Jack Charlton

Charlton was offered the job as manager of Second Division club Middlesbrough on his 38th birthday in 1973. He declined to be interviewed for the position, and instead handed the club a list of responsibilities he expected to take, which if agreed to would give him total control of the running of the club.[77] He refused a contract, and would never sign a contract throughout his managerial career.[78] He took a salary of £10,000 a year despite the chairman being willing to pay a lot more; his only stipulations were a gentleman's agreement that he would not be sacked, assurances that he would have no interference from the board in team affairs, and three days off a week for fishing and shooting.[79] He decided to first repaint Ayresome Park and to publicise the upcoming league campaign so as to generate higher attendance figures.[80]

Charlton took advice from Celtic manager Jock Stein, who allowed him to sign right-sided midfielder Bobby Murdoch on a free transfer.[81] Besides Murdoch the club already had ten players who Charlton moulded into a championship winning side: Jim Platt (goalkeeper), John Craggs (right-back), Stuart Boam and Willie Maddren (centre-backs), Frank Spraggon (left-back), David Armstrong (left midfield), Graeme Souness (central midfield), Alan Foggon (attacking midfield), John Hickton and David Mills (forwards). Some of these players were already settled at the club and in their positions, whilst Charlton had to work with some of the other players. He moved Souness from left midfield to central midfield to compensate for his lack of pace and coached him to play the ball forward rather than side to side as was his instinct.[82] Foggon was played in a new role which Charlton created to break the offside trap set by opposition defenders, an extremely fast player he was instructed to run behind defenders and latch on to the long ball to find himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper.[83]

Middlesbrough secured promotion with seven games still to play of the 1973–74 season, and Charlton actually told his team to settle for a point away at Luton Town so they could win the title at home but his players ignored his instruction to concede a goal and the title was secured with a 1–0 win at Kenilworth Road.[84] They won the title by a 15-point margin (at the time only two points were awarded for a win); in contrast promoted Carlisle United (3rd) finished only 15 points ahead of Crystal Palace (20th), who were relegated. He was named Manager of the Year, the first time that a manager outside of the top-flight had been given such an honour.[85]

He continued to manage and change every aspect of the club, and took the decision to disassemble the club's scouting network to instead focus on local talent in Northumberland and Durham.[86] His only major new signing of the 1974–75 season was Terry Cooper, a former Leeds United teammate.[86] They adapted well to the First Division, finishing in seventh place, but would have finished fourth and qualified for Europe had Derby County not scored a last second goal against them on the last day of the season.[87]

Building for the 1975–76 campaign he signed Phil Boersma from Liverpool to replace Murdoch, but Boersma never settled at the club and was frequently injured.[87] They finished in 13th place, and went on to win the Anglo-Scottish Cup with a 1–0 win over Fulham.[87] They also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, and took a 1–0 lead over Manchester City into the second leg at Maine Road, where they were soundly beaten 4–0.[87] However teams had begun to learn how to combat Charlton's attack strategy and left their centre-backs on the outside of the penalty box to neutralise the threat of Foggon.[88] Despite the team's steady progress the club's board voted to sack Charlton in July 1976 after becoming increasingly concerned that he was overstepping his authority in negotiating business deals on behalf of the club and choosing the club's strip.[89] However, the club chairman overruled the decision and Charlton remained in charge.[89]

With Hickton coming to the end of his career Charlton tried to sign David Cross as a replacement but refused to go above £80,000 and Cross instead went to West Ham United for £120,000.[90] Middlesbrough finished the 1976–77 campaign in 12th place and Charlton left the club at the end of the season on the belief that four years was an optimum time with one group of players and that he had reached his peak with them – he later regretted his decision and stated that he could have led the club to a league title if he had stayed and signed two more top quality players.[90] He applied for the job of England manager after Don Revie quit the role and after Brian Clough was ruled out by the Football Association but did not receive a reply to his application, and he vowed never to apply for another job again and instead wait until he was approached.[91]

In October 1977, he replaced Len Ashurst as manager at Sheffield Wednesday, who were then bottom of the Third Division.[92] He appointed as his assistant Maurice Setters, who had experience managing at that level but had effectively ruled himself out of another management job after taking Doncaster Rovers to court for unfair dismissal.[93] The two agreed that while the standard of football in the division was low the work rates were high and so the best way to make progress would be to play long balls into the opposition penalty area whilst recruiting big defenders to avoid being caught out by opposition teams with similar tactics.[93] He took the "Owls" to mid-table safety with a 14th-place finish in the 1977–78 season, though they did suffer embarrassment by being knocked out of the FA Cup by Northern Premier League side Wigan Athletic.[94]

His priority in summer 1978 was to find a target man for Tommy Tynan to play alongside and he found it in 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Andrew McCulloch, who arrived from Brentford for a £70,000 fee.[95] He signed Terry Curran as a winger but eventually moved him up front to play alongside McCulloch.[95] He sold goalkeeper Chris Turner to Sunderland and replaced him with the bigger Bob Bolder.[95] He further raised the average height of the team by signing uncompromising centre-half Mick Pickering from Southampton.[95] The team failed to advance in the league, finishing the 1978–79 season again in 14th spot. They did make their mark on the FA Cup in the Third Round by taking eventual winners Arsenal to four replays before they eventually succumbed to a 2–0 defeat.[96]

Charlton's major acquisition for the 1979–80 campaign was signing Yugoslavia international midfielder Ante Miročević for a £200,0000 fee from FK Budućnost Podgorica.[97] Miročević proved unable to handle the British winter but otherwise added flair to the team in fairer weather.[98] Wednesday went on to secure promotion with a third-place finish and Curran finished as the division's top-scorer.[99]

As the 1980–81 season came around Wednesday had young talent such as Mark Smith, Kevin Taylor, Peter Shirtliff and Mel Sterland breaking into the first team.[98] The club were comfortable in the Second Division, finishing in tenth position.[100]

Wednesday pushed for promotion in the 1981–82 season but ended just one place and one point outside the promotion places and would have actually been promoted under the old two points for a win system that was replaced by the three points for a win system at the beginning of the campaign.[101]

In building for the 1982–83 campaign, Charlton signed experienced defender Mick Lyons from Everton and by Christmas Wednesday were top of the table.[101] The club had a limited squad and successful cup runs took their toll, as did injuries to McCulloch and Brian Hornsby as they drifted down to sixth place by the close of the season.[101] They reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Brighton & Hove Albion at Highbury with key defender Ian Bailey out with a broken leg sustained the previous week. Charlton announced his departure from Hillsborough in May 1983 despite pleas from the directors for him to stay.[102]

In March 1984, Malcolm Allison left Middlesbrough and Charlton agreed to manage the club until the end of the 1983–84 to help steer the club away from the Second Division relegation zone.[103] He was unpaid except for expenses and only took the job as a favour to his friend Mike McCullagh, who was the club's chairman.[103] Middlesbrough ended the season in 17th place, seven points clear of the relegation zone.[104]

Charlton was appointed manager of Newcastle United in June 1984 after being persuaded to take the job by Jackie Milburn.[105] Arthur Cox had left the club after leading the "Magpies" to the First Division and key player Kevin Keegan announced his retirement.[106] His first action was to release Terry McDermott from his contract, who refused to agree to Charlton's offer of a new contract.[107] He had little money to spend in preparation for the 1984–85 season, though he did have young talents in Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley.[107] He signed midfielder Gary Megson and big striker George Reilly.[108] The "Toon" finished safely in 14th place, and a teenage Paul Gascoigne was on the verge of breaking into the first team.[109]

Charlton resigned at the end of pre-season training for the 1985–86 campaign after fans at St James' Park started calling for his dismissal after the club failed to secure the signing of Eric Gates, who instead joined Lawrie McMenemy at Sunderland.[110]

Charlton was approached by the FAI to manage the Republic of Ireland in December 1985.[111] His first game in charge was on 26 March 1986 against Wales at Lansdowne Road which ended in a 1–0 defeat.[112] In May 1986, Ireland won the Iceland Triangular Tournament at Laugardalsvöllur, in Iceland's capital of Reykjavík, with a 2–1 victory over Iceland and a 1–0 win over Czechoslovakia.[113] By this time Charlton had developed his tactics, which were based on the traditional British 4–4–2 system, as opposed to the continental approach of using deep-lying midfielders, as he noted that most of the Ireland international players plied their trade in England.[114] Crucially he instructed all members of his team to pressure opposition players and in particular force ball-playing defenders into mistakes.[115]

Qualification for Euro 1988 meant winning a group containing Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Scotland. The campaign opened with Belgium at the Heysel Stadium, and though Ireland contained danger man Nico Claesen, they had to settle for a 2–2 draw after conceding twice from corner-kicks; Frank Stapleton and Liam Brady scored the goals for Ireland.[116] They then dominated Scotland at Lansdowne Road, but failed to find the net and instead drew 0–0.[116] In the return fixture at Hampden Park Mark Lawrenson scored an early goal and another clean sheet won the Irish their first win of qualification.[117] The campaign faltered with a 2–1 loss in Bulgaria, though Charlton was furious with referee Carlos Silva Valente as he felt that both of Lachezar Tanev's goals should not have counted as Nasko Sirakov allegedly pushed Mick McCarthy in the build-up to the first and he felt that Sirakov was outside the penalty box when he was fouled by Kevin Moran – Valente instead gave a penalty.[118] They picked up another point after a 0–0 draw with Belgium in Dublin.[118] Despite not particularly impressing, Ireland then picked up six points with two victories over Luxembourg.[119] They ended the campaign with a 2–0 home win over Bulgaria, Paul McGrath and Kevin Moran the scorers, though Liam Brady (an ever-present in qualification) picked up a two match suspension after lashing out late in the game after being repeatedly kicked by Bulgarian midfielder Ayan Sadakov.[119][120] Despite the victory the Irish had to rely on a favour from the Scots in order to qualify, who duly obliged with a 1–0 victory, courtesy of Gary Mackay – a substitute earning his first cap – in Sofia to keep Bulgaria one point behind Ireland in the table.[119]

The build up to Euro 1988 in West Germany was far from ideal, as key player Mark Lawrenson was forced to retire after injuring his Achilles tendon, Liam Brady picked up a serious knee injury and Mark Kelly was also injured.[122] The first match of the tournament was against England at the Neckarstadion, and Charlton reasoned that the threat posed by English wingers Chris Waddle and John Barnes could be nullified by allowing the English defence to feel comfortable on the ball without allowing them a pass; this made the build-up play slow and containable.[123] His game-plan worked and Ireland claimed a 1–0 win after Ray Houghton secured an early lead.[124] He then compensated for a series of injuries by playing Ronnie Whelan and Kevin Sheedy in central midfield, and was rewarded with a great performance and a good point in a 1–1 draw with the Soviet Union at the Niedersachsenstadion, Whelan scoring the goal.[125] To qualify they only needed a point against the Netherlands at the Parkstadion, and Charlton devised a time-wasting plan with goalkeeper Packie Bonner that he was forced to abandon after referee Horst Brummeier was less than impressed.[126] Ireland lost the game 1–0 after Wim Kieft scored an 82nd-minute goal.[126] England and Ireland were eliminated while Netherlands and the Soviet Union qualified – both teams would go on to contest the final, which the Dutch won 2–0.[127]

Qualification for the 1990 World Cup required Charlton to mastermind a top two finish in a group consisting of Spain, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Malta. The campaign started on hostile ground at Belfast's Windsor Park, and he had stand-in goalkeeper Gerry Peyton to thank for the point gained from a goalless draw with Northern Ireland.[128] A series of injuries left only a skeleton squad to face Spain at the Estadio Benito Villamarín, leaving a recall for defender David O'Leary, and Ireland were well beaten 2–0.[129] They then left Budapest's Népstadion with a point from another goalless draw, though they were criticised for not taking all two points after dominating the game.[129] The next four fixtures would be played at Lansdowne Road, and all four games ended in victory. First they beat Spain 1–0 after an own goal from Míchel, then they overcame Malta and Hungary with 2–0 wins, before beating Northern Ireland 3–0.[130] Qualification for Ireland's first World Cup was assured at the Ta' Qali National Stadium after John Aldridge scored both goals in another 2–0 victory.[131]

Ireland's group opponents in Italia '90 were England, Egypt and the Netherlands. Charlton felt that England's four-man midfield of Waddle, Barnes, Bryan Robson and Paul Gascoigne did not offer enough protection to the back four, and he was proved correct when Kevin Sheedy cancelled out Gary Lineker's opener to secure a 1–1 draw in the group opener at the Stadio Sant'Elia.[132][133] A poor performance against a negative Egyptian side at the Stadio La Favorita meant that neither side scored a goal in a dour draw.[134][135] They ended the group with a 1–1 draw with the Dutch, Niall Quinn cancelling out Ruud Gullit's opener in the 71st minute, after which both sides settled for a stalemate as a draw meant that both qualified ahead of Egypt.[136][137] Ireland then defeated Romania in the Second Round match at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris which went to penalties after a 0–0 draw, before the whole team had a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.[138]

One of the most iconic moments from Ireland's unexpected success in Italia 90, (the 1990 FIFA World Cup), took place at Walkinstown roundabout, Dublin on 25 June 1990 after Ireland beat Romania on penalties.[139] Crowds emerged from the nearby public houses of the Kestrel and Cherry Tree and invaded the roundabout to celebrate the win. Amateur footage of the joyous scenes became synonymous with Ireland's success that year and epitomised the sense of hope which prevailed throughout the country, especially after a decade of economic recession.[140] After Charlton passed away in 2020, fans gathered at the roundabout to recreate the moment and pay their respects to the past manager.[141]

Ireland eventually went out to the host country, Italy, 1–0 in the quarter-finals at the Stadio Olimpico.[142][143] A lapse of concentration meant that Italy's Salvatore Schillaci scored on 38 minutes, and Ireland failed to build up enough chances to find the equalising goal.[144] After returning to Dublin over 500,000 people turned out to welcome the team back.[145]

Qualification for Euro 92 in Sweden left Ireland facing a group of England, Poland and Turkey. They opened in style with a 5–0 home win over the Turks and then drew 1–1 home and away with the English; Ireland were the better team than England in both encounters and Charlton said that they "twice let them off the hook" after Houghton missed easy chances in both games.[146] A 0–0 draw at home with Poland followed, and they were then leading 3–1 in the return fixture in Poznań but conceded two late goals to end the match at 3–3.[147] Ireland beat Turkey 3–1 in Istanbul despite the intimidating atmosphere of the İnönü Stadium, but were denied a place in the tournament as England scored a late equalizing goal in Poland to secure the point that would take them above Ireland in the group.[148]

To qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the US, Ireland had to finish first or second in a seven team group of Spain, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Albania. Lithuania, Latvia and Albania proved to be little threat to the Irish, and both home and away fixtures against these three teams earned Ireland the maximum two points. The two most difficult fixtures – Denmark and Spain away – ended in goalless draws, and John Aldridge had a goal disallowed for offside against the Spanish which even Spain manager Javier Clemente said should have stood.[149] Ireland then beat Northern Ireland 3–0 at home before settling for a 1–1 draw with Denmark.[149] The qualification campaign was then derailed in the opening 26 minutes of the home tie with Spain as the Spanish took a three-goal lead; the game ended 3–1, with John Sheridan's late consolation eventually proving crucial at the end of the campaign.[150] The final game was in Belfast against Northern Ireland during a tense period of The Troubles.[150] Jimmy Quinn put Northern Ireland into the lead on 74 minutes, but four minutes later Alan McLoughlin scored the equalising goal to allow the Republic of Ireland to secure second place in the group due to their superior goals scored tally over Denmark.[151] When Quinn scored Northern Ireland assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl shouted "Up yours!" to his counterpart Maurice Setters (Charlton's assistant); in response to this Charlton approached Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham at the final whistle and told him "Up yours too, Billy".[151]

In the build up to the World Cup Charlton gave out first caps to Gary Kelly, Phil Babb and Jason McAteer; he had difficulty convincing McAteer to join Ireland as he first had to turn down an approach by the FA to play for the England under-21s.[152] He scheduled difficult matches before the tournament and Ireland picked up positive results by beating both the Netherlands and Germany away from home.[153] Ireland opened the group stage of the tournament by beating Italy 1–0 at the Giants Stadium, Ray Houghton scoring the winning goal on 11 minutes.[154] They then fell to a 2–1 defeat to Mexico at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, during which Charlton had a pitch-side argument with an official who was preventing substitute John Aldridge (who went on to score the consolation goal) from taking the pitch minutes after his teammate Tommy Coyne had left the pitch and sat down on the bench.[155] For his arguing, Charlton was suspended by FIFA for the final group game against Norway, and had to watch from the commentary box as Ireland qualified with a 0–0 draw.[156] They faced the Netherlands in the Round of 16; Dennis Bergkamp put the Dutch ahead on 11 minutes after Marc Overmars took advantage of a mistake by Terry Phelan, and Wim Jonk scored the second and final goal of the game from 30 yards after Packie Bonner fluffed an otherwise routine save.[157] For his achievements Charlton was awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1994 by Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Giolla, the first Englishman to be given the honour since 1854.[158]

Ireland failed to qualify for Euro 96, despite a strong start to the group, when they won their opening three games, including a 4–0 win against Northern Ireland. The Republic's next game was also against Northern Ireland, although the result was a 1–1 draw. From that point onwards the Republic stuttered badly as injuries struck down key players Roy Keane, Andy Townsend, John Sheridan and Steve Staunton.[159] After beating the highly fancied Portugal, the Irish then endured an embarrassing 0–0 draw to Liechtenstein (this was Liechtenstein's only point in their ten matches), before losing twice to Austria, on both occasions by three goals to one. Although they defeated Latvia, Ireland needed to beat Portugal in Lisbon to qualify outright, but lost 3–0. They finished second in the group, ahead of Northern Ireland on goal difference, but as the worst performing runners-up they had to win a play-off game at Anfield against the Netherlands; Ireland lost 2–0 after a brace from Patrick Kluivert.[160] Charlton resigned shortly after the game.

"In my heart of hearts, I knew I'd wrung as much as I could out of the squad I'd got – that some of my older players had given me all they had to give."

— Charlton speaking in his autobiography on his decision to retire.[161]

Charlton died at his home in Northumberland on 10 July 2020 at the age of 85 after suffering from lymphoma and dementia.[2][181] The following day his former club Leeds United won 1-0 over Swansea City with a last minute winner; the goalscorer Pablo Hernández dedicated his goal to Charlton.[182]

On 20 July, ten days after his death, Irish fans gathered at Walkinstown roundabout in Dublin to recreate the highwater mark of Ireland's success at the 1990 World Cup under Charlton and to pay their respects. Put 'Em Under Pressure, the official song of the Republic of Ireland national football team's 1990 campaign, (which features soundbites of Charlton uttering the eponymous phrase) was played at 12:30pm synchronously with all national radio stations to remember the man who had led Ireland to their first-ever major tournament at Euro '88, as well as two World Cups in Italy (1990) and USA (1994).[183][141]

Charlton became the 12th player from the 1966 FIFA World Cup squad to die, after Bobby Moore (1993), Alan Ball (2007), John Connelly (2012), Ron Springett (2015), Gerry Byrne (2015), Jimmy Armfield (2018), Ray Wilson (2018), Gordon Banks (2019), Martin Peters (2019), Peter Bonetti (2020) and Norman Hunter (2020).

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Charlton goal.

List of international goals scored by Jack Charlton[186]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 June 1966	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	3–0	3–0	Friendly
2	3 July 1966	Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–0	2–0	Friendly
3	16 November 1966	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Wales	5–1	5–1	1966–67 British Home Championship
4	15 April 1967	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Scotland	1–2	2–3	1966–67 British Home Championship
5	15 January 1969	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Romania	1–0	1–1	Friendly
6	10 December 1969	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Portugal	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Leeds United

• Football League First Division: 1968–69[44]
• Football League Second Division: 1963–64[30]
• FA Cup: 1971–72[57]
• Football League Cup: 1967–68[42]
• FA Charity Shield: 1969[46]
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1967–68, 1970–71[43][55]

England

• British Home Championship: 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69[189]
• FIFA World Cup: 1966[74]
• UEFA European Championship third place: 1968[75]

Individual

• FWA Footballer of the Year: 1967[39]
• English Football Hall of Fame: 2005[172]
• PFA Team of the Century (1907–1976): 2007[190]

Middlesbrough

• Football League Second Division: 1973–74[84]
• Anglo-Scottish Cup: 1975–76[87]

Sheffield Wednesday

• Football League Third Division third-place promotion: 1979–80[99]

Republic of Ireland

• Iceland Triangular Tournament: 1986[113]

Individual

• English Manager of the Year winner: 1974[85]
• Philips Sports Manager of the Year: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993[191]

• McKinstry, Leo (2007), Jack and Bobby: A Story of Brothers in Conflict, HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0007118779
• Charlton, Jack; Byrne, Peter (1996), The Autobiography, Partridge Press, ISBN 1-85225-256-1
• Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1974), Book of Football's All-Time Greats, Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 0-85685-055-1