The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Thousands line the streets for football legend Jack Charlton
FUNERAL: Well-wishers pay their respects to World Cup hero
Applause rang out for Jack Charlton as thousands of people lined the streets of Ashington in Northumberland to pay tribute to the World Cup-winning hero.
Well-wishers threw flowers on the hearse as it passed slowly through the former mining community where he and his younger brother Sir Bobby honed their football skills.
The procession slowed as it passed close to 114 Beatrice Street, where the Charltons played for countless hours in the back lane, and the park where Big Jack learned the dark arts of defending.
Charlton, a stalwart of Leeds United’s most successful period, an England stopper who reached the pinnacle of the game and later a successful manager most notably with the Republic of Ireland, died earlier this month aged 85.
Fans wearing Leeds shirts, Newcastle United tops, Ireland strips and replica kits from his local side Ashington mingled together, waiting for their chance to pay their final respects.
And when the cortege passed, spontaneous applause and cheers broke out in tribute to the town’s famous son, who never forgot his roots.
Floral tributes in the hearse included a football and a red England shirt with “Jackie 5” on it.
A Northumberland piper led the procession for some of the way through the town.
Charlton was the eldest son of miner Bob and his wife Cissie, who went on to have three more boys.
He followed his father at the pit for a brief spell before leaving Northumberland to join the Leeds United ground staff aged 15.
Charlton stayed there for a remarkable 23 years, a spell broken only by national service, playing a major part in the club turning from also-rans into a major European force.