He knew he was hugely lucky to be a footballer

I FIRST met Jack Charlton when I was 15 during work experience with my local newspaper.

It was the early 80s, and he was filming his TV series Play Soccer – Jack Charlton’s Way.

On a windswept football field in Gateshead, he was in full flow with a group of young hopefuls.

Young and keen, I had the temerity to ask if he was about to take the Newcastle United job.

His response was quick and to the point, and can’t be quoted here due to its earthy content.

Big Jack had spent some time down the pit alongside his dad when he was just 15, younger than some of the kids he was coaching.

He never forgot just how lucky he was to become a footballer. When we met again, years later, he was friendly, down-to-earth, and ready with that famous sense of humour. But he was rightly furious when England lost out on hosting the 2018 World Cup. Storming out of a 2010 reception held on the day Fifa chiefs gave the tournament to Russia, he told me: “I’m upset like everyone else at the way this whole thing’s been run.

“You know exactly what I mean by that.”

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Jack wore his heart on his sleeve, which is why he was loved by millions of football fans around the world, most especially in Ireland.

He was adopted as their countryman after guiding them to the 1990 World Cup quarter finals.

Even the Pope called him “Boss” during a Vatican audience with the Ireland team – during which Big Jack fell asleep.

When he turned 80, little more than five years ago, he told me how he loved to read the Mirror, usually with a cuppa.

He enjoyed a birthday cake with Sir Bobby Robson’s son, Paul.

“It was a lovely surprise to get a cake and to see Lady Elsie again,” he said. He worked for the Bobby Robson Foundation, as he did for so many good causes, quietly, behind the scenes. Big Jack loved fishing, watching football, reading Mirror sport – and seeing his beloved family. He was a legend of the game yet never forgot his roots.

As his family said, he brought pleasure to so many people in different countries, and from all walks of life.