He survived the plane crash that massacred his generation on an icy Munich race track in the winter of 1958. Manchester United, the first British team to win the European Cup, was re-founded around him in 1968. Along the way he was England’s driver during the 1966 World Cup until the final at Wembley Stadium. There is no holier moment in the memory of football in the Isles and Charlton plays the role of high priest in it. He was the indispensable footballer in each of his teams. The one who had everything. The Englishman most respected by Pelé, Puskas and Di Stéfano at the dawn of professional football, as rich in folkloric myths as in empty institutions. Not only did Charlton win the Ballon d’Or, he also elevated his football above any anecdote. His uneven blonde curls, waving like a flag of disorder on his sparse skull, signaled his dominant, punctual, poised and harmonious presence, always powerful wherever the piece needed it. He mastered space, the art of the pass. His family announced his death “in the early hours of this Saturday.” He was 86 years old.
“Words will never be enough,” reads United’s message on official social media. His status as a life member of the club’s board matched his status as a standout legend at Old Trafford. The bow spur was his.
Sir Bobby Charlton CBE, 1937-2023.
Words will never be enough.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2023
Dressed in a blue wool suit, he went like an admiral to the infallible stadium as long as his health permitted. The crowd let him pass like an anonymous passerby. Very few dared to interrupt him. Even in a hurricane, he didn’t lose his mucus. Until a few years ago, when his memory began to fail, he served as an advisor to the board. His vote, along with that of Alex Ferguson, served to give meaning to the strategies of the institution with the most supporters in the Premier. It may not be a coincidence. When Charlton stopped influencing decisions, new signings like Jose Mourinho arrived and United lost direction, which they are still trying to recover from.
He was born in Ashington, Northumbria, in the dreariest and rainiest corner of England. Cradle of some of football’s most loyal fans. From his mother’s family tree came the Milburns: Jack, George, Jim and Stan. A constellation of figures from Leeds, Leicester and Chesterfield. In the family’s entourage, his brother, Jack Charlton, was an outstanding Leeds player and he would certainly have gone to the northern club if not for the persistence of a United scout who eventually convinced his mother to let him go when he was 16 years old . This ended the electrical engineer’s career and began that of the football player.
Eight of his colleagues died in the plane crash in Munich. He recovered from his injuries in time to compete in the World Cup in Brazil a few months later. He played 758 games for United, a record only bettered by Ryan Giggs a decade ago. He scored 249 goals for the red-shirted club and was the top scorer in England’s history with 49 goals until Wayne Rooney surpassed him in 2015.
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