Manchester United legend and England’s world champion Bobby Charlton has passed away

Former football player and coach, born in Ashington in 1937 He played 758 games with the ‘Red Devils’ over 17 seasons (a record until Ryan Giggs surpassed this).He scored 249 goals (also a record until broken by Wayne Rooney).

As a United player, he won one European Cup, three League titles and the FA Cup. As an England national team, he played 106 matches and scored 49 goals, winning the 1966 World Cup, the only trophy for the three Lions teams. He was selected for Ballon d’Or that year.

Charlton, who made his debut for United in 1956, was one of the few survivors of the 1958 air tragedy when the English team’s plane crashed. Munich and cost the lives of eight of his friends.

Manchester United announced the death in the afternoon after the family announced it occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning. ‘Words will never be enough,’ the club’s message reads. It goes something like this: There will never be enough words. Neither to express the pain of his death nor to praise the impressive career of the iconic actor.

Charlton played a key role in England’s World Cup victory alongside his older brother Jack, who died in July 2020. At the age of 28, he started all six of his team’s matches at the World Cup, scoring three goals, including two in the semi-final victory over Portugal. Charlton also played in the 1962 and 1970 World Cups and was a member of the team in the 1958 finals.

When Charlton retired from international football in 1970, his 106 appearances were an England record. This puts him seventh on the country’s current list, with Peter Shilton ranked 125th.

Before the infamous plane crash that would mark the rest of his life, he made the disastrous return flight to Munich after scoring twice in a 3-3 draw against Red Star Belgrade in February 1958. Charlton, then 20, suffered relatively minor injuries in the crash that killed 23 people, including eight of his team-mates, and was back on the field within a month.

Tribune in his honor

Charlton won the First Division title in 1957, won it twice more in 1965 and 1967 and won the FA Cup in 1963. The most important moment of his career at the club has arrived He captained United in 1968, scoring twice against Benfica in the European Cup final.

After leaving United in May 1973, Charlton managed and played for Preston North End and had a spell in Ireland with Waterford United. He later became manager and caretaker manager of Wigan Athletic. Manchester United appointed him as manager in 1984 and announced in February 2016 that they would name the South Stand after him. He was also called sir.

In November 2020, Charlton’s wife, Lady Norma Charlton, announced that he had been diagnosed. dementia.