Forever a hero: Jack Charlton dies, aged 85
ALL RIGHT, JACK CHARLTON LEAVES BEHIND A HOST OF MEMORIES FROM GLITTERING CAREER
THE death of Jack Charlton, one of the giants of English football, following a year-long fight with cancer was marked with calls for him to be awarded a posthumous knighthood.
The 1966 England World Cup winner and Republic of Ireland manager, who died aged 85, had been diagnosed with lymphoma in the past year and was also suffering from dementia.
In a statement, Charlton’s family said he died peacefully at his home in Northumberland on Friday, with his family gathered by his side.
It has long rankled fans that “Big Jack” was never made a Sir, unlike his younger brother Sir Bobby, or their fellow 1966 England team-mate Sir Geoff Hurst.
Ian Lavery, the Labour MP for Wansbeck, which includes Charlton’s home town of Ashington, submitted an Early Day Motion yesterday calling on the Government to award him a posthumous knighthood, and promised to launch a petition “very soon”. Mr Lavery said Charlton was “a true legend, a man of the people, and never forgot his working class roots”.
It would require a change in the honours system for a knighthood to be awarded posthumously.
There were similar calls in 2016 for the late Bobby Moore, the captain of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, to be knighted.
Despite the support of Greg Dyke, the FA chairman at the time, and a cross-party coalition of leading MPs, the campaign did not succeed.
Sir Bobby Charlton was knighted in 1994, becoming only the sixth footballer to be granted the honour for his contribution to the game. Sir Geoff Hurst was knighted in 1998.
Sir Alf Ramsey, England’s manager in 1966, was knighted the year after their victory.
Ray Houghton, the former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland midfielder, who played the majority of his international career under Charlton, backed the call yesterday, telling Talksport: “For what he’s done domestically with Leeds, winning the World Cup, which he should have been knighted for, I’ve still never understood that, I think that’s an absolute disgrace.”
Premier League games were being preceded by a minute’s silence this weekend as a tribute to Charlton, with players wearing black armbands.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said he remembered Charlton as a “football great whose achievements brought happiness to so many”.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, paid tribute to his time as Republic manager: “He was Ireland’s most loved Englishman.”
England and Ireland are united in tributes to a player and manager with unique place in the game
TO a generation of football fans Jack Charlton – the sixth member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team to die – epitomised the game’s hard men: an imposing presence on the pitch; passionate and humorous off it.
Within moments of news of his death at the age of 85 breaking yesterday, tributes poured in, an indication of his special place in a sport that sets great store by its collective history.
One of the most fitting came from Leeds United – where Charlton spent his whole playing career – who said he would remain in football folklore forever. Sir Geoff Hurst, Charlton’s England team-mate in 1966, wrote on Twitter: “Another sad day. Jack was the type of player and person that you need in a team to win a World Cup.
“The world of football and the world beyond football has lost one of the greats.
RIP old friend.”
Greg Clarke, the FA Chairman, said: “A true giant of English football, Jack will forever be remembered for his significant contribution to our World Cup win and for being a warmhearted, thoughtful man. A huge presence on and off the pitch, Jack will never be forgotten at Wembley.”
Gary Lineker, the former England striker and Match of the Day presenter, tweeted: “World Cup winner with England, manager of probably the best ever Ireland side and a wonderfully infectious personality to boot. RIP Jack.”
Peter Reid, the former England midfielder, described him simply as “a great man”.
Winning the World Cup with England wasn’t his only achievement in football’s biggest tournament. He is regarded as the best manager the Republic of Ireland ever had, guiding them to three major tournaments including a
World Cup quarter-final in Italia 90. The unexpected success made him a hero in the Republic when relations between the two countries were still fractious, and he was awarded honorary Irish citizenship in 1996 and made a freeman of the city of Dublin in 1994.
The Irish broadcaster Conor Wilson wrote: “A sad, sad day. Can’t overstate the presence he had in the lives of Irish people. What times he gave us. RIP Jack Charlton.”
In a statement, the Charlton family said: “As well as a friend to many, he was a much-adored husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. We cannot express how proud we are of the extraordinary life he led and the pleasure he brought to so many people. “He was a thoroughly honest, kind, funny and genuine man who always had time for people. His loss will leave a huge hole in all our lives.”
The 23 years at Leeds; the 1966 World Cup winners medal; the successful career as a manager of Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, then the Republic of Ireland – might easily have never happened.
Born in Ashington, the epicentre of Northumberland’s coalfields, Charlton’s first job was a miner, going down the pit at 15, like his father – despite being offered a trial at Leeds, where his uncle Jim was left-back.
His brother Bobby was taken on by Manchester United, while several uncles played for Leeds and other clubs.
For much of his career, the 6ft 1in Charlton lived in Bobby’s shadow. After all, the younger brother had the flair and goalscoring panache, something Jack was happy to acknowledge.
“I wasn’t very good at playing football. But I was very good at stopping other people playing football,” he once said. “My brother was the player.”
Such was his modesty, he initially kept his World Cup winner’s medal in a coal bucket. That belied his crucial presence on the pitch and on the touchline, but it was perhaps a realisation that had his luck been different he might have easily spent his career not on the playing field but in the pit.
Now only Sir Bobby, George Cohen, Nobby Stiles, Sir Geoff and Roger Hunt remain of that golden 1966 generation who held the Jules Rimet trophy aloft at Wembley.
‘Jack was the type of player and person you need to win a World Cup. We have lost one of the greats’
‘A sad, sad day. Can’t overstate the presence he had in the lives of Irish people. What times he gave us. RIP Jack Charlton’