Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Charltons United for Jack farewell
Route of cortege will include home town to allow fans’ tribute
THE surviving Charlton brothers will be reunited for the first time in years at Jack’s funeral, amid a clamour for a posthumous knighthood.
Sir Bobby, 82, Gordon, 77, and Tommy, 74, are not in good health but will try to gather for the final farewell to Big Jack, who died at the age of 85 on Friday.
The occasion would have been attended by a roll call of football legends if not for the pandemic.
Coronavirus restrictions mean that only about 20 close relatives will be allowed into next Tuesday’s service.
But fans will be given the chance to pay tribute as the cortege passes through his home town of Ashington, Northumberland, at around 10am.
It will travel along streets where he and Bobby used to play before becoming the world’s most famous football brothers.
There will be a stop at Hurst Park, where the pair loved a kickabout as boys, close to their old terrace house at 114 Beatrice Street, before the cortege travels to Newcastle for the latemorning funeral.
Since Jack’s death his family has received condolences from across the globe, from Tasmania to the Cayman Islands – and above all from Ireland.
Jack’s son John, 61, and his Irish-born wife Deirdre, 44, told how countless fans were touched by his spell as Republic of Ireland manager 30 years ago. Many backed the Mirror’s call to give Jack a posthumous knighthood.
John feels all the heroes of 1966 should have received the honour.
“That should have been done more than 50 years ago, really,” he said. “It was the first time England had won a World Cup. Yet we have seen other champions receive the knighthood straight away.
“The 1966 team were recognised for their achievements by everyone apart from the establishment.”
Jack died as he had lived – with his loving family close beside him.
He saw his grandchildren, gave John one last thumbs up and then passed away. Also by his side were his wife of 62 years
Pat, 85, daughter
Deborah Wilkinson, 57, and his other son Peter, 53. John, of Ponteland, Northumberland, said: “It was just like dad. He had a play with his grand-children on Thursday night but did not sleep well.
“On Friday he opened his eyes, then shut them and was gone. It was peaceful and typical of him – a good way to go, with his family there.
“He had an amazing life and left great
memories. Some will remember
him as a World Cup winner, in that great Leeds United side or as the Republic of Ireland’s manager. The last of those wasn’t just about football. Niall Quinn says it kick-started the peace process as people in Ireland looked beyond the Troubles. It brought them so much joy.
“We are so lucky as a family. Dad’s grandkids will always be able to look at all the photos of him, see the TV coverage and read the reports of what he did. Not many people have that.”
As Jack’s children sat at his bedside in his final hours, they remarked how little he had changed down the years.
They still saw a towering figure whose mischievous smile won him an army of fans. “He didn’t look that different from his 20s,” added John, who runs Charlton’s Bar in Cambois, near where his dad had been born and brought up.
“People would run to meet him abroad. They’d recognise him everywhere.
“He never refused an autograph and would always stop for a chat. Even in the last six months people would put babies in his arms and he posed for photos with kids who had no idea who he was when their parents asked.
“He made so many people happy. What made him special was that he did the very best with what he had. There was something in his nature that just made him a very likeable character.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by tributes from people not just in this country and Ireland but around the world.”
Jack came from a family deeply rooted in football – the Milburns. Three were also called Jack. His great-great-grandfather was known as Warhorse due to his tough style of play and his mother Cissie’s dad was a goalkeeper nicknamed Tanner who served in the First World War.
Newcastle United and England legend Jackie Milburn was her cousin. The Mirror was given access to the family archives by Cissie’s biographer Vince Gledhill.
Jack, who in his final years had lymphoma and struggled with dementia, is the sixth member of England’s World Cup-winning team to die after captain Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, Gordon Banks, Alan Ball and Ray Wilson.