the EFL Championship, and the latter lasting less than a year and seeing his expensively-assembled side fail to challenge for promotion to the Premier League. On 23 September 2009, Robson was appointed manager of the Thailand national team. He resigned on 8 June 2011. On 1 July 2011, Robson was appointed "Global Ambassador" at Manchester United.

Early life
Robson was born in Northlands, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, to Brian, a long distance lorry-driver, and Maureen Robson. He was the second of four children, after sister Susan and ahead of younger brothers Justin and Gary (also footballers). Robson was brought up in Witton Gilbert until he was six, when the family moved to nearby Chester-le-Street, the town where he was born. As a boy, he supported Newcastle United; his childhood hero was Newcastle forward Wyn Davies. A keen footballer from a young age, he joined the local Cub Scout group purely so that he could play for their football team. Robson attended Birtley South Secondary Modern School, and later, Lord Lawson of Beamish comprehensive school, where he competed for the school in athletics and football. He was captain of both his school football team and the Washington and District team. As a teenager he had trials with Burnley, Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion.

Robson was in the final academic year of pupils who still had the option of finishing education at the age of 15, and in the summer of 1972 he accepted Albion manager Don Howe's offer of a two-year apprenticeship, worth a wage of £5 per week in the first year and £8 per week in the second year.

Club playing career

West Bromwich Albion
Towards the end of the 1973–74 season, his second as an apprentice, Robson made his reserve team debut, against Everton reserves at Goodison Park. He signed a professional contract in the summer of 1974, earning £28 per week plus a £250 signing on fee. During 1974–75 he was a regular in Albion's reserve team, but was not selected by Don Howe for the first team. Following Howe's departure with three matches of the season remaining, Robson was called up to the senior team for the first time by caretaker manager Brian Whitehouse. He made his first team debut away at York City on 12 April 1975 at the age of 18, helping Albion to a 3–1 victory. In the following game, his home debut, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win over Cardiff City, and also scored in the final match of the season away at Nottingham Forest.

During the following season, 1975–76, Robson played only sporadically. He faced stiff competition for midfield places, not least from player-manager Johnny Giles, and was utilised by Giles in various positions, including centre-half, left-back and midfield. Albion finished third in Division Two to win promotion back to the top-flight.

Robson experienced top-flight football for the first time during the 1976–77 season, and began to appear more regularly in the side, although he was still alternating between the positions of left back and his preferred central midfield role. His rapid progress was halted however, when he received the first serious injury of his career. Playing at left back, he broke his left leg in a tackle with Tottenham Hotspur striker Chris Jones. Two months later Robson made his comeback in a reserve game at The Hawthorns, but the original break was refractured in a challenge with Stoke City's Denis Smith. Again he recovered, and returned to the first team in late December. He went on to enjoy a run in the side and scored his first professional hat-trick, in a 4–0 win against Ipswich Town on 16 March 1977. One month later however, he broke his right ankle in a challenge with Manchester City's Dennis Tueart, causing him to pull out of the England under-23 squad following his call-up.

Johnny Giles left Albion at the end of 1976–77. His successor, the club's chief scout and former player Ronnie Allen, picked Robson to replace Giles in central midfield. However Allen himself left midway through the season and defender John Wile was put in temporary charge. Results worsened and Robson was dropped from the team. He returned to the side under new boss Ron Atkinson, whom Robson described as "a down-to-earth, fair-minded, regular bloke". Atkinson did leave Robson out of the FA Cup semi-final defeat against Ipswich Town, but recalled him for the latter stages of the league campaign as Albion qualified for the UEFA Cup. In 1978–79 Robson was a key player, starting 41 out of 42 league games and wearing the number 7 shirt on each occasion. He played a major part in Albion finishing third in Division One, their highest league placing for more than 20 years, and reaching the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. The following season was a disappointing one by comparison, with the club finishing only 10th in the league, but Robson's performances in midfield helped to earn him his first full England cap in February 1980. In 1980–81 he scored ten goals in 40 league games to help Albion to a 4th-place finish in the First Division.

Ron Atkinson left to take over at Manchester United in June 1981, and speculation mounted that Robson would either follow him to United or join Bob Paisley's Liverpool. Albion offered Robson a new contract worth £1,000 per week, but he turned it down and put in a transfer request. His teammate Remi Moses signed for United in September 1981 and Robson followed soon afterwards.

Manchester United

Robson moved to United for a British record transfer fee of £1.5 million on 1 October 1981 and signed the contract on the Old Trafford pitch two days later before a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The record fee set by Robson was not broken for six years, when Liverpool paid £1.9 million for Newcastle striker Peter Beardsley in the summer of 1987. Robson made his United debut on 7 October 1981 in a 1–0 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup. His league debut for his new club came three days later, in a goalless draw against Manchester City at Maine Road. This was his first appearance in the Manchester United number 7 shirt, which he wore for most of his appearances with United. Robson scored his first goal for United on 7 November 1981 in a 5–1 win over Sunderland at Roker Park. He ended his first season at United with 32 games and five goals for a United side who finished third in the league. Meanwhile, his England career was flourishing as the World Cup neared; he scored in a 4–0 thrashing of Northern Ireland at Wembley and added a brace in the last warm-up game in Helsinki against Finland.

Robson tore his ankle ligaments during the 1983 League Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal, meaning that he missed the final, which United lost to Liverpool. He regained his fitness in time for the FA Cup semi-final, again against Arsenal, and scored in a 2–1 win. The final against Brighton ended in a 2–2 draw. Robson scored twice in the replay, but declined the chance to become the first player in 30 years to score an FA Cup final hat-trick, instead allowing regular penalty taker Arnold Muhren to convert a spot-kick to seal a 4–0 victory and enable Robson to lift his first trophy as United captain. Although this was United's fifth FA Cup triumph, Robson was only the second English captain to lift the trophy for United, and their first since Charlie Roberts in the 1909 final; as United had been captained by an Irishman in their 1948 and 1963 triumphs and a Scotsman in 1977.

The following season, he helped the club enjoy a memorable run in the Cup Winners Cup – the club's best European run for 15 years. Robson scored twice in the 3–0 quarter-final second leg victory over Barcelona at Old Trafford, overturning a 2–0 first leg deficit to progress 3–2 on aggregate. He missed both legs of the semi-final defeat by Juventus due to a hamstring injury, but while in Turin for the second leg was given permission by United to speak to Juve regarding a proposed transfer. The move never took place as neither Juventus nor any other club were prepared to meet United's £3 million asking price. Robson's injury also meant that he missed several crucial late season games as United's title challenge slipped away and they finished fourth, with Liverpool becoming champions for the third successive season and 15th time overall. Robson instead extended his contract with United in 1984, signing a seven-year deal worth around £1 million which would keep him there until at least 1991. United emerged as title challengers again the following season, although the title was eventually won by Everton. However, he captained the club to another FA Cup triumph, this time over Everton where a Norman Whiteside goal in extra time denied their opponents the chance of a unique treble, as they had already won the league title and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Robson and United began the following season in fine form with ten successive victories which suggested the championship could be on its way back to Old Trafford for the first time since 1967. But their form slipped after Christmas and they finished the season trophyless in fourth place 12 points behind champions Liverpool, 10 points behind runners-up Everton and eight points behind third-placed West Ham United. Injuries, notably a dislocated shoulder suffering in February 1986, restricted Robson to just 21 out of 42 league appearances for United in 1985–86, though he did manage seven goals.

United started the following season badly and Ron Atkinson was sacked as manager in November 1986 and replaced by Alex Ferguson. The new manager had almost completely overhauled the squad within three years, but Robson remained firmly part of his plans. United finished second in the league in 1988, nine points behind champions Liverpool, but a frustrating campaign in 1988-89 saw them finish 11th. Robson remained largely injury free during these seasons.

In 1990, Robson and United finally got their hands on another major trophy after five years of trying. After an injury-hit campaign where United had struggled in the league, Robson scored United's first goal in the FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace in the first match which ended in a 3–3 draw. United won the replay 1–0 and Robson thus became the first United captain to lift the cup three times. Robson had faced his familiar fight against injury once again in that 1989–90 campaign, restricted to 20 appearances out of 38 in the league, as United finished 13th – their lowest finish since relegation in 1974. Robson's testimonial match took place on 20 November 1990 and saw United lose 3–1 to Celtic at Old Trafford. During 1990–91, he was restricted to 17 league appearances due to an injury suffered at the World Cup, and didn't make a first team appearance until just before Christmas. During his absence, United had been captained by fellow midfielder Neil Webb, but Robson regained the captain's armband on his return.

He was fit for the European Cup Winners Cup final in which United beat Barcelona 2–1 in Rotterdam with both goals coming from Mark Hughes.

Robson was still a regular choice for United during the 1991–92 season despite competition from much younger players including Paul Ince, Neil Webb and Andrei Kanchelskis. During that season he made his 90th and final appearance for the England team, who by this stage were being managed by Graham Taylor. But the 1991–92 season ended in disappointment for Robson as United were overhauled in the First Division championship race by Leeds. He missed their League Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest through injury and his first-team chances were starting to look increasingly numbered as he faced competition from other players within the United squad and the press reported that Alex Ferguson was hoping to sign a new, younger midfielder, although no such addition took place in 1992.

Robson still captained the club in most of his first-team appearances, but Steve Bruce was captaining the side when Robson was absent.

Robson made just 14 league appearances during the 1992–93 season, which was the first season of the new Premier League. The club's regular central midfielders for this season were Paul Ince (who had been at United since 1989) and Brian McClair (who was shifted from the attacking positions following the late November arrival of Eric Cantona), while his other favoured position on the right side of midfield was either occupied by Mike Phelan or the younger, wider-lying Andrei Kanchelskis and Lee Sharpe.

He scored on the final day of the season against Wimbledon – it was his only goal of that campaign. By that game United were Premiership champions and Robson finally won the league championship medal that he had been trying to gain since his days at West Bromwich Albion some 15 years earlier. It was not just injuries that were restricting the 36-year-old Robson's first-team chances. Eric Cantona had been signed during the 1992–93 campaign and played up front with Mark Hughes, while Hughes' former strike-partner Brian McClair had been converted into a midfielder. This counted against Robson and the biggest blow came in the summer of 1993 when United signed Nottingham Forest's Roy Keane, but even this did not quite signal the end for Bryan Robson at Manchester United.

With the introduction of squad numbers for the 1993–94 Premier League, Robson was issued with the number 12 shirt, while the number 7 shirt that he had worn in virtually every game of his career went to Eric Cantona instead.

But Robson was still able to make enough appearances for another Premiership champions medal in 1993–94 (15 games, 10 of them as a substitute), and scored one of their four goals in the FA Cup semi-final replay victory over Oldham at Maine Road. He had found the net on the opening day of the season in a 2–0 win at Norwich City. At the age of 36, he finally appeared in Europe's top club tournament, the European Cup, with United reaching the second round. Robson scored a late equaliser in the second round first leg clash with Galatasaray, which ended in a 3–3 draw at Old Trafford.

The goal against Oldham in the semi-final was the last of his 99 goals for the club.

Robson was dropped from the squad for the FA Cup final, a decision which manager Alex Ferguson later admitted was one of the hardest of his career, opting to select the more flexible Lee Sharpe and Brian McClair as the outfield substitutes. His final appearance in a United shirt came on the last day of the league season, 8 May 1994, when United drew 0–0 at home with Coventry City. He had played 461 times for them in all competitions, scoring 99 goals, and was widely regarded as one of their greatest ever players. The last of his goals had come in the FA Cup semi-final replay against Oldham. In the league, his final goal had come on the opening day of the 1993–94 season (15 August 1993) in a 2–0 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road. He had also scored a European Cup goal that season, in the second round first leg tie against Turkish champions Galatasaray in a 3–3 draw at Old Trafford.

Middlesbrough
Robson's 13-year spell at Manchester United came to an end after nearly 500 appearances and 100 goals in May 1994 when he accepted the role of player-manager at Middlesbrough. From 1994 to 1996 he combined the role with that of England assistant manager (under Terry Venables), and was linked with the manager's job when Venables announced his intention to quit after Euro 96, only to rule himself out of the running due to his limited experience. He was not included in new manager Glenn Hoddle's coaching staff. In 2015, he expressed regret at turning down the opportunity to manage England.

Robson played his final game as a player on 1 January 1997, in a Premier League game against Arsenal at Highbury 10 days before his 40th birthday. He claimed in his autobiography that he knew it was the right time to retire as his whole body ached for two weeks afterwards trying to keep up with the livewires Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright.

International playing career
In the summer of 1975 Robson was called up to the England youth team for the "mini World Cup". He played as a centre-half during the tournament, which England won, beating Finland 1–0 in the final. He was selected for the England Under-21s for the first time in March 1977, but was withdrawn from the squad by his club West Bromwich Albion, who needed him for a league match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Albion drew 2–2, with Robson scoring one of the goals. On 6 February 1979 he finally made his England under-21 debut, albeit as an overage player (he was 22 at the time) as England beat Wales Under-21s 1–0 at Swansea's Vetch Field. He made his England B debut on 12 June 1979, and scored after just five minutes to give England a 1–0 lead against Austria B in Klagenfurt, although the match was abandoned after 60 minutes. He appeared three times for England B in all, captaining the side on his third and final appearance as England drew 0–0 with Algeria's A team in Algiers on 11 December 1990.

On 6 February 1980 Robson made his full international debut, and his first appearance at Wembley, as England beat the Republic of Ireland 2–0 in a qualifier for that summer's European Championship. His second cap came in the final preparation game for the finals—a 2–1 win over Australia in Sydney—but he didn't feature in the tournament itself, from which England were eliminated in the first round. On 9 September 1981 he marked his 13th cap by scoring his first goal for England, in a 2–1 defeat to Norway in Oslo. The match is remembered mainly for Norwegian commentator Bjørge Lillelien's taunting of England following the final whistle.

England coach Ron Greenwood started to feature Robson regularly in his midfield, selecting him for the first dozen internationals after the European Championships finished, including all eight of the qualifying games for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, through which England earned a place in the finals. Robson was in the record books for 20 years thanks to a goal scored against France in England's opening game of the 1982 World Cup at San Mamés, stadium of Athletic Club (Bilbao). It came after just 27 seconds of the match – the third fastest in World Cup finals history until 2002 when Hakan Şükür scored after ten seconds in the third-place match against South Korea. For his achievement, Robson received an inscribed gold watch, which he still occasionally wears.

Robson captained England for the first time on 17 November 1982, leading the side to a 3–0 win over Greece in Salonika. He scored a hat-trick in England's 8–0 victory over Turkey in Istanbul on 14 November 1984. Captain Marvel, as he was nicknamed, helped England qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. By now he was considered by England manager Bobby Robson to be the best player in England. However his hopes of glory were crushed by re-aggravating an existing shoulder injury in England's second game of the group stages, against Morocco, which prevented him participating further in the tournament: ironically, the enforced change to England's formation benefited them, no longer having to protect an injured player, and – despite also losing vice-captain Ray Wilkins to a red card and subsequent ban – successive 3–0 victories resulted, until England's run finally came to an end with a 2–1 defeat against Argentina in the quarter final. The same shoulder injury was to trouble him for several weeks after the competition.

Over the next two years, Robson returned to the side to lead them through qualifying for the 1988 European Championship. He personally played well for England, particularly with a fine individual goal against eventual champions the Netherlands, but was unable to prevent them from going out in the first phase of the competition as England lost all three of their group games.

Robson continued his international career until 1991, also helping England to reach the 1990 World Cup. For the second World Cup in succession, though, his role was limited as he once again suffered an injury in the second match (against the Netherlands) that was to keep him out of the rest of the tournament. Even more ironically, for the second World Cup in succession, England's revamped formation played better without their captain, whose place in the team was taken by David Platt during the knock-out stages as England came fourth.

Robson said in his autobiography that in one of his last matches for England under Graham Taylor, he was played bizarrely on the left wing, even though he had never played there for club and no longer had the pace to get up and down the line at the age of 34.

Robson was picked by both Bobby Robson and Tony Adams in their England dream teams, in their respective autobiographies of all the best players they had worked or played with. Adams claimed additionally that Robson had a "terrific football brain" and had exceptional awareness and anticipation; often intercepting or knowing where the ball would land ahead of other players. Adams said this separated outstanding players from good players, and Robson would fit into the category of "the best". Paul Gascoigne stated in his 2004 book Gazza: My Story that Robson was the best footballer he had ever shared a pitch with and the best player of his generation. Additionally Peter Beardsley named him in his "Perfect XI" selection, football magazine Four Four Twos interviews with current and former players of their "dream team" selections.

Style of play
A well-rounded box-to-box midfielder, Robson had a good goal-scoring record; terrific anticipation, movement, timing on and off the ball; was quick; fiercely competitive and brave; possessed high levels of stamina; tackled, passed well and was also a good header of the ball.

Managerial career

Middlesbrough
Robson had accepted Middlesbrough's offer to become player-manager at the end of the 1993–94 season, and made a dream start to his managerial career as the club won the Division One title and promotion to the Premier League. Robson oversaw Boro's final season at Ayresome Park before relocation to the new 30,000-seat Riverside Stadium on the banks of the River Tees. He was assisted by Viv Anderson, another former Manchester United and England player.

Middlesbrough made an ambitious return to the Premiership and attracted expensively-signed big names like Nick Barmby and the Brazilians Juninho and Branco. They went fourth in the Premiership in October 1995, sparking hopes of UEFA Cup qualification, but an injury crisis sparkled a slump in form and they slid down the table to finish 12th. In the summer of 1996, Robson paid £7 million to sign the Juventus and Italy striker Fabrizio Ravanelli, who became the highest-paid player in English football with a weekly wage of £50,000 as well as being one of the most expensively signed.

In 1996–97, Robson led Boro to both domestic cup finals, but they were on the losing side both times, losing 1–0 in a replay to Leicester City in the League Cup Final replay and 2–0 in the FA Cup Final to Chelsea, while they suffered relegation in the Premier League. However, this relegation would have been avoided if they had not been deducted three points in mid-season for cancelling a fixture at late notice due to many players being unfit through illness or injury. However, at least Boro had the consolation of staying alive in the league up to the last day of the season. Boro were already bottom of the league at the turn of 1997, but when the points were deducted they found themselves seven points adrift of safety with the 17th placed team having a game in hand. However, results slowly improved over the next few weeks and by the end of March a succession of good results had seen Boro climb out of the relegation zone. This, coupled with the excellent cup runs, saw Robson voted Premier League Manager of the Month for March 1997. Robson made one playing appearance this season on New Years Day, starting in a 2–0 defeat away to Arsenal. This proved to be his last game as a professional footballer, though he did not announce his retirement from playing until later in the season.

Despite these setbacks the board kept faith in Robson and he repaid their loyalty with automatic promotion back to the Premier League in 1997–98. Again the club missed out on cup success at the final hurdle with a 2–0 defeat against Chelsea in the League Cup final. Boro would remain in the Premier League for the next 11 seasons, with Robson remaining as manager for three of those seasons. They finished ninth in 1999, 12th in 2000 and 14th in 2001.

In November 2000, he criticised his players following a string of poor results which had dragged them into a relegation battle. A month later Middlesbrough brought in former England coach Terry Venables as head coach to assist Robson, who remained as manager. The new managerial partnership saw Boro's form improve and they avoided relegation. Robson left the club "by mutual consent" in June 2001, having failed to bring the club higher than ninth in the league, or to bring them any silverware. His successor was Steve McClaren, the Manchester United assistant manager. Despite being linked with a string of managerial vacancies, Robson would not return to management for more than two years.

Bradford City
Following the resignation of Mick McCarthy, Robson emerged in January 2003 as the bookmakers' favourite to become the new Republic of Ireland manager, but the job went instead to Brian Kerr. In November 2003 Robson was set to become Nigeria's national coach, but the appointment was blocked by the Nigerian sports minister due to doubts that Robson's wage demands could be met. Later that month, Robson did make his football comeback more than two years after leaving Middlesbrough. He accepted the offer to manage Division One strugglers Bradford City. Robson won his first game in charge as Bradford fought back from 2–0 down to beat Millwall 3–2. But he recorded just six more wins as Bradford took only 22 points from 27 games under Robson and were relegated, finishing second from bottom. Robson's short-term contract was not renewed and he handed the reins over to his assistant Colin Todd.

West Bromwich Albion
Robson's third management job began on 9 November 2004, when he agreed to return to his old club West Bromwich Albion as manager – 23 years after his departure as a player. His first match in charge ended in a 2–1 home defeat to his former club Middlesbrough. A 4–0 loss away to local rivals Birmingham City on 18 December meant that Albion were bottom of the Premiership on Christmas Day, a position from which no team had previously escaped relegation from the Premiership. Robson was the subject of derisory chants from Albion supporters during the game, a complete contrast to his status as a club hero when he had taken to the field as a player. The team were also bottom going into the last game of the season. However Robson and his players defied all the odds to stay up thanks to a 2–0 home win over Portsmouth on the final day of the season, coupled with favourable results from elsewhere. Despite some significant new signings in the 2005 close season, his team failed to build on this achievement in 2005–06 though, and Albion were relegated with two matches left to play. They had failed to win any of their final 13 Premier League games. Robson left the club "by mutual consent" on 18 September 2006, following a disappointing start to the season with The Baggies in 9th place in the Championship with only three wins from their first eight games.

After his departure from West Brom, Robson spent eight months out of the game. He was interested in becoming the England under-21 team's full-time manager, but the job went instead to Stuart Pearce on a part-time basis.

Sheffield United
On 22 May 2007 it was announced at a press conference that Robson would be the new manager of Sheffield United following the resignation of Neil Warnock. He was assisted by Brian Kidd, who had been assistant manager at Manchester United during Robson's final three seasons there.

His first match in charge was a home match against Colchester United on 11 August in a 2–2 draw. His first win was three days later in a 3–1 win against Chesterfield in the League Cup. United subsequently collected nine points in their first 10 league matches, leaving the Blades in 20th place in the Championship and prompting Robson to comment about the situation. After a string of inconsistent results and a 2–0 derby defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Robson publicly stated that he had lost patience with his players. Following calls for Robson's resignation, Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe gave Robson his public backing and called for patience and unity.
Robson has since expressed his disappointment at not having the funds he was expecting to help rebuild the team.

After a 0–0 draw at home to Scunthorpe United on 9 February 2008 Robson came under increasing pressure from fans urging the board to sack the manager.
Consequently, Robson was summoned to a meeting in Brussels on 13 February 2008 with club PLC Chairman, Kevin McCabe, as the club considered its response to the scenes which followed the goalless draw against Scunthorpe.
In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield Robson stated that his team could have won the match with Scunthorpe if they had better support from the fans. After his meeting with McCabe on 14 February he was "relieved of his first-team duties" before later in the day leaving Sheffield United after turning down another role with the club.

Return to Manchester United
In March 2008, 14 years after he had last played for them, Robson returned to Manchester United to work as an ambassador, for an initial period of 12 months. He worked alongside Sir Bobby Charlton to help United 'promote its commercial and charitable aims'.

Thailand national team
On 23 September 2009, Robson agreed to become coach of Thailand national team in his first foray into international football management. He was contracted to manage the team through to the 2014 World Cup. On 14 November 2009, Robson celebrated his first competitive match in charge of the team with a 3–1 away victory against Singapore in a 2011 Asian Cup qualifying group match. On 18 November 2009, Robson then suffered his first loss – a 1–0 defeat against Singapore on home soil. In January 2010, this was followed by two goalless draws with Jordan and Iran during 2011 Asian Cup qualifying. On 3 March 2010, Robson's Thailand suffered a 1–0 defeat by the hands of Iran in Tehran in their final Group E game, effectively ending their hopes of qualifying for 2011 Asian Cup.

On 11 August 2010, Robson led Thailand to another victory against Singapore with a score of 1–0 on home soil. In September 2010, Robson overcame Bob Houghton's India in a friendly with a score of 2–1 away from home. In December 2010, Robson failed to bring Thailand past the Group A of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup after managing only 2 draws against Laos and Malaysia and losing to Indonesia. He resigned as manager on 8 June 2011, and has since returned to his role as an Official Club Ambassador for Manchester United.

Life outside football

Personal life
Robson married Denise Brindley on 2 June 1979. The couple have three children: Claire (born 17 September 1980), Charlotte (born 17 June 1982), and Ben (born 2 September 1988). In 2000, Robson reportedly had an affair with Sky Sports reporter Clare Tomlinson.

Illness
On 16 March 2011, it was revealed that Robson had undergone surgery in Bangkok on 3 March 2011 for throat cancer.

Other activities
As a player, Robson endorsed products by adidas, and later New Balance football boots, as well as owning a stake in the Birthdays greeting card chain. He was the subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in the edition aired on 23 January 1985, at just 12 days after his 28th birthday he was one of the show's youngest ever special guests. Robson has appeared in a number of advertisements, including an appearance in Carlsberg's 2006 "Best Pub Side" television advert, where he starred alongside other former England players. In 2007, he formed a specialist sports company, Robson Lloyd Consultancy Ltd, with an aim to build community sports academies with long-lasting benefits for small Football clubs. His autobiography, entitled Robbo: My Autobiography was released in May 2006.

In March 2010, The Daily Telegraph published an article claiming that retired England footballer Steve McMahon and Robson had used their celebrity status to encourage investors to purchase Green belt land plots in Hounslow with a very limited chance of return.

On 18 July 2011, on an episode of the Channel 4 television programme Dispatches entitled "How to Buy a Football Club", Robson was secretly filmed by reporters during an undercover investigation. In the film, Robson describes how the reporters – who posed as businessmen – could break the strict Football Association rules that prevent individuals and/or groups from owning multiple football clubs. He also lists a number of clubs he considers as prime targets for take over.

Career statistics

Club

Managerial stats
Includes all competitive games. Updated 6 January 2010.

Honours
Source:

As a player
Manchester United
Premier League: 1992–93, 1993–94
FA Cup: 1982–83, 1984–85, 1989–90
League Cup: 1991–92
FA Charity Shield: 1983, 1993
European Cup Winners' Cup: 1990–91

Individual
PFA Team of the Year: 1981–82 First Division, 1982–83 First Division, 1983–84 First Division, 1984–85 First Division, 1985–86 First Division, 1988–89 First Division
PFA Team of the Century (1977-1996): 2007
First Division Goal of the Season: 1985–86
Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 1988–89

As a player-manager
Middlesbrough
Football League First Division: 1994–95

As a manager
Individual
Premier League Manager of the Month: March 1997

Personal honours
Robson was awarded the OBE in the January 1990 New Year Honours. In 1998, he was named among the list of Football League 100 Legends, and was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a player. He was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players, in a 2004 poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.

A summary of Robson's personal achievements are as follows in chronological order:

Football League 100 Legends
English Football Hall of Fame Inductee
FWA Tribute Award: 2006

References

External links

FA.com profile
Times profile
Robson Lloyd Consultancy Ltd

Englandstats.com profile

1957 births
Living people
Footballers from Chester-le-Street
English men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
England men's under-21 international footballers
England men's B international footballers
England men's international footballers
1982 FIFA World Cup players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1988 players
1990 FIFA World Cup players
English football managers
Men's association football player-managers
Middlesbrough F.C. managers
Bradford City A.F.C. managers
West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers
Sheffield United F.C. managers
Thailand national football team managers
English Football League managers
Premier League managers
English expatriate football managers
English expatriate sportspeople in Thailand
Expatriate football managers in Thailand
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Witton Gilbert
Association football coaches

Bryan Robson


Paul Prescott (born 1 January 1986) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer. He played for the Wigan Warriors in the Super League.

He won the 2010 Grand Final, the 2011 Challenge Cup and 2011 and 2012 League Leaders' Shields.

He retired from the game on 4 July 2013 due to a recurring back injury.

Background
Prescott was born in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.

Playing career

2000s
Prescott played in the Wigan academy setup in 2003 and 2004. His amateur club had been Ince Rose Bridge. He was called into the first team squad in July 2004 after an injury crisis left Wigan with no fit senior prop forwards. This was Prescott's début from the bench against Castleford. Prescott was given a 2-year full-time contract with Wigan in August 2004. He went on to make 3 appearances in 2004.

Prescott was selected for the Lancashire squad in the 2004 Academy Origin Series and was also selected for the England Academy U-18s tour to Australia but later had to withdraw.

Chairman Maurice Lindsay commented: "Bryn Hargreaves, and Paul Prescott have signed for a further two years, and as they are two of the best front row prospects in the country it gives us added satisfaction that they have all come through our Junior Development Scheme."

Prescott suffered a serious knee injury in June 2005 which kept him out of action for a year, he received treatment from specialist doctors at the National Centre for Sports Injury Surgery in Oswestry, Shropshire. He made his return in 2006 but after just four matches he was injured again in a Challenge Cup match with Wakefield Trinity when a collision with one of his team mates, Bryan Fletcher, caused a detached retina. However he did make his comeback later that year.

Prescott was loaned out to National League One side Leigh at the end of 2006 to allow Wigan to free up salary cap money and complete the signing of Bradford Bulls prop Stuart Fielden. He finished his loan in September 2006 and return to Wigan. In 2007 Prescott managed to establish himself in the Wigan side making 21 appearances scoring 1 try.

Prescott played for the Ireland national rugby league team in 2007, helping them qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

2010s
In 2010 Prescott helped Wigan Warriors win the League Leaders' Shield.

He played in the 2010 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford.

He played in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium.

Retirement

Prescott was forced to announce early retirement from rugby league on 4 July 2013 due to a recurring back problem.

Football
In 2013, Prescott joined the Premier League as Performance Systems Project Manager.

References

External links
(archived by web.archive.org) Official Paul Prescott Profile
 Paul Prescott Wigan Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.

1986 births
Living people
English people of Irish descent
English rugby league players
Ireland national rugby league team players
Irish rugby league players
Leigh Leopards players
Rugby league players from Warwickshire
Rugby league props
Wigan Warriors players

Paul Prescott


Valeriya Volodymyrivna Lutkovska (; born 20 January 1972) is a Ukrainian lawyer who was Ombudsman of Ukraine from April 2012 until April 2017.

Early life and education
Lutkovska was born on 20 January 1972 in Kyiv. In 1993, she graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, having studied philology and Russian language and literature. In 1999, she completed a specialist degree in law (jurist) at the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Career
August 1994, Lutkovska began teaching German and Russian languages and foreign literature at Kyiv High School 149. A year later, she became the chief consultant for the International Legal Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. In October 1996, she became the deputy head of the Department for International Relations at Ukraine's Ministry of Family and Youth.

From October 1997 to September 2003, Lutkovska worked as the Deputy Head of Unit for International Legal Assistance and Cooperation of Department for International Legal Activity; Deputy Head of Department for International Cooperation and Legal Assistance; First Deputy Head of the International Law Department; Deputy Head, Head of the National Bureau of the Observance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; Commissioner for the Observance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

From September 2003 to December 2005, she served as a Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine; Commissioner for the Observance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. She then became the Deputy Director on issues of judicial defence at the law firm "Lavrynovych & Partners" until November 2006, when she was again named a Deputy Minister of Justice. From January 2011 to April 2012, she was a government agent before the European Court of Human Rights.

In April 2012, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Lutkovska to the position of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. She assumed office on 27 April 2012, taking her oath at the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada. Her term ended on 28 April 2017. In March 2018 Lutkovska was succeeded as Commissioner by Lyudmyla Denisova.

Awards and honorary titles
12.2000 – Certificate of Merit of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine

12.2004 – Order of Princess Olga, 3rd Class

Honored Jurist of Ukraine.

References

External links
 Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

Lawyers from Kyiv
Ombudsmen in Ukraine
Living people
1972 births
Politicians from Kyiv
Ukrainian women lawyers
21st-century Ukrainian women politicians

Valeriya Lutkovska


The Charles H. Hackley House is a house located at 484 West Webster Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and is now part of the Hackley and Hume Historic Sites, and is open to the public.

History
Charles Henry Hackley was born in Indiana in 1837. He moved to Muskegon in 1856, along with his father Joseph, and began work as a laborer in the local lumber mills. He was soon promoted to foreman, and then became a bookkeeper. In 1859 Charles and Joseph Hackley started their own firm, J.H. Hackley & Company. By 1881 Charles Hackley partnered with Thomas Hume to run the very successful lumbering firm of Hackley and Hume. By this time, Hackley had diversified his business interests, and was the leading financial and industrial presence in Muskegon.

In 1887, Hackley began making plans to for his house by purchasing lots on the corner of Webster and Sixth. He immediately sold one and one-half of these lots to his business partner, Thomas Hume, who constructed his own house on these lots. Hackley engaged David S. Hopkins of Grand Rapids to design his house, and the local firm of Kelly Brothers to create the elaborate interior woodwork. The house was completed in 1889.

Hackley died in 1905, and the house remained in the family until 1943, when it was donated to the Red Cross. As of 2017, the Hackley and Hume houses have been professionally restored, and are open to the public as the "Hackley & Hume Historic Sites."

Description
The Hackley House is a large three-story frame Queen Anne house with a three-story tower at the corner and a two-story porch. The elaborate 13-color exterior paint scheme has been reconstructed from the original tones. It has a many-sided roof with prominent gables and a porte-cochere in front. The windows are a mix of shapes, including horseshoe and round; some are made from French plate glass and decorated with stained glass. The house sits on an ashlar foundation. At the rear of the house is a carriage house, which is shared with the next-door Hume House.

On the interior, the house is richly ornamented. The entrance doors and trim in the entrance hall and main rooms include extensive carved, turned, and molded details. These include colonnades, spindles, panels of acanthus leaves, and small figures, all of fine craftsmanship. Ceramic tiles and fabrics are also used to decorate some of the walls. The designs in the decorative elements contain themes covering Byzantine and Cambodian art, Michigan timber, and the brotherhood of man.

See also
Hackley Park

References

External links

Buildings and structures in Muskegon, Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Muskegon County, Michigan
Queen Anne architecture in Michigan
Houses completed in 1887

Charles H. Hackley House


Rose Hall was founded as a free village during the time of slavery. It is located in the North Leeward side of St. Vincent. It is the highest village above sea level in St. Vincent. Some aspects of Rose Hall are: It was an egalitarian village with groups of close-knit families: The Williams's, Samuel's, Stapleton's, Ferdinand's, Lampkin's, Garraway's, Robertson's, Cain's, Burke's, Mason's, Franklyn's, Brown's, Richard,s and few others. Rose Hall does not have it's own beach; however, it is in walking distance to the beaches in neighboring villages such as Troumaca, Rose Bank, and Petit Bordel. Rose Hall is very chilly at nights and the mountain breeze is dry, crisp, clean, except when there is a volcanic eruption at La Soufriere, which is miles away from the village, but can be seen clearly as it were a mile or so away.

The people of Rose Hall rely heavily of farming, and this village once was considered as one of the primary bread-baskets of St. Vincent.

Our Rose Hallian fore-parents were very hardworking, God-fearing Christians, and respect for elders was held at the strictest standards. Also, giving, sharing, and accommodating strangers were some of its best quality. Education, moral values, good manners, and behavior were seen as the keys that will take it people throughout the world.
Geography of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Rose Hall, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines


A permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil service chief executives of government departments or ministries, who generally hold their position for a number of years (thus "permanent") at a ministry as distinct from the changing political secretaries of state to whom they report and provide advice. The role originated in the civil service of the United Kingdom and has been adopted in several Commonwealth countries as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system.

Country

Australia

In Australia, the position is called the "department secretary", "secretary of the department", or "director-general of the department" in some states and territories.

Canada

In Canada, the senior civil service position is a "deputy minister", who within a government ministry or department is outranked only by a Minister of the Crown. Federally, deputy ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister on the advice of the Secretary to the Cabinet (the Head of Canada's civil service). They are considered to hold equal rank with Parliamentary Secretaries or Assistants – legislators appointed to assist Ministers in their duties – and are entitled to several privileges, including the use of diplomatic passports.

Germany
In Germany, the equivalent office is called "Staatssekretär" (state secretary). It is not to be confused with the "parliamentary state secretary", who serves as deputy to a minister, often with a more specialised field of responsibilities. The parliamentary state secretary is always a political position, and not part of the civil service.

Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, heads of policy bureaux, secretaries, were filled by civil servants until their titles were changed to permanent secretaries in 2002, when political appointees filled the positions of secretaries under the second Tung Chee Hwa government. Since August 2005, the Office of the Chief Executive also has a permanent secretary. His ranking is, however, lower than most other permanent secretaries according to the pay scale.

India

In India, the equivalent position is called "secretary to the Government of India" and is the highest-ranking permanent civil servant in a department. With the exception of departments within the Ministry of External Affairs, which are headed by Indian Foreign Service officers, all Secretaries to the Government of India are drawn from cadres of the Indian Administrative Service.

These officers directly report to Ministers of the Union within their respective ministry, and oversee all day-to-day operations of their departments. Within the civil service, they are outranked only by the Cabinet Secretary of India or the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India when the latter is granted the rank of Cabinet Secretary (as has been the case under Prime Minister Narendra Modi).

Indonesia
In Indonesia, the equivalent position is called Secretary-General (, abbreviated Sekjen), one of the highest-ranking permanent civil servants in a ministry, leads the General Secretariat (, abbreviated Setjen). These officers directly report to the minister in their respective ministry or to the respective leader in state bodies.

Ireland
In the Civil service of the Republic of Ireland, the position of Secretary General of a Department of State is almost identical to that of a  Permanent Secretary in the British Civil Service, except that the position is not permanent, having a term of seven years. This limit was introduced by the Strategic Management Initiative of the mid-1990s, when also the title was changed from "Secretary". Irish government departments may also have a "second secretary", which is equivalent to the Second Permanent Secretary grade in the British civil service.

Israel
In Israel, the equivalent office is called מנהל כללי, a term which is ordinarily translated as "chief executive officer. The official English translation for the government post is "Director General". Directors General of ministries are nominated by the relevant minister and confirmed by the Government, and serve at the pleasure of the ministers above them.

Italy
In Italy, the highest civil service official in a ministry or department is either a segretario generale (secretary-general) or a direttore generale (director-general), while the position of sottosegretario di stato (under-secretary of state) is a political one and ranks below the ministro segretario di stato (minister-secretary of state, the head of a ministry or department) or the vice ministro (deputy-minister), both political posts as well.

Japan
The Japanese equivalents are the administrative vice-ministers.

Kenya
In Kenya, the equivalent office is called "principal secretary", which is a position established by the Constitution of Kenya as an office in the country's civil service. Principal Secretaries serve as the administrative head of a state department within a ministry and are responsible for the department's daily affairs. A Principal Secretary is nominated by the President of Kenya from a group of persons recommended by the country's Public Service Commission and upon approval by the country's National Assembly, is appointed to office by the President.

The Constitution of Kenya grants the President the power to re-assign a Principal Secretary.

Malaysia
In Malaysia, a permanent secretary refers to the administrative head of a ministry in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. The administrative head of a federal ministry is called "secretary general".

Mauritius
On the island state of Mauritius, which is a former British colony, there are a number of Permanent Secretaries who report to the Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service. In the Prime Minister's Office there are 2 Permanent Secretaries, assisted by 3 Deputy Permanent Secretaries as well as 4 Assistant Permanent Secretaries. There are at least 147 Assistant Permanent Secretaries, 86 Deputy Permanent Secretaries and 37 Permanent Secretaries in the various Ministries of the Government of Mauritius.

New Zealand
In New Zealand, the civil service head of a ministry is ordinarily entitled "chief executive", although there are still some positions which carry the title of secretary (Secretary of Education, Secretary of Justice, Secretary of Transport). In some cases (such as the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation, Ministry of Health) the title is "director-general". Organisations with enforcement powers, such as the Inland Revenue Department and the New Zealand Police, are headed by commissioners. The New Zealand Customs Service is headed by the Comptroller of Customs. Civil service heads are officially employed by the State Services Commission, further separating them from the politicians who hold ministerial positions.

Pakistan
In Pakistan, the equivalent position is called Federal Secretary and is the highest ranking permanent civil servant in a federal ministry.

Singapore
In Singapore, permanent secretaries have to retire after a ten-year term even if they are younger than the official retirement age of 62. This was introduced in 2000 as part of the Public Service Leadership scheme, to provide opportunities for younger officers from the Administrative Service — the elite arm of the Civil Service — to rise up the ranks.

Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, a  "Secretary to the Ministry" (also known as Ministry Secretary or simply Secretary) is the administrative head of a ministry and is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka. The post of permanent secretary was created under the Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947 when Ceylon gained self-rule from Britain in 1948. Permanent secretaries were commonly appointed from the Ceylon Civil Service, with a few exceptions such as the permanent secretary to the ministry of justice which would be an officer of the judicial service. Anandatissa de Alwis was the first person from the private sector to be appointed as permanent secretary. The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972, changed the title to secretary to the ministry. Traditionally if the appointee is a serving member of the public service, he or she would leave the service for the duration they hold the appointment. In the recent past it has been common for ministry secretaries to be appointed from outside the public service, with some on political grounds at the discretion of the president on the advice of the minister in charge. Major General Sanjeewa Munasinghe became the first serving military officer from the regular force to be appointed a ministry secretary in 2020.

United Kingdom

A permanent under-secretary of state, known informally as a permanent secretary, is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom.

The role originated in 1830 has been adopted in several Commonwealth countries as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system.

See also

Chief secretary
Minister (government)
 Parliamentary assistant
 Parliamentary secretary
 Principal Secretary
 Private secretary
 Undersecretary

References

Government occupations

Permanent secretary


Bible Dictionary is an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Since 1979, Bible Dictionary has been published as an appendix to most copies of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible printed by the LDS Church. The dictionary contains 1285 entries  on 196 pages. The publication states that it was "designed to provide teachers and students with a concise collection of definitions and explanations of items that are mentioned in or are otherwise associated with the Bible."

The LDS Bible Dictionary was created in the 1970s by the Scriptures Publications Committee of the LDS Church. This committee was chaired by Thomas S. Monson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The committee delegated the responsibility of creating an LDS bible dictionary to Robert J. Matthews, a Brigham Young University Professor of Ancient Scripture. Matthews gained permission from Cambridge University Press to use their bible dictionary as the template for the LDS version.

Matthews adjusted many of the entries to reflect LDS modifications of traditional Christian beliefs and also added a number of entries to address doctrines taught exclusively by the LDS Church. However, the majority of the content of the Bible Dictionary is identical to the Cambridge publication. The secretary of the committee was William James Mortimer.

The LDS Bible Dictionary is published in all English-language versions of the Bible printed by the church except for of the barebones KJV Bible distributed free of charge by Mormon missionaries. In other LDS-printed Bibles, it is found on pages 599 to 793 of the appendix materials, immediately following the Topical Guide and immediately preceding excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. The LDS Church provides the complete contents of the Bible Dictionary online.

Despite being packaged with the LDS publication of the Bible, the Bible Dictionary is not part of the LDS Church's open canon of scripture. Its preface states, "It is not intended as an official or revealed endorsement by the Church of the doctrinal, historical, cultural, and other matters set forth."

See also
 List of Bible dictionaries

Notes

References

External links
Bible Dictionary from churchofjesuschrist.org — complete text of every entry, available online, with links to entries organized alphabetically
 "That Promised Day: The Coming Forth of the LDS Scriptures" — BYUtv documentary describing the production of the LDS Church's 1979 English edition of the KJV, including information on the Bible Dictionary.

1979 non-fiction books
1979 in Christianity
Bible dictionaries
Online English dictionaries
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints texts
Mormonism and the Bible

Bible Dictionary (LDS Church)


Phormium is a genus of two plant species in the family Asphodelaceae. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as flax or their Māori names wharariki and harakeke respectively, and elsewhere as New Zealand flax or flax lily, but they are not closely related to the Northern Hemisphere's flax (Linum usitatissimum), which is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and has been used by humans since 30,000 B.C.

Taxonomy
Monocot classification has undergone significant revision in the past decade, and recent classification systems (including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) have found Phormium to be closely related to daylilies (Hemerocallis), placing it in family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Phormium formerly belonged to the family Agavaceae and many classification systems still place it there. It includes two species and many cultivars.

Species

The genus was originally established by the German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg Forster in 1775 from specimens of Phormium tenax collected by both Forsters and the Swedish naturalist Anders Erikson Sparrman. All of them were part of the second expedition of Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution (1772–1775). The type specimens were taken from Queen Charlotte Sound, with additional specimens from both Norfolk Island and North Island, New Zealand. The name Phormium comes from Ancient Greek for a "basket", while tenax is a Latin adjective meaning "holding fast, tenacious".

Description and ecology

Phormium is an herbaceous perennial monocot. The tough, sword-shaped leaves grow up to  long and up to  wide. They are usually darkish green but sometimes have coloured edges and central ribs. Cultivated varieties range from light green through pink to deep russet bronze. There are numerous variegated cultivars with leaves marked by contrasting stripes in shades of green, red, bronze, pink and yellow.

The rigid flower stalks can be up to  long, projecting high above the foliage. In November (in New Zealand) they produce clumps of curving tube-like flowers which turn bright red when mature. These produce unusually large quantities of nectar to attract all nectar-feeding birds such as the tūī and insects. The seedpods that develop after pollination, each contain hundreds of seeds which are later widely dispersed by the wind.

Distribution and habitat
Phormium tenax occurs naturally in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, while P. colensoi is endemic to New Zealand. Both species have been widely distributed to temperate regions of the world as economic fibre and ornamental plants.

They are found mainly in swamps or low-lying areas but will grow in a variety of habitats.

Cultivation
The two species readily interbreed and there is part considerable regional variation in Phormium colensoi. Where the two species co-occur, there is local introgression.

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Phormium cultivars commercially available. The 2005-2006 edition of the Royal Horticultural Society Plant Finder listed 75 cultivars. As early as the 1920s it was recognised that ploidy plays a role in some cultivars due to the work of John Stuart Yeates. The highly regarded sport Ngaro was isolated from the Moutoa swamp, Foxton.

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit for growing in UK gardens:

Phormium colensoi subsp. hookeri 'Cream Delight'
Phormium colensoi subsp. hookeri 'Tricolor'
Phormium 'Duet'
Phormium 'Sundowner'
Phormium tenax 'Variegatum'
Phormium 'Yellow Wave'

Uses

Phormium produces long leaf fibres that have played an important role in the culture, history and economy of New Zealand. Both species have been widely distributed to temperate regions of the world as economic fibre and ornamental plants.

See also

 List of plants known as lily

References

Asphodelaceae genera
Hemerocallidoideae
Flora of New Zealand

Phormium


The Blendells were a 1960s Mexican American brown-eyed soul group from East Los Angeles, California. They garnered success in 1964 with their Latin-tinged cover of Little Stevie Wonder's "La La La La La", written by Clarence Paul. During the brief time they were together, they performed at venues such as the famous Shrine Auditorium. Their tours included performances in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and the state of Washington. They shared the stage with The Dave Clark Five, Roy Orbison, Dick Dale, The Ventures, The Shirelles, The Drifters, The Coasters, and Chuck Berry. Though little known today, The Blendells retain a cult following in West Coast Mexican American communities.

Career
Forty years ago, Chicanos from East L.A. broke the mold of stereotypical Mexican-American musicians and singers, and began performing and recording rock & roll in English—an innovation for its time—re-introducing a Califas music style that was almost lost with the earlier demise of the late Ritchie Valens of Pacoima, California.

The Blendells recorded only two singles, "La La La La La", backed with "Huggies Bunnies" and "Dance with Me", backed with "Get Your Baby". "La La La La La" was also included in the Sonny & Cher headlined compilation album Baby Don't Go.

Many in the "West Coast East Side" music community believe the Blendells would have achieved far more success had most of its members not been drafted into the Vietnam War. Rampart Records President (and Vietnam veteran) Steven Chavez stated, "Almost 50% of the artists from the East Side Sound era served in combat roles in Vietnam, losing their innocence to a war in the prime of their youth, and returned to a changed American music scene that pretty much turned their back on them with the advent of new genres like hard rock, heavy metal, punk, disco and the like. Chicano music has had a vast influence on Americana, with some of the most recorded music in the American Music scene never being credited to the Chicano artists that broke the mold from traditional Spanish-language Mariachi and Ranchera music, which is still the stereotypical impression that a lot of people have of Mexican-American artists outside of L.A. & Texas."

More recently, Hector Gonzalez of Rampart Records, along with Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Jimmy Velarde, have produced a documentary movie "The West Coast East Side Sound", which now immortalizes The Blendells and other pioneering Chicano rock & rollers from the West Coast, including Cannibal & the Headhunters, Thee Midniters, The Jaguars, The In Crowd, Sly, Slick, and the Wicked, Thee Counts, Touch, The Viscounts, The Premiers, The Montclairs, and Thee Atlantics. "The West Coast East Side Sound" was screened in 2004 in the new Alan and Elaine Armer Theater on the campus of CSUN (California State University, Northridge).

Blendells guitarist Rudy Valona died on December 26, 2003.

See also
Chicano rock

References

External links
LatinoCities, Inc. website
Frankie Firme's personal website
Mark Guerrero's personal website
East L.A. Revue website
XISPAS Colectivo website
Cannibal & the Headhunters website
Gina Valona's IMDB page
Steven Chavez's Dedication To Scotland

Musical groups from Los Angeles
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
American musicians of Mexican descent
Reprise Records artists

The Blendells


Pierre Carle Édouard Potain (19 July 1825 – 5 January 1901) was a French cardiologist born in Paris.

In 1853 he earned his doctorate from the University of Paris, and later worked as an assistant to Jules Baillarger (1809-1890) at the mental asylum in Ivry-sur-Seine. In 1856 he began work in the clinic of Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud (1796-1881), whom Potain regarded as a major influence to his career. Afterwards, he worked in various hospitals in Paris, including the Hôpital Saint-Antoine and Hôpital Necker. In 1861 he was appointed médecin des hôpitaux and an associate professor to the Paris medical faculty. In 1876 he attained the chair of pathology, and soon afterwards served as chair of clinical medicine. From 1882 to 1900 he was associated with the Hôpital de la Charité.

Potain made several contributions in his research of cardiovascular disease, and conducted various tests in the field of cardiology. These tests included analysis of jugular venous waves, heart gallop rhythm research, blood pressure testing and auscultatory analysis. In 1889 he was credited for making modifications to the sphygmomanometer, a device used to measure blood pressure that had been recently invented by Samuel Siegfried Carl von Basch (1837-1905). He also designed a pleural suction apparatus and made improvements to the Malassez hemocytometer.

The term "Potain's sign" is an extension of percussion dullness over the aortic arch from the manubrium to the third costal cartilage on the right-hand side of the body. Potain's name is associated with several other eponymous medical terms; the following terms are seldom used today and are for historical purposes only.
 "Potain's disease": pulmonary edema
 "Potain's solution": diluent used in a procedure to count red blood cells
 "Potain's syndrome":  dyspepsia with expansion of the right ventricle, and an increase of pulmonary auscultation.

He was a member of the Académie de Médecine (1883), the Académie des Sciences (1893) and a commander of the Légion d'honneur (1895). In the 19th arrondissement of Paris, there is a street named Rue du Docteur Potain.

Written works
 Des lésions des ganglions lymphatiques viscéraux. Paris, Remquet, 1860 – Lesions of visceral lymph nodes.
 De la Succession des mouvements du coeur, réfutation des opinions de M. Beau, leçon faite à l'Hôtel-Dieu. Paris: impr. de H. Plon, 1863 – On successive motions of the heart, refuting the opinions of Mr. Beau, lesson at the Hôtel-Dieu.
 Note sur les dédoublements normaux des bruits du coeur, présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux, dans la séance du 22 juin 1866, par le Dr Potain,. Paris: impr. de F. Malteste, 1866 – Paper on normal duplication of heart sounds, etc.
 Des mouvements et des bruits qui se passent dans les veines jugulaires. Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), 1867, 2 sér., 4, 3-27 – Movements and noises that occur in the jugular veins.
 Du Rhythme cardiaque appelé bruit de galop, de son mécanisme et de sa valeur séméiologique, note présentée à la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris. Paris: A. Delahaye, 1876. También en : Bull. Soc. Méd. Hôp. Paris (Mémoires), (1875), 1876, 12, 137–66. – Rhythm of the heart known as gallop rhythm, its mechanism and its diagnostic value, etc.
 Des Fluxions pleuro-pulmonaires réflexes d'origine utéro-ovarienne. Paris: impr. de Chaix, 1884 – Fluxions of pleuro-pulmonary reflexes of utero-ovarian origin.
 Du sphygmomanomètre et de la mesure de la pression artérielle chez l'homme à l'état normale et pathologique. Arch. Physiol. Nom. Path., 5 sér., 1, 556-69 – Sphygmomanometer and blood pressure measurement of humans in normal and pathological states
 Dernière leçon de M. le professeur Potain. Paris: impr. de J. Gainche, 1900.* (Final lesson of Professor Potain).
 La Pression artérielle de l'homme à l'état normal et pathologique Paris: Masson, 1902 – Blood pressure of humans in normal and pathological states.

References

 "Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia".
   Google-translated article from Historiadelamedicina.org biographical information.

See also
 Obituary of Pierre Potain in the British Medical Journal 12 Jan 1901

1825 births
1901 deaths
French cardiologists
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Physicians from Paris
Academic staff of the University of Paris
19th-century French physicians

Pierre Potain


Year of the Tiger is the sixth album released by German band La! Neu?. Like its sister-album Goldregen it was recorded and released relatively quickly in 1997-8. Unlike Goldregen – which featured only acoustic instruments – Year of the Tiger is predominantly electronic and beat-driven. The entire album is performed live on the CD Live at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.

Background and recording
The album is named for a phrase used in a postcard sent by an American fan named George to Klaus Dinger in 1998, referring to the zodiac calendar, according to which the Year of the Tiger began on 28 January 1998. The back of the postcard features on the cover artwork.

Recording began in October 1997, after La! Neu?'s pianist Rembrandt Lensink (whose album Rembrandt: God Strikes Back was released in January 1998) presented Dinger with a lengthy synthesizer piece which could not fit on his own album. Dinger decided to work the piece into a La! Neu? album, and had Rembrandt re-record the basic synthesizer track. Some time in 1998 this was overdubbed with Dinger's drum playing and Victoria Wehrmeister's vocals to create "Autoportrait Rembrandt", a half-hour-long trance-esque motorik piece.

After this a second long piece was begun, built around a circulating guitar riff played by Dinger. Added to this was a motorik drum loop and a further guitar part by Dinger's friend Rudige "Spinello" Elze (who had last played with Dinger in the 1980s) as well as another of Wehrmeister's improvised vocal parts. This track was named "Notre Dame" after Wehrmeister's lyric (although also possibly in reference to Harmonia's album Deluxe, which features several tracks similar in character to Year of the Tiger, and one named "Notre Dame"). Both tracks display a high standard of production in comparison to the looser Goldregen and also a greater focus on rhythm. Dinger said in August 1998—

Around the same time as these sessions, Dinger met up with Eberhard Kranemann for the first time since the 1970s. Kranemann had lived with Dinger in a Düsseldorf commune for a while in the early 1970s, and had played bass and slide guitar for Neu! and Kraftwerk. When Dinger founded a record label in 1973, he had intended to release a Fritz Müller (Kranemann's stage name) album on it, but never did. Dinger therefore became interested in helping Kranemann release an album using the La! Neu? imprint on Captain Trip Records. Kranemann's band "Bluepoint Underground" was thus brought to meet Dinger, and recorded a short, multi-tracked song with Dinger and Wehrmeister. This was incorporated onto Year of the Tiger as "Intro", partly in order to promote Bluepoint Underground's album Bluepoint Underground in New York City, which was released on CTR later in 1998 (with Dinger as producer).

Track listing
 "Intro" – 1:06 (Oliver Blum, Klaus Dinger, Caroline Keufen, Eberhard Kranemann, Victoria Wehrmeister)
 "Autoportrait Rembrandt" – 32:19 (Dinger, Rembrandt Lensink, Wehrmeister)
 "Notre Dame" – 33:21 (Dinger, Spinello Elze, Wehrmeister)

Personnel

La! Neu?
 Klaus Dinger – drums (all tr.), guitar (tr. 3)
 Spinello Elze – guitar (tr. 3)
 Rembrandt Lensink – synthesizer (tr. 2)
 Victoria Wehrmeister – vocals (all tr.)

Bluepoint Underground
 Oliver Blum – guitar (tr. 1)
 Caroline Keufen – vocals (tr. 1)
 Eberhard Kranemann – bass (tr. 1)

References

1998 albums
La! Neu? albums

Year of the Tiger (La! Neu? album)


David Suzuki: The Autobiography is the 2006 autobiography of Canadian science writer and broadcaster David Suzuki. The book focuses mostly on his life since the 1987 publication of his first autobiography, Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life. It begins with a chronological account of his childhood, academic years, and broadcasting career. In later chapters, Suzuki adopts a memoir style, writing about themes such as his relationship with Australia, his experiences in Brazil and Papua New Guinea, the founding of the David Suzuki Foundation, and his thoughts on climate change, celebrity status, technology, and death. Throughout, Suzuki highlights the continuing impact of events from his childhood.

This is Suzuki's forty-third book and, he says, his last. Critics have called the book candid, sincere, and charming, with insightful commentary if occasionally flat stories. Suzuki's scientific background is reflected in the writing's rational and analytic style.

Suzuki's autobiography spent four weeks at #1 on the Maclean's list of non-fiction best-sellers and six weeks at #6 on the Globe and Mail's list. The book won two awards in 2007: the Canadian Booksellers' Association's Libris Award for Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the British Columbia Booksellers' Choice Award. The publishers, Greystone Books and Douglas & McIntyre, won the CBA Libris Award for Marketing Achievement of the Year.

2006 books
Autobiographies
Environment

David Suzuki: The Autobiography