‘He brought all of Ireland together – we all joined Jack’s Army’
Former players pay emotional tributes to inspirational boss
FORMER Irish football manager Jack Charlton has been remembered as an inspirational figure who united the whole country through sport.
Leading members of his Ireland squad were among the footballing giants who paid tribute to Charlton after he died at his home in Northumberland on Friday night, aged 85.
Charlton steered the country to its first major tournament, the 1988 European Championships, and then led the team to the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
Goalkeeper Packie Bonner and Ray Houghton were among the members of the squad who became national heroes during this era, buoyed by the support of the fans dubbed ‘Jack’s Army’.
Both spoke about their time under his leadership yesterday to the Irish Independent.
Bonner (60), who is in Donegal at the moment, described the manager known to all as ‘Big Jack’ as an “iconic and larger-than-life character”.
“I was very honoured to be part of it all. I remember Jack saying to me that ‘any international job you should only stay four years in it’ and he stayed 10,” he recalled.
“I think the man himself, his personality, that’s what I liked about Jack. I remember how he dealt with people.”
Bonner recalled an away match against Lithuania in a qualifier in the early ’90s when he made an error that led to Ireland conceding a goal.
He didn’t move off his line quickly enough, “which was a big thing for Jack, sweeping behind the defence”.
“We ended up winning the game, so we got away with it. But he didn’t say anything to me,” said Bonner.
“It was the next day at training, when we went back into the pitch and he called everybody together and he turned to me, and he said in his own way: ‘Listen, you’re a great goalkeeper, we all love you, everybody here and the fans.
But never do that again.’ He dressed it up beautifully.
“You couldn’t take offence to it. He knew how to deal with people. He said it in a way that you felt, ‘You’re absolutely right Jack, thanks for putting it that way’.
“He didn’t undermine you. He never really had a ‘go’ at anybody. He would remind you of certain things, yes absolutely. I think we responded to that. That is what I loved about Jack.”
“It was also an era in the ’80s and early ’90s when there was great access to the team by the
Green Army. Jack kept it very, very open and he was right, and the players loved it too.
“I remember in Stuttgart, people from Donegal coming up to the hotel, and you’d say, ‘Come in lads’ and you’d sit there and have a cup of coffee.
“That was the way it was. The media was always in the hotel with us, maybe in the different tournaments they might have been in a different hotel, but in general they travelled with us. After a game, we would meet them in the bar and talk to them.
“Jack created all of that environment, and I think it was so important then for everybody concerned, but he was the catalyst for it.”
Bonner said players who were only in the team for one or two games still loved being part of the squad because they knew Charlton had created something special.
And he recalled how, in 2018, the manager was reunited with his former players at the K-Club in Kildare to mark the 30th anniversary of Ireland’s appearance in the 1988 Euros.
“It was great to see him. He loved it, being among all the boys,” said Bonner. “We got a fantastic photograph taken, we all had these peaked hats on that he wore.”
There have been calls for a statue to commemorate Char
‘It didn’t matter if you were male, female, a GAA person, a rugby person’
lton, and Bonner gave the idea enthusiastic backing.
“There should be statues of our great sports people from all walks of life, somewhere you could commemorate those people,” he said.
“Sports is hugely important to our society. Jack was part of that. He created something that people remember with fond memories that affected our lives.
“The other thing is he brought the whole of society together. It didn’t matter if you were male, female, where you where, if you were a GAA person, a rugby person, soccer, it didn’t matter.
“I heard one woman chatting about her dad being a staunch GAA man, who said soccer would never come into the house. By the time we qualified for the World Cup, he was putting up the bunting.”
Meanwhile, Ray Houghton recalled how he was initially approached to join the team when Charlton was looking for new players.
He had gone to see John Aldridge play at Oxford and a couple of reporters at the game told him that Houghton, who was born in Glasgow, was able to play for Ireland through his dad, who was from Buncrana in Co Donegal.
Houghton said: “There has been a lot of outpouring of love and respect for Jack over in Ireland and indeed here in England. It shows you the admiration and respect people had for what he achieved.
“I think in Ireland, he just did so much good. He brought a lot of people together.
“He didn’t suffer fools. But there was an honesty about him and I think that’s what came across to people was his humility, his working class background and the fact that he could very much relate to people.”
Houghton said he had many fond memories of Charlton.
“Very few people in my life have called me ‘Raymond’. But he was one of the few.
“You find with special people, when they enter a room, there could be 300 people chatting in a room, but as soon as they walk in, everybody stops and looks around. He had that gravitas.
“He was a larger than life character and you knew when Jack was in the room. He was someone who would let you know his opinion, but he would listen to people. He was also a really funny man.”
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) yesterday opened a virtual book of condolence where fans can express their sympathies to the family.
FAI president Gerry McAnaney said: “The national outpouring of grief since Jack’s death was announced... has been phenomenal and reflective of the esteem in which Jack was held here in Ireland.”