A life in football like no other...
Moving documentary relives Jack Charlton’s remarkable career in the Beautiful Game and explores his battle with dementia in his later years
“I’VE found in football, you don’t apply for jobs. If they want you, they’ll come and get you,” says football legend Jack Charlton in this moving film.
An affectionate documentary, this is the portrait of the extraordinary English World Cup-winning player who became an Irish hero.
FINDING JACK CHARLTON BBC2, 9pm
Shot on location in Ireland and England, it is the story of Jack’s incredible career and ascent to near-godliness as manager of the Irish national team. There are wonderful archive scenes and interviews of the glory days that spanned decades.
But these are heartbreakingly juxtaposed with more recent footage filmed as he battled dementia in later life.
Jack died last July and his life with the disease has been previously undocumented.
In touching interviews filmed before his death, his wife Pat Charlton says:
“We still have moments where we can have a laugh.
“But he’s not the same Jack. Just now and again you see bits of him. It’s just that his memory’s not there. And it’s a shame because he’s had some good memories.” His son John Charlton adds: “He has good days, he has bad days. I’ll ask if he’s seen the game, he’ll say yes, but he can’t remember anything about the game.”
Other interviewees include former Irish players Paul Mcgrath and Niall Quinn, Eamon Dunphy, the journalist who became hated for criticising Charlton, U2 drummer Larry Mullen and novelist Roddy Doyle, who all talk about the man who was beloved by so many.