Sir Bobby Charlton is an English former footballer and a member of the 22-man England 1966 World Cup Squad, this page is part of a tribute to each member of that squad. Charlton was born on 11th October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland, into a footballing family; four of his uncles were professional footballers, all with the surname Milburn, and his mothers cousin was the legendary Newcastle and England player Jackie Milburn. Bobby's older brother Jack Charlton was of course also a member of that successful 1966 team. A 15 year old Charlton was spotted by Manchester United scout Joe Armstrong whilst playing for East Northumberland schoolsand signed with United on 1st January 1953 despite offers from several other clubs. His mother was worried that a football career did not offer him security and so he also worked as an apprentice electrical engineer before turning professional in October 1954.

Charlton worked his way up through the various ranks at Old Trafford, playing well and scoring regularly for the youth team and reserve team before being given his debut by senior manager Matt Busby in a game against Charlton in October 1956; two years after signing his contract and at the age of 19. At the time of his debut he was also in National Service in Shrewsbury, close enough to Manchester for him to be available for selection for games at the weekend. By the end of that first season he had played 14 games for United and was part of a team which lifted the League Championship. Charlton showed such potential that he was considered a key player and fully pledged member of 'The Busby Babes' by the time the next season began, meaning that he played a part in the first team ever to compete in the European Cup; United reached the semi finals before losing to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

In the 1958/59 season United again impressed in the European Cup and beat Red Star Belgrade in the quarter finals, with Bobby Charlton scoring 2 goals in the 3-3 away leg which sealed their ticket to the semi final, and they were in a celebratory mood on the way home. It was on this trip home that their aeroplane needed to refuel, so it landed and Munich and the players got off the plane. The weather conditions were also getting progressively worse and snow began to lay on the runway and around the plane, despite this the players were told to re-board the plane for take off. Whilst on board their were a number of concerns regarding the conditions and the two take-offs had to be abandoned before the players were asked to leave the plane again whilst a technical error was fixed. The players were back in the airport terminal for just 10 minutes before being asked to re-board, leading to a number of the players to become extremely nervous. Charlton and Dennis Viollet swapped seats with team mates Tommy Taylor and David Pegg who felt that the back of the plane would be safer.

Upon take off the plane clipped the fence at the end of the runway and a wing went through a nearby house, causing it to catch on fire, before both the wing and the tail fell off and hit a tree and a hut before the plan spun around in the snow until it came to an eventual halt; the plane had been completely cut in half in the process and Charlton had fallen out of the cabin whilst still strapped to his seat. Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg, who had quickly escaped the plane with no injuries whatsoever, began a one-man rescue mission and dragged both Charlton and Viollet away from the plane in the fear that it would catch alight and explode. Gregg actually thought that they were both dead and re-entered the plane to assist seriously injured Matt Busby and Danny Blanchflower. When Gregg turned around he saw both Charlton and Viollet standing up and peering into the plane wreckage. Charlton suffered some bad cuts to his head and experienced some severe shock, however he was the first survivor to leave hospital 8 days later. Tragically, seven of his team mates died at the scene and another - promising striker Duncan Edwards - died two weeks later. Charlton was just 20 years old at the time of the crash and there was an immediate expectation from the public on him to help rebuild the club.

Shortly after the Munich tragedy Charlton was to make his England debut when he was called up to the England squad for a British Home Championship game against Scotland at Hampden Park in 1958, where he earnt the first of many international caps in a 4-0 victory and scored his first goal in the same game with a magnificent volley. He retained his place in the England team and scored both goals in a 2-1 friendly win over Portugal before overcoming some clearly severe nerves to travel by plane to Belgrade to play his third England game against Yugoslavia where he played very poorly as England lost 5-0. Charlton was subsequently called up as a member of the squad for the 1958 world cup in Sweden, where he did not make a single appearance to the surprise of many.

Following the World Cup, Charlton began to build a reputation as a great goalscorer for both club and country and scored his first international hat-trick in a 8-1 win over the USA in 1959 - a feat that he replicated in 1961 with another three goals in a 8-0 defeat of Mexico. His great form continued throughout qualifiers for the 1962 World Cup and resulted in him eventually being named in the squad for the tournament itself. Charlton overcome the personal not featuring in the previous World Cup with a goal in the 3-1 group stage win over Argentina, and he featured in all of England's games, however this would be just 4 games as England were defeated in a quarter-final defeat by Brazil. The goal against Argentina was his 25th goal in just 38 international appearances, an astonishing return for a player who was most commonly utilised in an attacking midfield role.

Back on the domestic stage and Charlton tasted success in the 1963 FA Cup with Manchester United as they defeated Leicester City 3-1 at Wembley, finally giving Charlton a winners medal after he had been a runner-up on two previous occassions, a strong indication that Matt Busby's rebuilding process was starting to bear some fruit. Two years later and a 27 year old Charlton was beginning to reach his peak, with his goals playing a key part in Manchester United's successful League Championship campaign during the 1964/1965 season. A trophy-less 1965/66 season followed but Charlton's personal performances - with the 1966 World Cup in mind - led to him being named as the 'Football Writer' Association Footballer of the Year' and the 'European Footballer of the Year'. Charlton was a key member of the England team in the lead up to the World Cup and Sir Alf Ramsey had built the squad around just a few key players, of whom Charlton was one.

There were no surprises when Alf Ramsey named Charlton in the final 22-man England 1966 World Cup Squad and he started in his normal attacking midfield position in the opening 0-0 draw against Uruguay in the group stages. Charlton then scored the first England goal in the next game, a 2-0 win against Mexico, with striker Roger Hunt scoring the second goal. England also won 2-0 in the third and final group stage game against France, with Hunt scoring both goals to set England up for a quarter final game against Argentina. England defeated an overly aggressive Argentina team 1-0 with the only goal of the game being scored by an inexperienced Geoff Hurst following an injury to Jimmy Greaves in the France game, Charlton received a caution during this game.

It was to be Charlton's performance in the semi-final that would be one of the greatest and most important of his career, with England facing a tough Portuguese side who were led by their talisman and play-maker Eusebio. A clever run by Roger Hunt drew the Portugal goalkeeper out of his goal, and he played the ball to Charlton to place the ball in the net with his right foot. Charlton then scored his second goal with a cleanly struck shot after a Geoff Hurst run and cross. Eusebio pulled back a goal for Portugal in the final few minutes of the game after Bobby's brother Jack Charlton had hand balled, but England held on to win the game 2-1. Charlton and Hunt went into the final against West Germany as the tournaments joint highest scorers, but the game was an unusually quiet one for Charlton as he and Franz Beckenbauer cancelled marked each other out of the game. Charlton, like all players on the pitch for the final, had played a key part nonetheless but it would be Hurst who would take the golden boot after his hat-trick in the famous 4-2 win took his tally for the tournament to 4 goals. At 28 years old, Charlton had become a World Champion, a fitting accolade for possibly the greatest midfielder of his generation and one of the games most naturally talented ever goalscorers.

Just 3 international games after becoming a World Champion, Charlton became the second most-capped player ever; the biggest at the time was Billy Wright who ended up with 105 caps shortly after Charlton had started playing for the senior team. Just two years after the World Cup, Charlton would achieve even more success and world recognition with a 1968 European Cup win, scoring 2 goals in a 4-1 win over Portuguese club Benfica at Wembley Stadium; as club captain, Charlton lifted the trophy for a Manchester United side who were the first English team to reach the final - 10 years after the disastrous Munich air disaster in 1958. Just a few weeks later he made the headlines and re-wrote the record books yet again by scoring his 45th England goal and breaking the record of 44 which was set by Jimmy Greaves just a year before, and then played his part in an England team which reached the semi final of the 1968 European Championships.

Charlton was awarded the OBE in 1969 for services to football and then won his 100th England cap on 21st April 1970 in a game against Northern Ireland, with Alf Ramsey making Charlton the team captain for the occasion; Charlton scored his 48th international goal during the game and the 49th and final goal followed a month later in a friendly against Colombia in a warm up for the 1970 World Cup. Charlton was, inevitably, called up for Ramsey's final squad for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and he remains the only ever England player to be called up to four World Cup squads. Charlton was featured in the first three group stage games, which brought two victories and a defeat, before he was rested for the fourth group stage game to be replaced by fellow World Cup winner Alan Ballas Ramsey was confident of victory. England did win of course and reached the quarter final where they met old foes West Germany, a game during which Charlton again suppressed Franz Beckenbauer to help England to a 2-0 lead; Charlton began to tire in the second half and let Beckenbauer finally gave him the slip - leading to him running on goal and pulling the score back to 2-1. Ramsey decided to substitute Charlton and replaced him with younger midfielder Colin Bell.

West Germany subsequently pulled two goals back and won the game 3-2. The media in England placed a large proportion of the blame upon the shoulders of inexperienced stand in goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, who was only playing the game as the result of number one goalkeeper Gordon Banksbeing struck down by food poisoning the night before the game. Other critics placed the blame at Alf Ramsey's tactical decisions, particularly the decision to substitute Charlton, however Charlton himself stated that the decision did not alter the result as Beckenbauer had scored whilst he was on the pitch. On the flight home a 33 year old Bobby Charlton asked Ramsey to not consider him again for international football, as did his older brother Jack Charlton, and he finished his international career with a record 106 caps and a record 49 goals. Charlton's record for England caps was beaten by fellow world cup winner Bobby Moore in 1973 and later by David Beckham and Peter Shilton, whilst his goalscoring record is yet to be beaten.

Manchester United were no longer competing with the top teams in England during the early 1970s and were in fact fighting against relegation for part of it, Charlton was also no longer on speaking terms with fellow stars George Best and Denis Law and the former refused to play in Charlton's testimonial match against Celtic. Charlton remained at United until the end of the 1972/73 season after having made 758 competitive appearances for the Red Devils and scoring 249 goals. Ryan Giggs recently beat Charlton's record for the most competitive appearances however the goalscoring record remains to this day.

Charlton became the player-manager of Preston North End in 1973 and took with him United team mate and fellow world cup winner Nobby Stiles who joined in the capacity of player-coach. His first season with Preston ended in relegation, and he started playing regularly again in the following season but quit the club at the end of his second season (1974/75). He immediately began taking work with the BBC as a pundit on a casual basis, and was awarded the CBE in 1975, before playing for Irish League team Waterford United during their 1976 season and scoring 18 goals in 35 games. A brief spell in Australia for Melbourne Victory followed in the same year, before he played just 1 game for Welsh side Bangor City in 1978, and then 2 games in Australia for Newcastle KB in the same year, and later playing just 2 games for Australian team Blacktown City in 1980 - during which he scored 3 goals at the age of 43!

He later joined Wigan Athletic as a director in 1983 and briefly took charge of the team in the role of caretaker manager in 1983, juggling the job with managing several businesses that he was working on establishing. He left the Wigan job when former club Manchester United invited him to join their board of directors, partly because of his great football knowledge but also because they felt that a popular name was required on the board following the resignation of director and former manager Sir Matt Busby. Charlton remains a Manchester United director to the present day and he led the Manchester United side when receiving the 2008 European Cup, a victory which marked the 50th year since the Munich Air Disaster of 1958. Charlton has also performed various ambassador roles including bids by the City of Manchester to host the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games and the 2002 Commonwealth games, as well as England's bid for the 2006 World Cup and the successful 2012 Olympic Games campaign.

Bobby Charlton received his knighthood in 1994 and subsequently became known as 'Sir Bobby Charlton'. Away from sports he is also involved in a number of charitable activities, actively campaigning for cancer hospitals and land mine clearance. Charlton revealed in 2007 in his autobiography entitled 'Sir Bobby Charlton : My Manchester United Years' that he had hardly spoken to his brother Jack Charlton since the early 90's and it was not until 2008 that they were back on speaking terms, with Jack presenting Bobby with his 'BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award' in 2008. The feuds and conflicts between the two Charlton brothers were also featured in great depth by the author Leo Mckinstry in his book 'Jack & Bobby: A Story of Brothers in Conflict' which is available through the Amazon link below.