Bobby Charlton: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:34, 17 June 2007

Revision as of 13:35, 17 June 2007

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Sir '''Robert "Bobby" Charlton''', [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] (born [[11 October]] [[1937]] in [[Ashington]], [[Northumberland]]) is a former [[England|English]] [[professional]] [[Football (soccer)|football]] player who won the [[Football World Cup|World Cup]] and was named the [[European Footballer of the Year]] in 1966. He is arguably the greatest English footballer to have lived.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} He played almost all of his club football at [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], where he became renowned for his attacking instincts from [[midfield]] and his ferocious long-range shot.

He began to play for United's first team in 1956, and over the next two seasons gained a regular place in the team, during which time he survived the [[Munich air disaster]] of 1958. After helping United to win the [[football league]] in 1965, he won a [[Football World Cup|World Cup]] medal with [[England national football team|England]] in 1966 and another football league title with United the following year. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the [[European Cup]], scoring two goals in the final to help his team be the first English side to win the competition. He hashad scored more goals for England and United than any other player. He also made more appearances for Manchester United than any other player, records which are still standing at the end of 2006. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest players of all time.

He left Manchester United in 1973, becoming player-manager of [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Bobby Charlton | work=britannica.com/eb | url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002215 | accessdate=January 28 | accessyear=2006}}</ref> but decided management was not for him and left after one season.

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Charlton began to settle back into his footballing life with Manchester United and England and enhanced his reputation as a scorer of great goals as well as a great goalscorer - rarely is a player regarded as both. In 1959 he scored a [[hat-trick]] as England demolished the [[United States men's national soccer team|USA]] 8-1; and his second England hat-trick came in 1961 in an 8-0 thrashing of [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]]. He also managed to score in every [[British Home Championship]] tournament he played in except [[1963 British Home Championship|1963]] in an association with the tournament which lasted from 1958 to 1970 and included 16 goals and ten tournament victories (five shared).

He played in qualifiers for the [[Football World Cup 1962|1962 World Cup]] in [[Chile]] against [[Luxembourg national football team|Luxembourg]] and Portugal and was named in the squad for the finals themselves. His goal in the 3-1 group win over [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]] was his 25th for England in just 38 appearances, but his individual success could not be replicated by that of the team, which was eliminated in the quarter final by [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]], who would go on to win the tournament.

Further success with Manchester United finally came when they beat [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] 3-1 in the FA Cup final of 1963, with Charlton finally earning a winners' medal in his third final. Busby's post-Munich rebuilding programme continued to progress with two League championships within three seasons, with United taking the title in 1965 and 1967. In between, there was the pressing matter for Charlton of the [[Football World Cup 1966|1966 World Cup]] for which England, as hosts, had not needed to qualify. A successful (though trophyless) season with Manchester United had seen him take the honours of ''[[Football Writers' Association|Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year]]'' and ''[[European Footballer of the Year|European Footballer Of The Year]]'' into the competition.