[17] 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.

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.

[20] 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.

[20] One month later however, he broke his right ankle in a challenge with Manchester City's Dennis Tueart,[20] causing him to pull out of the England under-23 squad following his call-up.

[22] 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.

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 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.

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.

Robson was still a regular choice for United during the 1991–92 season despite competition from much younger players including Webb, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis.

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 Ferguson was hoping to sign a new, younger midfielder, although no such addition took place in 1992.

[35] Robson was dropped from the squad for the FA Cup final, a decision which manager Ferguson later admitted was one of the hardest of his career, opting to select the more flexible Sharpe and McClair as the outfield substitutes.

[18] 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.

[39] 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 UEFA Euro 1980 qualifier.

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 was in the record books for 20 years thanks to a goal scored against France in England's opening game of the World Cup at Estadio San Mamés, home of Athletic Bilbao.

[43] 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.

[44] Adams said 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.

[48][49] 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.

Middlesbrough made an ambitious return to the Premier League and attracted expensively-signed big names like Nick Barmby and the Brazilians Juninho and Branco.

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.

Following the resignation of Mick McCarthy, Robson emerged in January 2003 as the bookmakers' favourite to become the new Republic of Ireland manager,[56] but the job went instead to Brian Kerr.

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.

[66] 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.

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 AFC Asian Cup.

In December 2010, Robson failed to bring Thailand past the Group A of the 2010 AFF Championship after managing only two draws against Laos and Malaysia and losing to Indonesia.

[89] 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.

[93] 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.

[94] 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.