Big Ron, FA Cup winning Manchester United manager, and one of football's most quoted men
FootballRon Atkinson, known to everyone in football simply as Big Ron, is one of the most recognisable figures in the English game. Tan, jewellery, a phrase for every occasion, and a genuine flair for building teams that attacked.
Atkinson cut his managerial teeth at Cambridge United before taking West Bromwich Albion into the UEFA Cup with an exciting side built around Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham, and Bryan Robson. His reputation took him to Manchester United in 1981, where he won the FA Cup in 1983 and 1985 and signed the players Sir Alex Ferguson would later inherit.
He then went on to manage Atletico Madrid, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Coventry City, and Nottingham Forest, winning the League Cup with both Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. His teams played with width, speed, and a willingness to take risks.
After management came a long second career as a pundit, most famously on ITV. Atkinson's phrasing became part of football's language, and his commentaries are still quoted today. He remains a popular and unfiltered presence on the speaker circuit, with stories from nearly every era of the modern English game.
At Steam Wine Bar, Big Ron brings the Old Trafford of the early eighties, the West Brom of the three degrees, and the unvarnished view from a dugout that spanned five decades of English football.
Two decades of world class speakers in the basement at EC3. Want to book Ron Atkinson or someone like them? Tell us what you need and we will come back with a plan.
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