Died aged 85. England World Cup hero ofcouse and Leeds legend. Also a very good manager for the Republic of Ireland. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53373542
Sad to see Big Jack go, I was hoping we could sign him next season as I'm sure he could still have done a better job than our current CB's Rest in Peace Big Jack
For those of us in our later years, we remember Jack Charlton as a basic but solid player. But for many on here he will be remembered as an international manager who wonderfully over performed for the Republic of Ireland. Older Watford fans will remember his hard well drilled Sheffield Wednesday who competed against Graham Taylor’s first team. And previously his Middlesbrough team. Another great England manager lost by the idiots who overlooked both Charlton and Clough. RIP big Jack
Will always be a hero in Ireland. His impact on the Country as a whole is hard to explain to non Irish folk. He took a no nonsense approach in life and was highly respected for that. He brought our national “soccer” team to heights that are not likely to be seen again. Liked the odd pint too! There is a genuine and deep sadness in Ireland with numerous tributes in the papers and on TV and radio. As strange as it seems, his loss will clearly be felt in England, but the sense of loss here will be on a different scale. Sport has a great way of getting into people’s psyche and, bizarrely, Big Jack, whether intentionally or not, did wonders for Anglo Irish relations. It is a sad day and the end of an era. RIP to an English and Irish legend.
Another of Leeds stalwarts who have passed by the wayside recently with Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry. Uncompromising and no nonsense on and off the pitch. Born in Ashington a mining village and learnt his football with his brother in the narrow alley ways behind the houses. A village that also produced Geordie legend Wor Jackie Milburn and latterly not of the same class Martin Taylor who graced this club for a while and our very own favourite official Michael Oliver. Despite strained relations later on Jack with our kid Bobby the finest central midfielder produced by England: Taking the Republic to two World Cup finals is no doubt the reason he is loved so much in the Emerald Isle after having failed to qualify for every previous tournament by blending in experience with Frank Stapleton and Kevin Moran with the 'foreign' legion like Ray Houghton and David O'Leary. One has to wonder again whether the dementia he suffered from is a result of his profession or age. It is a demeaning disease in all it's various pathologies. https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ger-honorary-irishman-italia-90-a9613741.html
Brother Bobby has been in the wars, health-wise, I think over the past decade or so, too. He has had a "Parkinson's like" shaking for some time. Condolences and best wishes Bobby.
The 'Jack Charlton- the Irish years' documentary is well worth a watch on YouTube. A great character and gent.
It might be an urban legend or have been exaggerated over the years but hey ! it doesn't matter as far as I am concerned it is true ..... the story of Jack asking what the commotion was outside the England changing room after the '66 match . When told that the Argentinians are trying to get in to fight , Jack is reported to have said "let them in !!!"
Finding Jack Charlton will be coming to the BBC in the near future after having been released on DVD and blu ray last November. It focuses on the last year of his life and his battle with dementia and covering his career. It certainly is a moving testament to a wonderful character full of the right stuff.
It is now on iPlayer and well worth a watch. A down at earth man of the people from walking with miners to various social causes. Looked after Paul McGrath as GT did at the Villa. Honest, forthright and blunt something many people do not like even to the extent of being so at a schoolboys training session somewhere in Ireland post 1990. Of course it features his time at Ireland heavily and how the exploits of the national side raised smiles and hope for the future in what was still very much a time of tension in the island north of the border. How the tricolore was reclaimed from the IRA. And then there is the relationship with his younger brother, family the importance of creating memories for the future as many still do in the emerald isle of those happy days and his wife watching him slip away with dementia. It was poignant, with great editing and very reflective. Well worth watching. Statue at Cork airport:
I was concerned from seeing the trailer that it might have been a bit voyeuristic and intrusive to see a man we remember well in the throes of dementia, but if you say it’s not I shall give it a watch.
It is done with sensitivity WWTW. No voyeurism just simple reflection from his wife and the tight bond they share. I knew of the player and his time with England and Leeds and the Boro and as a child then teenager watching Ireland in the World Cups of 1990 & 1994. But no more than that. This programme, the anecdotes of former players, supporters and the man himself have shown what a genuine, humble and lovely man he was. Actually I was very sad at the end. His character being much like our own GT. Never forgot his roots and his emphasis on family and the source of the dispute with our kid extended to team mates, the players he managed and supporters. Some Irish fans related when he passed it felt like they had lost a grandfather and in the case of his players like Paul McGrath a father figure. It does make you wonder why although I intensely dislike the honours system why was he not knighted ? Because of his honesty ? Like Clough ? Tendered his name for the England job and did not even receive a reply back from the FA. And it highlights how teams sports can unite a nation. Ireland has a two thousand year history often filled with warfare as most other nations but also some nasty periods from those who came to those shores from the Normans, Cromwell, the Pale and the repercussions of the Easter Rising. Young people were emigrating in their droves, there was an atmosphere of gloom as narrated by the people interviewed and the success including against England gave people pride and joy. Memories that last a lifetime of sheer exultation. And the irony being of course that dementia robbed the man who helped create those of his own memories of that time even as he looks at a tablet on which his lovely wife Cissie is trying to get him to recollect. The Irish in England have been treated badly for a long while (no blacks, no dogs and no Irish )despite their enormous role in building the nations infrastructure and when you look at surnames particularly in certain areas of the country they more than not often have Irish descent. Or regarded as being dumb labourers when Ireland has produced from the earliest times some of the greatest literary figures in history. Jack mentioned something about his own family history and Charltons were the English reivers (robbers) in the lawless borderlands along with other families like the Armstrongs and Milburns. Charlton meaning free peasant. Often retreating to their Peel towers when threatened until the reign of James I and VI of England and Scotland. He was very interested in all sorts of things like this and good causes. His managerial maxims which he wrote out on pieces of scrap paper and collected by his son are full of the common sense and decency which he exhibited to others. As I said before a lovely, lovely man and legend on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Jack was a bit before my time as a player but I remember his fantastic time as Ireland manager. He was definitely old school. He was down to earth, fiercely competitive and totally supportive of his players. It's a great watch for any football fan imo but his dementia and lack of relationship with Bobby towards the end is sad.
