Jack Charlton

John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a centre-back for Leeds United. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 1996, taking them to two World Cups and one European Championship. He was given Irish citizenship in 1996. He was the elder brother of Manchester United forward Bobby Charlton and one of his teammates in England's World Cup final victory.

Charlton spent his entire club career with Leeds United from 1950 to 1973, helping the club to the Second Division title (1963–64), First Division title (1968–69), FA Cup (1972), League Cup (1968), Charity Shield (1969), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1968 and 1971), as well as one other promotion from the Second Division (1955–56) and five second-place finishes in the First Division, two FA Cup final defeats and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final defeat. His 629 league and 762 total competitive appearances are club records. In 2006, Leeds United supporters voted Charlton into the club's greatest XI.

Called up to the England team days before his 30th birthday, Charlton went on to score six goals in 35 international games and to appear in two World Cups and one European Championship. He played in the World Cup final victory over West Germany in 1966 and helped England finish third in Euro 1968 and win four British Home Championship tournaments. He was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 1967.

After retiring as a player, Charlton worked as a manager. He led Middlesbrough to the Second Division title in 1973–74, winning the Manager of the Year award in his first season as a manager. He kept Boro as a stable top-flight club before he resigned in April 1977. He took charge of Sheffield Wednesday in October 1977 and led the club to promotion out of the Third Division in 1979–80. He left the Owls in May 1983 and served Middlesbrough as caretaker-manager at the end of the 1983–84 season. He worked as Newcastle United manager for the 1984–85 season. He took charge of the Republic of Ireland national team in February 1986 and led them to their first World Cup in 1990, where they reached the quarter-finals. He also led the nation to successful qualification to Euro 1988 and the 1994 World Cup. He resigned in January 1996 and retired. He was married to Pat Kemp, and they had three children.

Early life

Born into a footballing family in Ashington, Northumberland, on 8 May 1935, Charlton was initially overshadowed by his younger brother Bobby, who was taken on by Manchester United while Jack was doing his national service with the Household Cavalry. His uncles were Jack Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford City), George Milburn (Leeds United and Chesterfield), Jim Milburn (Leeds United and Bradford Park Avenue) and Stan Milburn (Chesterfield, Leicester City and Rochdale), and legendary Newcastle United and England footballer Jackie Milburn was his mother's cousin.

The economy of the village of Ashington was based entirely on coal mining, and though his family had a strong footballing pedigree, his father was a miner. His father, Bob, had no interest in football, but his mother, Cissie, played football with her children and later coached the local school's team. As a teenager, she took them to watch Ashington and Newcastle United play, and Charlton remained a lifelong Newcastle supporter.

At the age of 15, he was offered a trial at Leeds United, where his uncle Jim played at left-back, but turned it down and instead joined his father in the mines. He worked in the mines for a short time but handed in his notice after finding out just how difficult and unpleasant it was to work deep underground. He applied to join the police and reconsidered the offer from Leeds United. His trial game for Leeds clashed with his police interview, and Charlton chose to play in the game; the trial was a success and he joined the ground staff at Elland Road.

The build up to Euro 1988 in West Germany was far from ideal, as key player Mark Lawrenson was forced to retire after injuring his Achilles tendon, Liam Brady picked up a serious knee injury and Mark Kelly was also injured. The first match of the tournament was against England at the Neckarstadion, and Charlton reasoned that the threat posed by English wingers Chris Waddle and John Barnes could be nullified by allowing the English defence to feel comfortable on the ball without allowing them a pass; this made the build-up play slow and containable. His game-plan worked and Ireland claimed a 1–0 win after Ray Houghton secured an early lead. He then compensated for a series of injuries by playing Ronnie Whelan and Kevin Sheedy in central midfield, and was rewarded with a great performance and a good point in a 1–1 draw with the Soviet Union at the Niedersachsenstadion, Whelan scoring the goal. To qualify they only needed a point against the Netherlands at the Parkstadion, and Charlton devised a time-wasting plan with goalkeeper Packie Bonner that he was forced to abandon after referee Horst Brummeier was less than impressed. Ireland lost the game 1–0 after Wim Kieft scored an 82nd-minute goal.

1990 World Cup

Qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy required Charlton to mastermind a top two finish in a group consisting of Spain, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Malta. The campaign started on hostile ground at Belfast's Windsor Park, and he had stand-in goalkeeper Gerry Peyton to thank for the point gained from a goalless draw with Northern Ireland. A series of injuries left only a skeleton squad to face Spain at the Estadio Benito Villamarín, leaving a recall for defender David O'Leary, and Ireland were beaten 2–0. They then left Budapest's Népstadion with a point from another goalless draw. However, they were criticised for not taking all two points after dominating the game. Qualification for Ireland's first World Cup was assured at the Ta' Qali National Stadium after John Aldridge scored both goals in another 2–0 victory.

Ireland's group opponents in Italia '90 were England, Egypt and the Netherlands. Charlton felt that England's four-man midfield of Waddle, Barnes, Bryan Robson and Paul Gascoigne did not offer enough protection to the back four, and he was proved correct when Kevin Sheedy cancelled out Gary Lineker's opener to secure a 1–1 draw in the group opener at the Stadio Sant'Elia. A poor performance against a negative Egyptian side at the Stadio La Favorita meant that neither side scored a goal in a dour draw. They ended the group with a 1–1 draw with the Dutch, Niall Quinn cancelling out Ruud Gullit's opener in the 71st minute, after which both sides settled for a stalemate as a draw meant that both qualified ahead of Egypt. Ireland then defeated Romania in the Second Round match at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris which went to penalties after a 0–0 draw, before the whole team had a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.

One of the most iconic moments from Ireland's unexpected success in Italia 90, (the 1990 FIFA World Cup), took place at Walkinstown roundabout, Dublin on 25 June 1990 after Ireland beat Romania on penalties. Crowds emerged from the nearby public houses of the Kestrel and Cherry Tree and invaded the roundabout to celebrate the win. Amateur footage of the joyous scenes became synonymous with Ireland's success that year and epitomised the sense of hope which prevailed throughout the country, especially after a decade of economic recession. After Charlton died in 2020, fans gathered at the roundabout to recreate the moment and pay their respects to the past manager.

Ireland eventually went out to the host country, Italy, 1–0 in the quarter-finals at the Stadio Olimpico. A lapse of concentration meant that Italy's Salvatore Schillaci scored on 38 minutes. Ireland failed to build up enough chances to find the equalising goal. After returning to Dublin, over 500,000 people turned out to welcome the team back.

Euro 1992 qualifying

Qualification for Euro 1992 in Sweden left Ireland facing a group of England, Poland and Turkey. They opened in style with a 5–0 home win over the Turks and then drew 1–1 home and away with the English; Ireland were the better team than England in both encounters, and Charlton said that they "twice let them off the hook" after Houghton missed easy chances in both games. A 0–0 draw at home with Poland followed, and they were then leading 3–1 in the return fixture in Poznań but conceded two late goals to end the match at 3–3. Ireland beat Turkey 3–1 in Istanbul despite the intimidating atmosphere of the İnönü Stadium, but were denied a place in the tournament as England scored a late equalizing goal in Poland to secure the point that would take them above Ireland in the group.

1994 World Cup

To qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Ireland had to finish first or second in a seven-team group of Spain, European champions Denmark, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Albania. Lithuania, Latvia, and Albania proved to be little threat to the Irish, and both home and away matches against these three teams earned Ireland the maximum of two points. The two most difficult fixtures – Denmark and Spain away – ended in goalless draws. John Aldridge had a goal disallowed for offside against the Spanish which even Spain manager Javier Clemente said should have stood. Ireland then beat Northern Ireland 3–0 at home before settling for a 1–1 draw with Denmark. The final game was in Belfast against Northern Ireland during a tense period of The Troubles. When Quinn scored Northern Ireland assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl shouted "Up yours!" to his counterpart Maurice Setters (Charlton's assistant); in response to this Charlton approached Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham at the final whistle and told him "Up yours too, Billy". He scheduled difficult matches before the tournament and Ireland picked up positive results by beating both the Netherlands and Germany away from home. Ireland opened the group stage of the tournament by beating Italy 1–0 at the Giants Stadium, Ray Houghton scoring the winning goal on 11 minutes. They then fell to a 2–1 defeat to Mexico at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, during which Charlton had a pitch-side argument with an official who was preventing substitute John Aldridge (who went on to score the consolation goal) from taking the pitch minutes after his teammate Tommy Coyne had left the pitch and sat down on the bench. For his arguing, Charlton was suspended by FIFA for the final group game against Norway, and had to watch from the commentary box as Ireland qualified with a 0–0 draw. They faced the Netherlands in the Round of 16; Dennis Bergkamp put the Dutch ahead on 11 minutes after Marc Overmars took advantage of a mistake by Terry Phelan, and Wim Jonk scored the second and final goal of the game from 30 yards after Packie Bonner fluffed an otherwise routine save. For his achievements Charlton was awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1994 by Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Giolla, the first Englishman to be given the honour since 1854.

Euro 1996 qualifying

Ireland failed to qualify for Euro 1996 in England, despite a strong start to the group, when they won their opening three games, including a 4–0 win against Northern Ireland. The Republic's next game was also against Northern Ireland, although the result was a 1–1 draw. From that point onwards, the Republic stuttered badly as injuries struck down key players Roy Keane, Andy Townsend, John Sheridan and Steve Staunton. After beating the highly fancied Portugal, the Irish then endured an embarrassing 0–0 draw to Liechtenstein (this was Liechtenstein's only point in their ten matches), before losing twice to Austria, on both occasions by three goals to one. Although they defeated Latvia, Ireland needed to beat Portugal in Lisbon to qualify outright but lost 3–0. They finished second in the group, ahead of Northern Ireland on goal difference, but as the worst performing runners-up they had to win a play-off game at Anfield against the Netherlands; Ireland lost 2–0 after a brace from Patrick Kluivert. Charlton resigned shortly after the game.

Personal life

Charlton married Pat Kemp on 6 January 1958, and his brother Bobby acted as his best man. Charlton was a keen amateur fisherman and took part in field sports. Politically, Charlton was a socialist. He was a founding supporter of the Anti-Nazi League. Along with his wife, he was a supporter of the UK miners' strike of 1984-85, and lent two of his cars to striking miners for travelling to pickets. He appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1972 and 1996, and chose to take with him The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the Encyclopaedia of How to Survive, a spyglass, and a fishing rod. Charlton was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1973 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1974 Birthday Honours. In 1994, he was made a Freeman of the city of Dublin, and was given an Honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by the University of Limerick on 9 September 1994. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad in 2020. In 1997, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Northumberland. There is a life-size statue of him at Cork Airport in Ireland, representing him sitting in his fishing gear and displaying a salmon. On 4 December 2019, he was made a Freeman of the City of Leeds along with the other members of the Revie team of the 1960s and 1970s but was unable to attend the ceremony.

He revealed in his 1996 autobiography that he had a strained relationship with his brother Bobby. Jack felt Bobby began to drift away from the Charlton family following his marriage to Norma, who did not get along with their mother. Bobby did not see his mother after 1992 until her death on 25 March 1996 as a result of the feud, though he and Norma did attend her funeral. Though the two brothers remained distant, Jack presented Bobby with his BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 December 2008.

Death

Charlton died at his home in Ashington Northumberland on 10 July 2020 at the age of 85 after suffering from lymphoma and dementia. The following day his former club Leeds United won 1–0 over Swansea City with a last-minute winner; the goalscorer, Pablo Hernández, dedicated his goal to Charlton.

On 20 July, ten days after his death, Irish fans gathered at Walkinstown roundabout in Dublin to recreate the highwater mark of Ireland's success at the 1990 World Cup under Charlton and to pay their respects. "Put 'Em Under Pressure", the official song of the Republic of Ireland national football team's 1990 campaign (which features soundbites of Charlton uttering the eponymous phrase), was played at 12:30 pm synchronously with all national radio stations to remember the man who had led Ireland to their first-ever major tournament at Euro 88, as well as two World Cups in Italy (1990) and USA (1994).

!rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|FA Cup

!colspan="2"|Europe

!colspan="2"|Total

!Division!!!!Goals!!!!Goals!!!!Goals!!!!Goals

|rowspan="21"|Leeds United||1952–53||Second Division||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||1||0

|1953–54||Second Division||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0

|1954–55||Second Division||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||1||0

|1955–56||Second Division||34||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||34||0

|1956–57||First Division||21||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||22||0

|1957–58||First Division||40||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||41||0

|1958–59||First Division||39||1||1||0||colspan="2"|—||40||1

|1959–60||First Division||41||3||1||0||colspan="2"|—||42||3

|1960–61||Second Division||41||7||4||1||colspan="2"|—||45||8

|1961–62||Second Division||34||9||5||3||colspan="2"|—||39||12

|1962–63||Second Division||38||2||4||2||colspan="2"|—||42||4

|1963–64||Second Division||25||3||2||0||colspan="2"|—||27||3

|1964–65||First Division||39||9||10||1||colspan="2"|—||49||10

|1965–66||First Division||40||6||3||0||11||2||54||8

|1966–67||First Division||28||5||10||2||7||0||45||7

|1967–68||First Division||34||5||9||2||11||1||54||8

|1968–69||First Division||41||3||4||0||7||4||52||7

|1969–70||First Division||32||3||11||2||10||3||53||8

|1970–71||First Division||41||6||5||0||0||0||46||6

|1971–72||First Division||41||5||9||1||0||0||50||6

|1972–73||First Division||18||3||5||1||2||0||25||4

!colspan="3"|Career total

!629!!70!!85!!15!!48!!10!!762!!95

International

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year

!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals

|rowspan="6"|England

|1965||9||0

|1966||16||3

|1967||2||1

|1968||1||0

|1969||5||2

|1970||2||0

!colspan="2"|Total!!35!!6

:Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Charlton goal.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Jack Charlton

!scope="col"|

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

| align="center"|1 || 26 June 1966 || Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland || || align="center"|3–0 || align="center"|3–0 || Friendly

| align="center"|2 || 3 July 1966 || Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|2–0 || Friendly

| align="center"|3 || 16 November 1966 || Wembley Stadium, London, England || || align="center"|5–1 || align="center"|5–1 || 1966–67 British Home Championship

| align="center"|4 || 15 April 1967 || Wembley Stadium, London, England || || align="center"|1–2 || align="center"|2–3 || 1966–67 British Home Championship

| align="center"|5 || 15 January 1969 || Wembley Stadium, London, England || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–1 || Friendly

| align="center"|6 || 10 December 1969 || Wembley Stadium, London, England || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–0 || Friendly

As a manager

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|+Jack Charlton managing statistics

!scope="col" rowspan="2"|Team

!scope="col" rowspan="2"|From

!scope="col" rowspan="2"|To

!scope="col" colspan="5"|Record

!scope="col" |

| align="left" |Middlesbrough

| align="left" |7 May 1973

|align=left|21 April 1977

| align="left" |Sheffield Wednesday

| align="left" |8 October 1977

|align=left|27 May 1983

| align="left" |Middlesbrough (caretaker)

| align="left" |28 March 1984

|align=left|2 June 1984

| align="left" |Newcastle United

| align="left" |14 June 1984

|align=left|13 August 1985

| align="left" |Republic of Ireland

| align="left" |7 February 1986

|align=left|21 January 1996

!colspan="3"|Total

Honours

Player

Leeds United

Football League First Division: 1968–69 1969–70
Football League Cup: 1967–68
UEFA European Championship third place: 1968 1967
FWA Footballer of the Year: 1967

Manager

Middlesbrough

Football League Second Division: 1973–74