‘Tight Jack’ tactics
STAR POSED AS GAY PAL TO GET DRINKS
JACK Charlton was so skint in his early career he would pretend to be gay to entice men to buy him booze.
The 1966 World Cup winner, who died on Friday aged 85, would hang out in gay bars to drink for free, despite having two girlfriends at the time.
It happened while Jack was stationed in Windsor, Berks, during his National Service. In his 1997 autobiography, the ex-republic of Ireland boss wrote about the money-saving tricks he used in the Army in 1953-55.
Jack would “scam” expenses from the Army and his club Leeds
United, “became a money lender” and “exploited” homosexuals “to a degree that was criminal at times”. He wrote: “I met plenty of girls there, too.
“I had a girlfriend in Slough and a girlfriend in Maidenhead. Windsor was full of gays.
“Soldiers would go off with businessmen and we used to exploit this to a degree that was criminal at times. We used to go to a certain pub where they would buy you drinks. They would become very friendly at closing time, but we’d just say: ‘Well, thanks very much, see you now.’”.