Bonner leads tributes to his Republic of Ireland mentor
Packie Bonner has no idea if the story is true but for him it sums up the larger-than-life legend of Jack Charlton.
A humorous tale told by his former Republic of Ireland team-mate Andy Townsend so funny that he even uses it against himself now.
And the story brought a smile to the ex- Celtic goalkeeper’s face as he paid tribute to Charlton who died, aged 85, on Friday.
The England World Cup winner had been diagnosed with cancer and was also battling dementia before he passed away at home in his native Northumberland.
Bonner played under Charlton during his decade in charge of the Republic where he led them to their first major tournament at the 1988 European Championships in Germany.
That was followed by two World Cups in 1990 and 1994 and it was after the first of those that former midfielder Townsend tells his now famous tale.
Bonner had been the penalty shootout hero for Ireland in their last-16 clash against Romania to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final tie against the hosts in Rome.
Charlton, a colourful character, delivered on his promise of an audience with Pope John Paul II ahead of the game in the Olympic Stadium if they reached the last eight.
As a budding goalkeeper himself as a youngster in Poland, the Pontiff told Bonner he would keeping an eye on him in the clash against the Azzurri.
Ireland went down to a single goal from tournament top scorer Toto Schillaci who followed up to score after Bonner was knocked off balance by a powerful Roberto Donadoni shot.
Townsend takes up the story after the game: “Jack came into the dressing room and thanked us for all our efforts, said he was proud of each and every one of us and that we couldn’t have given him any more.
“He turned round to Packie and said, ‘Come on Packie, get in the shower.’ And as Pat trudged off, Jack sat down took a drag of his fag, looked at me with a big smile on his face and said: ‘Andy, the Pope would have saved that!’”
Asked about that yesterday, Bonner told MailSport: “That’s Andy’s story and I don’t know if it’s true but it’s a good story and I use it on myself now.
“It’s good fun and, true or not, Jack had that personality and you couldn’t take offence to it – you can laugh at it. That story sums up big Jack.
“We had great times with him. While he took football very seriously, off the pitch when we were together as a group we never felt bored.
“Even if you were sitting with him and gathering round he had stories about fishing andd different things and you were always captivatedted by him.
“He treated us like men and he had that personal ity which is why people just loved him.”
Cha r l t on spent his entire playing career at Leeds Unitedd when they wereere regarded as one of the best sides in Europe under the legendary Don Revie.
He started out in management at Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and a season at hometown club Newcastle United before becoming the first non-Irish boss of the Republic.
Charlton enjoyed the luck of the Irish when a win for Scotland away to Bulgaria booked their place at Euro 88 where they earned a famous win over England, drew with the Soviet Union and went down to a single goal from eventual winners Holland.
Bonner said: “We hadn’t qualified for a major tournament prior to him taking over.
“We had some great players – Johnny Giles, Liam Brady and even back to Steve Heighway and Don Givens – but we couldn’t get over that barrier of qualification.
“Jack got us there but we needed a bit of luck and Gary Mackay’s goal against Bulgaria to send us to Euro 88 and after that the rest was fantastic. “We got to two World Cups and probably should have got to Euro 92. “Some will say he didn’t play a game that typified what Ireland was before he arrived because they wanted to pplay and build from fromthe the back.
“But Jack came up with a strategy that tha suited us and he was a great tactician. ta
“He k new football fo but he knew k people and a he knew op ponents wh which is probably the most importanttant thing.” t