A PINT AND BINGO AT WORKING MEN’S CLUB
JACK Charlton joked about how much his dad was like Mirror cartoon character Andy Capp in a TV film that has become a cult classic.
The documentary, Big Jack’s Other World, was made for Tyne Tees Television in 1971.
In it, the 1966 World Cup winner takes a camera crew on a tour of his hometown as he reminisces about his childhood.
It shows Jack visiting his dad’s pigeons, having a pint at a working men’s club in Ashington, Northumberland, and going to whippet racing.
He reveals that there had been upset about Andy Capp, as it portrayed Geordie men as
“beer-drinking, whippet-racing pigeon-fanciers”.
But the England and Republic of Ireland icon, a loyal Daily Mirror reader, jokes about dad Bob Sr: “Now where is he any different to any Andy Capp fella you have ever met?
“He wears his flat cap, he has always kept pigeons. In fact, anything you have ever read in the Andy Capp series, you can see a bit of my father in it.”
Seen carving a Sunday roast at mum Cissie’s house, Jack says: “It is all right this women’s liberation saying they can all go their own way and can all do their own jobs and have careers.
“But they can’t all do that because there will be no population left.” Of his daughter, then nine, seen with him, he says: “Debbie will be brought up the right way. I won’t allow her to go out and stay out until she reaches an age.”
Jack also speaks of how much he still loved his hometown, because “I’m allowed to relax here more than anywhere else”.
The show, also featuring Jack’s two sons – John, then 12, and Peter, four – has been shared on fans’ websites.
It was released by the North East Film Archive last year.
Thousands lined the streets of Ashington on Tuesday to pay tribute to Jack, who died on July 10, at the age of 85, with lymphoma.
At his funeral, Debbie’s daughter Emma Wilkinson told mourners: “As a dad and grandad he was very protective.
“Mum still cringes at him turning up to her village disco an hour before the end to pick her up and everyone shouting ‘Debbie, your dad’s here’.”