Former England midfielder Peter Reid is raising funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation by taking part in the Great North Run at the age of 70.
The late England football manager’s charity is raising funds towards a new cancer-fighting institute in Newcastle which will become a world-leading cancer drug trials centre, costing £30 million.
Reid, who played for Sir Bobby’s England team in the mid-1980s, will join a team of fundraising runners for the half-marathon from Newcastle to South Shields on Sunday September 13.
The former Sunderland manager, who turned 70 in June, said: “I’ve done a few 10ks over the years but when I heard about The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, and everything it’s trying to do building this new institute, I wanted to help.
“My 70th feels like a landmark, and I quite like working towards goals so this felt right.
“You read so many things about cancer and obviously we lost Sir Bobby and more recently Kevin Keegan to it.
“Really, you think, there but for the grace of God go I.
“My daughter had cervical cancer and thankfully her treatment was successful but cancer is something we all live with.
“We can fight against cancer together and I’m proud to be running for Sir Bobby’s Foundation.
“He was a wonderful man, a really warm man who was always great with me.
“It will be an honour to do the Great North Run for his charity.”
It will mark 40 years since Reid played for England against Argentina in Mexico, when Diego Maradona scored the Hand of God goal and another of individual brilliance.
Others joining Sir Bobby’s Team on the day will be cancer patients, clinical trials researchers, construction workers from the institute site and members of the much-loved manager’s family.
Sir Bobby’s son Mark, who is foundation chairman, said: “Dad called his foundation his ‘last and greatest team’, and we’re very grateful to everyone taking on this challenge for us.”
To sponsor Peter Reid in the Great North Run, please visit: justgiving.com/page/peter-reid-gnr-2026.
