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Bobby Charlton Biography

The long career history of the 83-year-old star of today's article contains many facts, which we have mentioned within the piece, Bobby Charlton biography. Stay with us to look at all related info from Bobby Charlton religion to his honors, helping you know him more.

Our today's article is regarding

Bobby Charlton bio

, who was a footballer in midfielder position. The English former footballer was one of the best of not only his generation but all time. As his career history shows, he played for the England team, which his excellent performance earned him the 1966 FIFA World Cup and Ballon d'Or in one year.

However, he won many other achievements we have listed in the last section of the article as his honors. In addition to international competitions, Charlton played for several clubs and spent most of his career in the Manchester United club. 

Displaying brilliant attacking instincts, passing abilities from the midfield of the pitch, and his ferocious long-range shot, Charlton could attract all attention to himself and become a renowned player during the time he played for the club. 

One of the fascinating points in Bobby Charlton biography is the small number the referee cautioned him. Being advised only two times, Charlton got them once in a competition against

Argentina

in the World Cup in 1966 and during a league match against Chelsea.

Coming from Ashington, Northumberland, Bobby Charlton appeared for the first time for Manchester United in 1956 and during the following two seasons could fix his regular position in the team. The progress coincided with his survival from the Munich air disaster in 1958.

He was the last surviving person who Harry Gregg rescued him from the crash. Bobby Charlton life story, both on and off-pitch, has had some events, so we have allotted a separate part to his profile and outside life. 

All You Need to Know about Bobby Charlton 

Undoubtedly, a player who could help Manchester United achieve the Football League First Division and Europen Cup has a rich career history. So, our team in

Sportmob

has tried to cover all related facts from

Bobby Charlton Religion

to his profile and achievements in the following article. 

Just as a quick look at Charlton's excellent performance, he captained

Manchester United

, and his two goals in the final competition led the club to become the first English team to win it. There is no wonder why his name was amongst the squad for four World Cups in 1958, 1962, 1966, and 1970.

At the time of his retirement, Charlton carried the nation's most capped player's record and was the one who had played for 106 times in the competitions with the highest level. He kept the record to November 2019, which afterward, six other players surpassed him. 

Being the long-time record goalscorer for England national team and Manchester United, Charlton was the long-time appearance maker for United, though Bobby Moore passed it in 1973. Additionally, Ryan Giggs made more appearances than Charlton's, 758, for Manchester United in the Champions League final in 2008.

However, his 249 goals for the club had kept him in the first place as the highest-all-tie goalscorer before 2017 which Wayne Rooney surpassed him and turned him to second place.

After retirement as a player, Charlton experienced several management positions in some clubs, including

Preston North End

, Wigan Athletic, and Manchester United. To describe more, we have gone through its details in-depth in the managerial section of the piece. So, stay with us till the end of Bobby Charlton biography.

Bobby Charlton Information

The 65-year career history of the English former player and manager has a lot to say, which we have gathered in one piece as

Bobby Charlton biography

, including his professional and personal life besides some facts regarding his early life.  

Bobby Charlton Bio

  • Full Name:

    Robert Charlton

  • Nickname:

    Captain Marvel

  • Foot:

    both

Bobby Charlton Physical Stats

  • Age:

    83 years 

  • Height:

    5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)

  • Skin Color:

    White

Bobby Charlton Football Information

  • Position:

    Attacking midfielder, Forward

  • Jersey Number:

    9

  • Professional Debut:

    6 October 1956

  • Teams Managed:

    Preston North End, Wigan Athletic

Bobby Charlton Date of Birth and Personal Info

  • Date of Birth:

    11 October 1973

  • Birth Place:

    Ashington, Northumberland, England

  • Zodiac Sign:

    Libra

  • Nationality:

    British-English

After taking a look at some data such as

Bobby Charlton date of birth

, football information, and physical stats, it is time to go through more specific facts about him both inside and outside football life. 

Bobby Charlton Early Life

Base on a biographical expose, Bobby was born to his father, Robert Bob, and his mother, Cissie Charlton, in the mining village of Ashington, Northumberland, on 11 October 1937.

Though Bobby Charlton's father was a miner, he had the chance of connecting with the football world through his mother, who was a football fanatic and from the Milburn family of expert footballers.

Jackie Wor, the fabulous Newcastle striker, was Bobby's uncle, which left an efficient role in his football future that the club had changed to Bobby Charlton childhood idol. Also, some key players of several English football clubs, including Stanley Matthews, were the heroes of his young age. 

Bobby Charlton Profile

The starting point of Charlton's profile refers to 9 February 1953, when he was playing as a student of Bedlington Grammar School, and Joe Armstrong saw his playing. Having played for England Schoolboys, Bobby Charlton signed a contract on 1 January 1953 with United at age 15.

Charlton's mother's reluctance to commit to an unsafe football career caused him to continue his education as an electrical engineer. However, he started his professional life in October 1954. From the collection of talented players of Busby Babes, Charlton got a high reputation. 

During his first season in Manchester United, Charlton scored 12 goals, that two of them referred to his debut. Also, he made his first hat-trick in an away competition against

Charlton Athletic

, which resulted in its 5-1 victory. Charlton's effort and goals had an efficient role in making United the first English team to participate in the European Cup. 

On 6 February 1958, while United players and staff took home from Zemun Airport, the airplane needed refueling in Munich. Despite the snowy weather and a minor technical error, which they fixed before taking off, the plane clipped the fence, and a wing tore after departure.

The plane crash caused the death of 23 people out of 44 passengers and crew. Charlton Survived while he had some minor injuries. The talented star was only 20 those days and was an excellent choice to help the club rebuild itself. Having come back to play, Charlton appeared in any competition for United and helped it a lot to earn a high-level position in the football world.

His last appearance was in a match against

Chelsea

at Stamford Bridge on 28 April 1973. However, his final goal for the club was one month earlier in a game against

Southampton

, which resulted in the 2-0 victory in the First Division on 31 March.

Charlton's international appearances started on 19 April 1958, when the England national team called him up for a British Home Championship competition. The match was against Scotland at Hampden Park just two months after the Munich air disaster. Charlton's magnificent shoot in his first appearance gained much admiration.

During the second match, he scored both goals and caused his team to achieve a 2-1 win against

Portugal

in a friendly competition at Wembley. His excellent performance made the team select him for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, though he did not play.

He left two historical hat-tricks in his career history, including the 8-1 victory against the US and the 8-0thrashing of Mexico. For the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Charlton took part in qualifiers against

Luxembourg

and Portugal and became one of the final match players. Charlton's record in scoring was extraordinary that his goal in winning over Argentina was the 25th goal during just 38 appearances when he was 24.

Having earned many individual achievements and many successes for his team, Charlton took part in 1966 World Cup matches. England's national team ended the tournament-opening game with a 0-0 result over

Uruguay

, but they won the following competition against Mexico with a 2-0 end. Charlton received his only caution in international competitions in the match against Argentina.

Euro 1968 coincided with Charlton's 75th game for England, in which they beat

Northern Ireland

. Scoring his 45th goals, Charlton broke the Jimmy Greaves record with 44 ones. Having become an OBE for football services, Charlton achieved his 100th England cap winning on 21 April 1970, and then Ramsey made him captain.

Charlton scored his 49th goal, his last goal for his country, in a warm-up tour during the 1970 World Cup. Before 1973, Charlton was the caps record holder, but since then, Bobby Moore surpassed him. However, his name is on the seventh place of all-time England appearances list behind some stars, such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, and David Beckham. 

Style of Play

To describe Bobby Charlton shortly, we can name him the most strongly-honored, renowned, and prominent footballer ambassadors in football history and the most talented players English football has ever had.

Some honors, such as scoring 49 goals for the English national team, the first-ever PFA Merit Award owner, and the winner of the prestigious European Footballer of the Year in 1966, can demonstrate the brilliant style of play Charlton had.

He has learned some tactics, including putting defenders off off-balance and finding space on the pitch from his hero, Stanley Matthews. Some features such as intrinsic resolution, sportive skills, and continuous training in his professional career led him to own a style in which no footballer could overtake him over the first 10 yards. 

Reception

The rich and professional career history has undoubtedly has aroused a wide range of admiration to praise Bobby Charlton. However, the large number of quotes do not let us mention all of them. The Scottish former footballer and manager, Sir Matt Busby, believed that there had never been any more popular footballer than Charlton and knew him as a near perfection man and player that it is possible to be.

Lou Macari, one of his former teammates in Manchester United, said when Charlton was 35, his fitness and enthusiasm were like a 25-year-old player. Based on Macari's quote, though Charlton did a lot during his career, his passion never weakened, and his hard-working caused him to be always at the top. 

Goal celebration

Like other players who celebrate their goals to show their happiness, Charlton had some celebration. However, due to not being available lots of authentic sources about his exact way, we can only rely on existing photos. As photos demonstrate, Charlton tended to celebrate his goals with his teammates while they jumped on his shoulders. 

Bobby Charlton Outside Football

After a long brilliant career history and even a successful personal life, Bobby Charlton, England's greatest ever footballer, has been diagnosed with dementia. Earlier, on 6 February 2012, having fallen ill and being taken to hospital, Charlton had gallstone surgery. Being a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, Charlton had tried a lot, but the operation did not let him get his lifetime achievement award at the academy.

Charlton's interest in football was so much that his life outside football still relates to it. Manchester United rename the South Stand of Old Trafford in honor of him on 15 February 2016.  

Bobby Charlton Personal Life

Bobby Charlton life story

has been full of success in his profession ad some strange events in his personal life, which have changed it into a motivational piece. 

Family, Children, and Relationship

Bobby Charlton and his wife, Norma Ball's first meeting referred to 1959 when they met each other at an ice rink. Having married in 1961, they have two daughters, Andrea and Suzanne. They also have a grandchild, Suzanne's son, in honor of Charlton named Robert. 

Philanthropy

Despite Charlton's willingness to football, he is sensitive about people's difficulties and how much he enjoys helping others. Being involved in various charitable affairs, such as raising money for cancer hospitals, Charlton took part in the land mine clearance project when he visited Bosnia and Cambodia.

Also, he backs the Mines Advisory Group. Besides all these charity affairs, Charlton founded his charity, Find a Better Way, which works around studying to enhance civilian landmine clearance. 

Legal Issues

From

Bobby Charlton childhood

to the period he was a player, no authentic website has published any violent or illegal behaviors. Though he made some mischief at his young age, such as hurting his uncle's head which caused twelve stitches, he did not do anything against the rule.

However, being involved in the Bogota Bracelet incident, Charlton and Bobby Moore were accused of removing from a jewelry store a few days before 1970World Cup, but police did not arrest Charlton. 

Bobby Charlton Career Statistics

Taking a look at player's career statistics can describe how much they have been successful in their career history. Allotting this section of Bobby Charlton biography will reveal the number of his appearances in competitions and the goals he scored. Additionally, we will review his career statistics while he was manager. 

Clubs

Beginning from the 1956-57 season, Bobby Charlton played for Manchester United for 17 consecutive seasons. During these years, he appeared in 758 competitions and scored 249 times, which based on his scored goals, 1958-59 was his most successful season. Charlton scored 29 goals in 39 matches during the season.

Afterward, by playing only one season, 1974-75, Charlton recorded 45 more appearances in his career history and ten goals, which he scored while he played for Preston North End.

Based on

Bobby Charlton biography

, Waterford United was the last club he played for in 1975-76, and during the four competitions he appeared in, Bobby scored one goal. Overall, playing from 1956-57 to 1975-76, Bobby Charlton played 807 times as an attacking midfielder and a forward for three mentioned clubs and scored 260 goals. 

International

As we mentioned in the above sections, Bobby Charlton nationality led him to join England national team and played for them between 1958 and 1970. Meanwhile, he took part in 106 matches and scored 49 goals. Though he scored at least one goal for the team each year, in 1958, he did his most, seven goals in 6 appearances. 

Managerial

Going through

Bobby Charlton biography

uncovers some details regarding his period management. He started his new position as a manager in 1973 with Preston North End and assigned Nobby Stiles, his former United, and England teammate, as the club's player-coach. However, it was not a successful period, and it ended in relegation. Following a disagreement around the John Bird transfer to Newcastle, Charlton left the club early in 1975-76 and started to play again. 

Starting a collaboration with BBC for punditry on competitions and lasted for a long time. Later, in 1983, by joining

Wigan Athletic

, Charlton began his work as a director and a caretaker manager for a short time.

Having experience of a wide range of positions, Bobby Charlton became one of the directors' members of Manchester United. Charlton's football background and knowledge led the club's board to assign him to the profession. However, Sir Matt Busby's resignation was another reason due to the club's need for a name on the board. 

Bobby Charlton Honors

The long career history of the former star has earned a large number of achievements for him. So we have allocated the following part of Bobby Charlton biography to his honors in four groups, including clubs, international, individual, and orders, and special awards.

His club grants refer to years he played for Manchester United, and he earned Football League First Division, FA Cup, Charity Shield, European Cup, and FA Youth Cup. As we mentioned in the profile section,

Bobby Charlton nationality

led him to play for the England national team and win several awards, such as FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship third place, and British Home Championship ten times.

A part of his club and international honors, he earned a long list of individual achievements going through them need a separate piece. 

So, we only name some of the famous them here. Winning FWA Footballer of the Year, FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, FIFA World Cup All-Star Team, Ballon d'Or, Football Hall of the Fame, and UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll are some of the most significant individual awards in Babby Charlton biography.

Besides the mentioned achievements, Charlton won several specific awards, including Officer and Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, King Bachelor, and Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class. 

Within the article, our team tried to cover all related facts to Bobby Charlton biography. Despite our effort in presenting a comprehensive piece with accurate data based on authentic sources, it might be some parts that we have missed some details. So, we welcome your commentaries via the comment section.

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