Charlton’s plea
Sir Bobby urges Southgate’s men not to waste their big chance
England have been urged by 1966 winner Sir Bobby Charlton not to waste yet another World Cup chance.
As Gareth Southgate’s side prepared for qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania, they were visited by Sir Bobby yesterday, a guest of honour at St George’s Park, where the Football Association has named England’s training pitch after him.
Sir Bobby addressed the squad ahead of their first training session for Thursday’s match at Wembley against Slovenia.
The former Manchester United midfielder, who will be 80 a week tomorrow, said: “I hope that, in this particular year, we get the opportunity to have another go at winning the World Cup.
“I know I ramble on a little bit, but if you would excuse me, I hope so much that you will do everything that you want to do with the World Cup. I know that the manager has the ability and I do hope that you can give me one of the greatest memories of my life.
“The World Cup is the big thing, it’s the end product of everything that you ever want to do, and you can do it for us.”
Since 1966, England have reached the semi-final once. They failed to qualify for the knockout stages in Brazil in 2014.
Harry Kane broke off from the rest of the squad as they emerged from the dressing rooms to speak with Sir Bobby before the formal speeches.
The Tottenham striker has admitted he wants the full-time England captaincy and it could be viewed as significant that the 24-year-old took it upon himself to welcome their esteemed guest to St George’s Park.
Kane later posted a message on Twitter that read: “An honour to meet a real @England legend and be there for the opening of a pitch in his name.”
The manager, Gareth Southgate, said: “Lads, before we start training, I mentioned to you earlier Sir Bobby is here today. For us, it is a great privilege, one of our greatest ever players and, as we know, such an important player in us winning the World Cup.
“One of our greatest ambassadors as well for the game. We’re delighted to have you, it is fantastic for us to name a pitch after you.
“It is Sir Bobby’s 80th birthday next week and also the fifth anniversary of St George’s Park, which he was a big advocate of.”
An emotional Sir Bobby, who scored 49 England goals and was overtaken as the country’s leading all-time goalscorer by Wayne Rooney only two years ago, added: “I loved every minute when I was a footballer – every minute of the day. I used to practise and, at Manchester United, there was a big wall on the side of the pitch and I used to practise with my left foot, with my right foot, with my chest.
“Fortunately, I became really quite successful but I am thrilled that this sort of facility is here. We never had anything like this when we were footballers and I hope you appreciate it.”
Asked about Sir Bobby’s speech, left back Ryan Bertrand said: “It was an amazing moment. To see such a great inspiration in England and to get to see him, albeit briefly from our perspective, was amazing.” On Kane’s bid to get the fulltime captaincy, Bertrand said: “That’s completely down to the manager. ‘H’ gets my vote, as do other people.
“We’re blessed with a lot of leaders in the camp now. Whoever is tasked with that duty on the night deserves it.
“It’s amazing to see the form ‘H’
is in. Coming to the England camp in that form is a massive boost for all of us.”
Bertrand, meanwhile, revealed he had visited the Grenfell Estate following the fire. “I just wanted to do something more. I had friends who grew up in similar circumstances, so it hit me. I had a few friends from the estate, so we wanted to see what we could do,” the 28-year-old said.
“I went down to the estate to ask questions, see how things were going, get a feel for it and see what I could do to make a difference. We’re in the process of seeing if we can do a few things and I don’t want to say too much. But things are ongoing.”