Jack Charlton, 1935-2020

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the one hand, and the Republic of Ireland on the other, agree on very little. Indeed, they seem to enjoy arguing with each other. One thing they do agree on is that Jack Charlton was a legend -- for each of them.

John Charlton (no middle name) was born on May 8, 1935, in Ashington, Northumberland, in the North-East of England. He was born into quite the footballing family. His younger brother Bobby Charlton went on to become one of England's most honored players, even more so than he.

His uncles on his mother's side included the brothers Jack, George, Jim and Stan Milburn. Another brother, Alec, didn't play professionally, but became the father of Jackie Milburn, who starred as a forward for Newcastle United in the 1940s and '50s, and might still be the team's all-time most popular player.

As with so many families all over the world, sport offered a way out of poverty. The North of England was dominated by coal mining, and his father, Bob, was a miner, with no interest in football. It was his mother, Cissie, who played with the boys, and coached a local schools team. It was less than 20 miles to the south to watch Newcastle United, including cousin Jackie, play at St. James' Park, and the entire family remains Newcastle fans to this day.

"This part of the world produced its fair share of footballers," Jack Charlton would later say, "and nobody was particularly impressed if a lad went away to play professional football. In fact, we never used to say, 'going away to play football.' We just used to say, 'going away.'"

But it would be West Yorkshire team Leeds United that signed uncle Jim, and offered Jack a trial at age 15. Knowing that footballers were terribly underpaid, and that miners had a strong labor union, Jack went into the mine with his father. He hated it, and asked Leeds if they were still interested. They were.

Cousin Jackie helped Newcastle win the FA Cup in 1951, 1952 and 1955. They've won only 1 major trophy since, the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. But Leeds snapped Jack Charlton up, and Manchester United signed Bobby. Thus was the history of English football changed, because "The Toon" couldn't see that there was a great pair of brothers right in their own backyard.

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Jack made his debut for the first team at Leeds on April 25, 1953. The great Welshman John Charles was capable of playing in central defense and at centre forward, and manager Raich Carter moved him up for the last game of the season, against South Yorkshire team Doncaster Rovers. So Jack was placed at centre half, and Carter told him, "See how fast their centre forward can limp." It was a foreshadowing of the team that would come to be known under the next manager, Don Revie, as "Dirty Leeds." The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

These were the days when Britain still required its young men to do 2 years of National Service, which sometimes allowed them days off if they were professional footballers. This would not be the case for Jack Charlton, who served with the Household Cavalry, and he didn't appear at all in 1953-54, and only once in 1954-55. But he helped Leeds gain promotion to the First Division of the Football League in 1956.

He began to celebrate his success a little too hard, and was dropped from the 1st team in 1957. In 1958, he married Pat Kemp, and this seemed to calm him down, to the point where he regained his place in the side. He and Pat had sons John and Peter, and daughter Deborah. In the off-season, he ran clothing shops in Leeds, and became a renowned fisherman and sport-shooter.

Carter left Leeds in 1958, and the team went into decline. They were relegated to the Second Division in 1960, and were nearly relegated again the next season. Don Revie, a forward who had previously helped Manchester City win the 1956 FA Cup, was named the new manager, and he revolutionized things there. He and Jack didn't get along, and was approached by Liverpool, but they were unwilling to pay the fee of £30,000 that Revie demanded.

Revie began to build a defense around Jack, including fellow centreback Norman Hunter, right back Paul Reaney, left back Rod Johnson, goalkeeper Gary Sprake. In came forwards Jim Storrie and Alan Peacock; and midfielders Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Bobby Collins and Albert Johanneson, a South African who became one of the earliest black players to make a name for himself in England.

Leeds got promoted in 1964. In 1965, they had a "near-miss double," finishing 2nd in the Football League Division One to Bobby Charlton's Manchester United, and losing the FA Cup Final to Liverpool.

Revie would add left back Paul Madeley and midfielders Peter Lorimer and Eddie Gray. Their rough play, and Bremner's willingness to become one of the earliest major European players to dive for penalties, earned them the "Dirty Leeds" tag. But Jack said, "The way we achieved that success made me feel happy."

Leeds won the League Cup in 1968, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League) in 1969 and 1971, the League title in 1969 (and again in 1974, after Jack left), and the FA Cup in 1972. But they also lost several Finals, and blew League titles they chould have won in 1970 and 1971.

"People say Leeds United should have won a lot more," Jack later said, "and maybe we would have won a lot more, if we hadn't been involved in every competition right until the end of each season. I mean, we got used to losing things... Yes, there was a lot of disappointment, but there was a lot of pride too, pride and passion and discipline which kept the Leeds family together when we might have fallen apart."

Along the way, they built rivalries with North London team Arsenal (a rivalry which no longer stands), East Midlands team Derby County (ditto), and Manchester United (which, sparked by the Charlton brothers, lasted until Leeds' 2004 financial meltdown and relegation).

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Unusual for a player of his stature, he didn't receive his 1st national team callup until he was nearly 30 years old. It was even more telling because younger brother Bobby had been called to play for England in the World Cup in 1958, and again in 1962.

But on April 10, 1965, both Jack and Bobby -- as with the Kennedys, Jack being the older brother -- were in the lineup at the old Wembley Stadium in London, to take on Scotland. It was a rough one, as England ended the game down to 9 men due to injuries. Jack assisted Bobby's goal, and it ended 2-2.

Manager Alf Ramsey began pairing Jack in central defense with Bobby Moore, captain of East London team West Ham United, and made Moore the Captain of England. Those two, along with goalkeeper Gordon Banks of Midlands team Leicester City, right back George Cohen of West London team Fulham, and left back Ray Wilson of Liverpool team Everton, were the defense that Ramsey set out in the 1966 World Cup, to be played on home soil. In a warmup for the tournament, England played away to Finland, and Jack got his 1st international goal in a 3-0 win.

In the World Cup's opening match, which is nearly always played by the home team, Uruguay came to play for a draw, and got it: 0-0, England's defense holding. Bobby scored to beat Mexico 2-0 and assisted Roger Hunt to beat France 2-0. England won the Quarterfinal 1-0 over Argentina.

But Jack nearly blew the Semifinal against Portugal, committing a handball to stop Benfica forward José Torres and giving a penalty away. Bobby "spared his brother's blushes," scoring 2 goals to send England to the Final.

And then Jack nearly blew the Final against West Germany. With England leading 2-1 as regulation time wound down, he fouled Uwe Seeler of Hamburg, giving the Germans a free kick which led to a goal by Wolfgang Weber of FC Köln. But Geoff Hurst of West Ham scored twice in overtime -- the controversial winner and the famed goal at the end that made announcer Kenneth Wolstenholme say, "Some fans are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now!" -- and England won, 4-2, and were World Champions.

Jack, left, and Bobby after the Final

In the Home Championship matches the following season, Jack scored against both Wales and Scotland. But later in the Scotland match, he broke his big toe, and Scotland won -- claiming an unofficial "World Championship." (It doesn't work that way: It's not like in boxing, where beating the Champion makes you the Champion.)

Injuries began to pile up, causing Jack to miss games for both Leeds and England. He did provide the only goal, assisted by brother Bobby, in a 1-0 win over Portugal in 1969. He was picked by Ramsey again for the 1970 World Cup, but only got into 1 game, essentially replaced by Brian Labone, the Captain of Everton. England went out in the Quarterfinal against West Germany. On the flight home, Jack, now 35, asked Ramsey not to select him again, and Ramsey agreed.

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The "Dirty Leeds" image still holds for the Yorkshire side of those days, and it wasn't helped when, in an October 1970 TV appearance, Jack said he'd once had a "little black book," containing names of players he'd intended to hurt. The Football Association investigated, and cleared him of wrongdoing. He later admitted that no such book existed, just a list in his head, of players he thought were dirty, and were worthy of hard but fair challenges.

Arsenal edged Leeds for the League title in 1971, and won the FA Cup on an extra time goal by Charlie George, to win The Double. The next season, it was Jack's job to shut Charlie down in the FA Cup Final, and he did, with Allan "Sniffer" Clarke scoring the only goal of the game.

With the 1972 FA Cup

But Jack's career was coming to an end. His injuries got worse, and Gordon McQueen had been signed as his replacement. After the 1973 season, he was given a testimonial match against Glasgow team Celtic.

He was soon hired to manage North Yorkshire team Middlesbrough. He got them promoted to the First Division in 1974, and brought them to midtable respectability. In 1977, he left for South Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday, a once-proud club now in danger of being relegated from the Third Division. He saved them from going down, and got them promoted to the Second Division in 1980, but couldn't quite get them promoted to the First. He resigned after the 1983 season, and late in the following season, he returned to Middlesbrough as a caretaker manager.

Finally, in June 1984, Jack Charlton and Newcastle United got together, as cousin Jackie Milburn talked him into taking the manager's job. But it didn't work out, and he left right before the 1985-86 season began. Jack and The Toon simply weren't meant to be.

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In December 1985, one of England's World Cup heroes was offered the job of managing the national team... of the Republic of Ireland. It is probably for this, not as a player for England or for Leeds, that Jack Charlton is best remembered.

Ireland were a team in transition, with former Arsenal stars Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton, David O'Leary; Liverpool stars Ronnie Whelan, Ray Houghton, David Aldridge and Mark Lawrenson; Kevin Sheedy of Everton; Celtic stars Packie Bonner and Mick McCarthy; Kevin Moran and Paul McGrath of Manchester United; Chris Hughton of North London team Tottenham Hotspur getting older.

But a new generation of players was coming up. Mark Kelly of Hampshire team Portsmouth, Tony Cascarino of South London team Millwall, Denis Irwin of Manchester-area team Oldham Athletic and later Manchester United, Roy Keane of East Midlands team Nottingham Forest and later Manchester United, Andy Townsend of Norfolk team Norwich City, Eddie McGoldrick of South London team Crystal Palace and later Arsenal, and Niall Quinn, who didn't quite make it at Arsenal, but did make it at Manchester City and later at North-East team Sunderland.

Ireland needed only a draw against the Netherlands in their last Group Stage game of Euro 1988 to reach the knockout stage, but lost 1-0 on an 82nd minute goal. They qualified for the 1990 World Cup, and achieved a 1-1 draw with England that felt like a win for the former colony, on Sheedy's equaliser. They also gained draws with Egypt and the Netherlands, qualifying for the knockout stage, and developed a "Cinderella" quality, beating Romania on penalties before losing the Quarterfinal 1-0 to hosts Italy. A crowd of 500,000 welcomed the team back at Dublin Airport.

They failed to qualify for Euro 92, but qualified for the 1994 World Cup in America, including a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland in the qualifiers. They got their revenge over Italy in a Group Stage match at Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. There were 75,338 fans in attendance, but it seemed like every person of Irish and Italian descent in New York and New Jersey was there, yelling like a banshee (or a paisan, as the case may have been). Houghton scored in the 11th minute, and, having listened to their manager, one of the great defenders of his generation, the Boys In Green held on for the upset win. Again, they qualified for the knockout stage, but went out with a loss to the Netherlands.

Ireland failed to qualify for Euro 96, which might have been for the best, as it was to be held in England, and a 1995 match between the countries had to be abandoned due to crowd violence. Jack retired as manager: "In my heart of hearts, I knew I'd wrung as much as I could out of the squad I'd got – that some of my older players had given me all they had to give."

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He returned to Leeds, and operated the souvenir shop at their stadium, Elland Road. Britain awarded him an OBE, and the Republic of Ireland awarded him its highest honor, one rarely granted, especially to an Englishman: Honorary Irish citizenship. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, and a Freeman of the city of Leeds. He was elected to the English Football Hall of Fame, and a statue of him was dedicated at Cork Airport in Ireland.

Due to their mother not approving of his marriage to Norma, Bobby Charlton had a strained relationship with the rest of the Charlton family, including Jack. Nevertheless, when Bobby received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC in 2008, Jack presented it.

But the hazards of playing soccer in their era, especially heading the hard, heavy leather ball of the time, were beginning to become clear. Five members of England's 1966 World Cup team have thus far experienced dementia: Ray Wilson, Gerry Byrne, Martin Peters, and now Jack Charlton have died as a result. Nobby Stiles, for the moment still alive, also suffers from it.

Their numbers do not include Jeff Astle, perhaps the best-known English footballer to have had football-related dementia. He starred as a forward for West Midlands club West Bromwich Albion, and played for England in the 1970 World Cup. Nor do they include Gerd Müller, the German star who did not make that World Cup, but would eliminate England from the 1970 edition and win it in 1974, and was diagnosed last year.

Before Ray's death, his wife, Pat Wilson, said, "There are people he played with at Huddersfield and Everton with Alzheimer's. They are all over. They have talked about heading the leather ball causing it."

At one point, Jack Charlton said, "I haven't got a memory now. I forget things easily." He reached the point where he was no longer allowed to drive, or to go fishing alone. He died yesterday, July 10, 2020, at the age of 85.

With his death, there are 7 living players from Leeds' 1969 Football League Champions: Paul Reaney, Terry Cooper, Allan Clarke, Mick Jones, Johnny Giles, Eddie Gray and Peter Lorimer.

There are 8 living players from Leeds' 1972 FA Cup win: Reaney, Lorimer, Clarke, Jones, Giles, Gray, David Harvey and Mick Bates.

And from England's 1966 World Cup winners, there are 10 players still alive. George Cohen, Nobby Stiles, Geoff Hurst, Roger Hunt, and Bobby Charlton played in the Final. Jimmy Greaves, Ron Flowers, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan and George Eastham are still alive, but did not play in the Final.

When an event like winning a world championship happens, they say the participants and the spectators "will never forget." Sadly, we now know that this is not necessarily true.

But Jack Charlton and the other heroes of '66 will never be forgotten.