Jack Charlton OBE DL (8 May 1935 – 10 July 2020) was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a centre-back. 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 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. The eldest of four brothers – Bobby, Gordon and Tommy – the family’s tight finances meant that all four siblings shared the same bed.
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.[14] 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.“This part of the world produced its fair share of footballers, 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’.” — Growing up in North East England working-class culture meant working hard for little pay, and becoming a professional footballer was a realistic ambition for talented players. However, it still required hard work and rarely offered more than a good working class wage.