Bobby Charlton, a legend of England and Manchester United soccer, passes away at age 86

Bobby Charlton, a legend of England and Manchester United soccer, passes away at age 86
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Bobby Charlton, an English soccer legend who was the driving force behind his nation’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, has passed away. Charlton survived a plane disaster that destroyed a Manchester United team that was destined for glory. He was 86.

According to a statement from Charlton’s family made public by United, he passed away on Saturday surrounded by his loved ones.

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Charlton, a wildly talented midfielder with a fierce shot, led United (249 goals) and England (49 goals) in goals scored for more than 40 years before Wayne Rooney passed him.

In addition to Manchester and the United Kingdom, Sir Bobby was revered anywhere football is played, according to United.

Sir Bobby will always be regarded as a giant of the game because of his exceptional abilities as a football player as well as his sportsmanship and honesty.

Prior to Charlton’s passing, United’s manager from 1986 to 2013 Alex Ferguson declared that Charlton “is the greatest Manchester United player of all time — and that’s saying something.”

Bobby Charlton is truly without comparison in the history of the English game, according to Ferguson.

In addition, Charlton was well known for his sportsmanship, discipline, and humility. In 758 appearances for United from 1956 to 1973 or 106 international matches for England from 1958 to 1970, he was never sent off.

After surviving the 1958 Munich disaster that killed the renowned “Busby Babes” team, Charlton joined George Best and Denis Law in the so-called “Trinity” that guided United to the 1968 European Cup. He won one FA Cup and three English league championships while at United.

Another survivor of the Munich plane tragedy, former United defender Bill Foulkes, described him as having “an unparalleled combination of grace, power, and precision for a footballer.”

It everything came together to create greatness and something else, which I can only describe as beauty.

For 45 years, Charlton held the scoring record for England. Rooney broke it in September 2015 with his 50th goal for the country. In the 1966 World Cup, where Charlton played every minute for the squad and shone out particularly when he scored twice against Portugal to bring England to a first-ever major final, three of his England goals were scored.

In the final, England defeated West Germany 4-2 after extra time.

Despite the fact that Ryan Giggs surpassed Charlton’s United appearance mark in 2008, his scoring streak lasted another nine years. Rooney didn’t score his 250th goal for United until 2017, 44 years after Charlton was last seen donning the illustrious red jersey of England’s most successful club.

Following his retirement in 1973, Charlton entered the coaching field and established a youth program that featured future United and England great David Beckham among its players.

Charlton returned to United in 1984 as a director after brief stints as manager of Preston, Wigan, and Irish club Waterford. In 1986, he convinced the board to appoint Ferguson, who led the club to 38 titles over nearly 27 years.

In addition to appearing with Best and Law on a statue outside Manchester United’s stadium, Charlton, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994, continues to be a regular at Old Trafford.

Since Charlton’s style and manner transcended the tribalism of club and international football, he was able to sidestep the problems and distractions that destroyed Best’s career.

In a 2001 magazine interview, the late Best observed, “I felt he could be a bit aloof.” “We never got into arguments; we just didn’t go out for a pint together.”

Robert Charlton was born on October 11, 1937, in the northeastern English coal mining town of Ashington, and his skill was evident at a young age.

When Bobby was around 5 years old, his older brother Jack, who starred for Leeds and shared the World Cup with him, remarked, “We realized he was going to be a bit special as a player.” “He was always kicking a football or tennis ball against a wall, and when it bounced back, it stuck to him like a magnet.”

In a 2007 essay, Charlton detailed how his family would occasionally eat salmon or rabbit that had been illegally caught, while his father, Robert, collected coal that had washed up on nearby beaches and sold it to supplement the family’s income.

Due to his father’s dedication to his mining coworkers, he was unable to watch Charlton score both goals over Portugal during that World Cup semifinal in 1966 because he didn’t want someone else to fill in for him in the pit. However, the Charlton brothers’ lifting of the trophy convinced him to go to the final.

After dropping out of school at age 15, Charlton began his playing career far from home in Manchester. Three years later, in 1956, he made his United debut against Charlton.

The close-knit team of United players, whose bond was developed while they were trainees in difficult circumstances, was tragically hit within two years. After beating Red Star Belgrade to go to the European Cup semifinals, the team was still celebrating when their jet caught fire during its third attempt to take off in thick snow following a refueling stop in Germany.

With only minor head injuries, Charlton miraculously made it out of the burning debris and made his way through it to assist the surviving. Charlton hurried to aid the father figure who had elevated him to the first team after spotting manager Matt Busby writhing in pain on the smoke-shrouded runway.

However, eight of the “Busby Babes” team’s promising young players were among the 21 fatalities. Among them was Duncan Edwards, a 21-year-old player regarded as one of England’s most gifted.

In 2007, Charlton said, “Sometimes it engulfs me with immense rage, regret, despair, and shame that I walked away and found so much.

Charlton returned to action less than four weeks after the Munich massacre and assisted a hastily put-together side of survivors and stand-ins in making it to that season’s FA Cup final. Charlton felt motivated by a lingering commitment to protect the memories of the Munich dead.

The English league championships in 1965 and 1967 were added to the 1957 triumph by Busby, who reconstructed his team around Charlton.

“There was always one great hope—the return to greatness of my beloved club,” Charlton stated.

His club career’s biggest victory came in 1968 when United became the first English club to win the European championship. In a 4-1 victory after extra time over a Benfica squad that included Eusebio, Charlton scored twice.

But Charlton’s association with the World Cup-winning England side may be what makes him most well-known. It is still the only major soccer championship won by England.

Jack’s public claim that Bobby’s wife was the reason he lost contact with his mother sparked a rift between Charlton and his brother. At the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, Jack gave Bobby a lifetime achievement trophy after the two had made amends.

Bobby Charlton said, “Throughout that time I did not lose the sense of wonder as well as gratitude that we were close in 1966 on one of the greatest days in the history of our country’s sport. We have had our public conflicts, proving that any family conflict can sometimes interfere with the force of love and blood.

It was revealed in November 2020 that Charlton had dementia, the same condition that also affected his brother, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 85, and Nobby Stiles, another World Cup champion.

After learning of Charlton’s diagnosis, United attacker Marcus Rashford said of him, “This man, from the very beginning, was everything I wanted to be.” “Gentle, competent, professional, and talented.”

His two daughters as well as his wife, Norma, whom he wed in 1961, survived him.

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