Jack Charlton: An Irish Hero

There are very few Englishmen who the Irish people have taken to heart, but none have ever enjoyed the popularity among the Irish people as Jack Charlton. He brought Irish International Soccer from the dark ages to the European Championships and on to the World Cup on 1990 (Italy) and 1994 (USA).

Born in Northumberland in 1935, Jack Charlton spent his playing days at Leeds United while his brother Bobby plied his trade at Manchester United. Jack nearly didn’t become a footballer: after leaving the mines he wanted to work in the police force. Leeds Utd had seen ‘big Jack’ playing in an amateur match and offered him a trial. The trial clashed with his planned interview with the police. Luckily enough Jack was offered an apprenticeship and signed for Leeds United as a professional in 1952.

Jack was lucky to have played in the successful Leeds team of the 1960s and 1970s under Don Revie who proved to be the final piece of the jigsaw that brought success to Leeds. Leeds won promotion back to the First Division in 1964 and the following year narrowly missed out on the league and cup double, but won the FA Cup. The following is a list of the honors won by Leeds Utd during this time: Division 1 (now Premier League) Champions: 1969, 1974,
Division 2 (now Division 1) Champions: 1964, FA Cup: 1972, League Cup: 1969 and FA Charity Shield: 1969.

The greatest honor Jack ever won, despite all his successes at league level, was during the 1966 World Cup when he took home a winners medal after the famous final between England and West Germany in Wembley, England emerging victorious after extra time: 4 goals to 2.
While Jack is often credited with bringing success to the Republic of Ireland soccer team, it is not often remembered that he managed Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle. When Jack was asked to manage Ireland there were already some quality players on board such as Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan and David O’Leary. Jack approached players with Irish links such as John Aldridge and Ray Houghton to play for Ireland and combined with direct tactics that put teams under pressure, quickly achieved success by qualifying for the European Championships in Germany.

Two years later, Ireland qualified for the 1990 World Cup where the team were narrowly beaten by Italy, the hosts, in the quarter finals. Qualification for the 1994 finals followed, but in the second round the luck of the Irish ran out as they lost in the second round to Holland. After failing to qualify for the 1996 European Championships after a playoff in Anfield, Charlton quit.