Sorrow as Sir Bobby too ill for Big Jack’s funeral
ONE of football’s favourite sons was given a funeral fit for a hero as thousands lined the streets to hail World Cup winner Jack Charlton.
His fellow England star of 1966 and younger brother Sir Bobby, 82, was too ill to go. His floral tribute read: “Rest in Peace Jack. Sending our deepest sympathy. In our thoughts, from Bobby, Norma and family.”
Sir Bobby’s flowers lay by the side of his brother’s coffin as the funeral cortege took the “proud Englishman, proud northerner and proud honorary Irishman” on his final journey.
There was applause as the procession made its way through Ashington, his home town, where crowds paid their respects to their Local Hero as the Dire Straits song was played by a lone Northumberland piper as the cortege arrived.
Some threw flowers, while others bowed in silent tribute following his death aged 85 on July 10 from lymphoma. Jack’s brother Tommy, 74, waved at the crowds while fellow sibling Gordon, 77, wiped away tears as he looked out at the fans, four deep on the four-mile route.
Many wore the colours of England, the Republic of Ireland, Leeds Utd –
where Jack remains a legend with the most appearances for the club.
Others had fashioned signs and tributes to the “World Cup legend”, and “Hero of 66”.
The hearse stopped one last time at Hirst Welfare Centre, the site of Jack’s old school, and close to where he and Bobby first kicked a ball in the back lane behind their home.
Jack’s widow Patricia, 85, his children John, 61, Debbie, 57, and Peter, 53, got messages of sympathy from America, Australia, Tasmania, Brazil and the Cayman Islands.
But it was Ashington where the legend of the beautiful game was most at home, usually in his trademark flat cap, his loyal dog Sally by his side.
Ann Brown, 74, a family friend and neighbour of Jack and Bobby, recalled how she ended up playing with no fewer than three footballing legends.
She said: “I used to be out playing football with Jack and Bobby in the lane at the back of our house.
Sometimes their uncle Jackie Milburn would come down and join in.
“I was a lot younger than them but you look back now and it seems funny I was playing with three of the greatest footballers there ever was. “Jack was a smashing lad, we all looked up to him and he never forgot where he was from. He’d come to our door years later to buy fish my husband had caught and he always had time to stop and catch up.”
Peter Mather, a 68-year-old semiretired bricklayer, stood with a sign saying “Howay Wor Jack”.
He said: “I never normally wear a cap but I’ve got one on today out of respect to Jack.”
Patrick Wilson was one of many Irishmen who turned out to pay his respects to their former national team boss who led them to two World Cup finals. The civil engineer, 68, living in Longframlington, Northumberland, said: “We look at him as a humble person, a man for the people, with no airs or graces. Everyone was the same in Jack’s eyes.”
Former policeman Peter Cowans, 64, who decorated his home with flags in honour of “Big Jack”, said:
‘He was a lovely fella – not just a football legend but a real gentleman too’
“He was a lovely fella, not just a football legend, but a real gentleman too.”
Around 150 wellwishers lined the entrance to West Road Crematorium in Newcastle before the 11.45am service. His granddaughter Kate Wilkinson told the 20 mourners allowed under Covid-19 rules: “Grandad Jack was a proud Englishman, a proud northerner and a proud honorary Irishman.” She joked how Jack fell to the ground on the final whistle of the 1966 final, not overcome with emotion but simply because he was “bloody knackered”, as he told his family afterwards.
Grandson Tom Wilkinson fondly remembered his grandad’s long battle of wills with Sally the dog when she needed to answer the call of nature at night. He said: “She would only come back in if she thought they were going fishing. First night he put his fishing coat on to persuade her back in.
“But she was no fool. The next night he put on his fishing coat and added his flat cap.
“The day after that he put on his coat, flat cap, waders, packed a bag and had his fishing rod in hand. Perhaps Sally was the only one who ever truly got the better of him.”
He added: “One of Grandad’s greatest qualities was his generosity – not just of things, but of spirit and of time. He would make time for anyone, treated everyone the same regardless of status, and showed a genuine interest in people’s lives.”
His sister Emma said: “What you saw was what you got with Grandad, despite being a public figure he was always true to himself – he never took himself too seriously and nothing embarrassed him – even if it embarrassed us at times.”
The Charlton family expressed their thanks for all the people who turned out to pay tribute.
Son John, who carried his father’s coffin, said: “Jack was incredibly proud of his home town, which is why we made the decision to take the funeral cortege around Ashington.”
As the service ended, Pat rose to say one last goodbye to her husband of 62 years. She touched the coffin draped with an England scarf for the man who loved his country so much.
The service heard that Pat was “his right-hand woman, his greatest supporter...and the vital part of his best team”.