Time to honour our Jack
PAUL Gascoigne is backing the Mirror’s call to give a posthumous knighthood to the man he called his “second dad” – Jack Charlton.
Gazza, 53, was just 17 years old when he first met the England World Cup ’66 hero at Newcastle United.
Talking exclusively to the Mirror and looking lean and tanned, Gazza said: “I still cannot believe that they did not make him Sir Jack.
“They should have given it to the entire 1966 World Cup team.
“When you saw the end of the game, he was down on his knees, his head in his hands. His country meant so much to him.”
Gazza, worshipped by England fans after Italia 90 when he was arguably the best player on the planet, added: “It is all wrong that he did not get that honour, he was a hero in his time.
“He has been a hero for generations of lads growing up like me.
“The memories I had with him are just incredible, he had a great life. I am afraid we are forgetting our heroes. I know football has changed over the years. But I think so many people still look up to the players from that era.”
Charlton, who died on July 10 from lymphoma, is survived by wife Pat and children John, Deborah and Peter.
He achieved iconic status in the game he loved – first with Leeds United, then with England in 1966 and finally as Republic of Ireland boss. He led them to their first major finals at the 1988 European Championship and also to the
1990 World Cup quarter-finals.
He is the sixth member of England’s World Cup final team to have died after captain Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, Gordon Banks, Alan
Ball and Ray Wilson.
Gazza admits he was “a bit scared” of Big Jack when he first met him at Newcastle because of his fierce reputation as a player. Then a “cocky”, precocious schoolboy, the teenage Gascoigne was a star in the making
Gazza talks to the Mirror
– but was struggling with his weight. He loved chocolate and fish-andchip suppers. “Jack said to me, ‘I hear you are a good player.’ And, of course, I was quite cocky even then and so I said, ‘Yes I am’,” he recalled.
“He said, ‘lose some weight’ – but he helped me to do that. He got coaches to take me for healthy meals at the end of training sessions.
“I went to a local cafe and I would have jacket potatoes, steak.
“I got picked up in the evening and I had to go running. They got Brendan Foster [Olympic distance runner] to train me. Before long, I was captain of the youth team. I scored two in the Youth Cup final – I was buzzing.
“He gave me my first contract, guided me through those early stages of becoming a footballer. He was great for me and you don’t forget people like that.” When he returned from