Route of cortege will include home town to allow fans’ tribute
him as a World Cup winner, in that great Leeds United side or as the Republic of Ireland’s manager. The last of those wasn’t just about football. Niall Quinn says it kick-started the peace process as people in Ireland looked beyond the Troubles. It brought them so much joy.
“We are so lucky as a family. Dad’s grandkids will always be able to look at all the photos of him, see the TV coverage and read the reports of what he did. Not many people have that.”
As Jack’s children sat at his bedside in his final hours, they remarked how little he had changed down the years.
They still saw a towering figure whose mischievous smile won him an army of fans. “He didn’t look that different from his 20s,” added John, who runs Charlton’s Bar in Cambois, near where his dad had been born and brought up.
“People would run to meet him abroad. They’d recognise him everywhere.
“He never refused an autograph and would always stop for a chat. Even in the last six months people would put babies
ACTION Mirror campaign in his arms and he posed for photos with kids who had no idea who he was when their parents asked.
“He made so many people happy. What made him special was that he did the very best with what he had. There was something in his nature that just made him a very likeable character.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by tributes from people not just in this country and Ireland but around the world.”
Jack came from a family deeply rooted in football – the Milburns. Three were also called Jack. His great-great-grandfather was known as Warhorse due to his tough style of play and his mother Cissie’s dad was a goalkeeper nicknamed Tanner who served in the First World War.
Newcastle United and England legend Jackie Milburn was her cousin. The Mirror was given access to the family archives by Cissie’s biographer Vince Gledhill.
Jack, who in his final years had lymphoma and struggled with dementia, is the sixth member of England’s World Cup-winning team to die after captain Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, Gordon Banks, Alan Ball and Ray Wilson.
Brother Bobby, 15, in England boys cap