Sir Bobby Charlton: The Boy of 66

Sir Bobby Charlton, English and Manchester United legend sadly passed away on the 21st of October 2023. He was loved and known by all and had many great achievements during his lifetime, including England’s sensational win that brought England their first World Cup title in 1966. One of the most successful and famous English football players of all time, now just a memory in everyone’s mind. Nevertheless, the legacy he left behind is one that will continue to inspire young footballers for many years to come.

Sir bobby Charlton was born in Ashington in the region of Northumberland, England, on the 11th of October 1937. He began his footballing career at Manchester United where he played a total of 758 games where he scored a spectacular 249 goals throughout his 17-year journey at the club, during this time he won a European title, 3 league titles and an FA cup with the team.

It was in this time that he started his international career with the English side, where he won 106 caps and scored a further 49 goals for the team. These achievements over the year, have had Sir Bobby Charlton forever cemented as one of the greatest football players and certainly one of the greatest English players to ever exist. He had the capability to play as a midfielder or as a forward due to his fantastic range of passing and his tremendous shot from range. But no matter where he played, he played with complete pride and passion no matter the game, no matter the circumstances. With his passion, he went on to win a Ballon D’OR in 1966 and played in three other world cups which included the 1958, 1962 and 1970 feats.

Aside from the pride and passion, Sir Bobby Charlton was a survivor of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958 which took place after Manchester United’s European tournament semi-final win against Red Star Belgrade where Bobby Charlton managed to score two of his United goals against the team. During the disaster, 23 people passed away, 8 of which included his own teammates. The incident took place after the plane attempted to take off 3 times in unsafe and snowy conditions. Due to the conditions, the plane slid off the runway and burst into flames.

Despite his injuries however, Sir bobby Charlton returned to action for the United squad less than a month after the incident. However, he was overcome with survivors’ guilt like many others who survived the disaster.

Overall, Sir Bobby Charlton led one of the greatest English and world football careers and will forever go down as one of the greats, with a full remembrance ceremony to take place in England’s bout against Malta on November 17th, 2023, to remember:

Sir Bobby Charlton, English legend and the boy of 66.