Jack Charlton: one of England and Ireland’s great football characters

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Jack Charlton celebrates with the Jules Rimet trophy following England’s 1966 World Cup final triumph Tall, bony and unremittingly hard, Charlton was a natural centre-half, commanding in the air and not as clumsy with the ball at his feet as his ungainly gait implied. open image in gallery Charlton was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association in 1967 That Leeds team, in which midfielders Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles were the star performers, was a classic fusion of bone-crunching aggression and silky skill, and really they should have picked up even more honours than they did. In 1965 Charlton had been called to his country’s colours for the first time, he and Bobby becoming the first pair of brothers to play together for England in the twentieth century. It was during this tournament that the Irish contingent was presented to the Pope, His Holiness John Paul II greeting Charlton with: “I know who you are, you’re the Boss!” The Republic failed to reach the European Championship finals of 1992, but bounced back by qualifying for USA 94, which they commenced with a stirring 1-0 triumph over Italy, one of the strongest teams and the eventual runners-up.