Sir Bobby Robson has launched a charitable foundation to help fight cancer.
The former England and Newcastle United manager hopes to raise at least £500,000 to help equip a specialist unit for the early detection and treatment of the disease.
Sir Bobby, who is battling cancer for the fifth time and has been told that this time it is incurable, said he wished the foundation to be his legacy to the world.
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation will initially focus on the early detection and treatment of cancer and will also help support clinical trials of promising new treatments to tackle the disease.
Its first goal is to raise the money urgently required to set up The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre at the new Northern Centre for Cancer Care in Newcastle. The money raised will fund dedicated research facilities including a 12-bed unit with treatment rooms, a state-of-the-art laboratory and consulting facilities, all of which is being constructed at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
The 75-year-old set up the foundation after being asked for help by the oncologist treating him, Dr Ruth Plummer.
He said: "I have had cancer five times now but I have had a wonderful life and I feel lucky to be alive. I owe my life to the people who have cared for me and treated me during the last 15 years in which I have had the disease.
"My oncologist Dr Ruth Plummer told me about a wonderful new unit they hoped to open at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle for the early detection and treatment of cancer. But she told me there was no money to equip the unit, which it is hoped will be open by October, and asked me if I knew anyone who could help.
"I could not believe what she was telling me; so I spoke to my wife and some very good people close to me and I decided to use my name to create the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, in the hope we can raise a lot of money very quickly. We want to help create a unit which will be not just the best in the region but the envy of the nation.
"I think I might be remembered for what I did in football. But the legacy I would like to leave behind is what I tried to do to help people with cancer live longer."
