Player Profile: Bobby Charlton

Bobby Charlton

11th October 1937

Country: England

Major Clubs: Manchester United

"I wonder all over again how so much could come to one man simply because he was able to do something, which for him was so natural and easy, and which he knew from the start he loved to do more than anything else", said Bobby Charlton in his autobiography, My Manchester United Years. He was a player whose life was changed in the blink of an eye. One of the original Busby's Babes, Charlton was a Red Devil throughout the extent of his career. He played 759 games for Manchester United, and scored 249 goals in the duration of 17 years at the club.

One thing in Charlton's life that haunts him till date is the Munich air disaster. Seven of his teammates, including the great Duncan Edwards, died in the disaster, but Charlton somehow managed to pull himself out of the injuries he sustained. Later, he along with Matt Busby's assistant Jimmy Murphy, was responsible for the resurrection of the club. He possessed qualities of being a terrific goal-scorer, as well as being able to score splendid goals; something of a rarity in English football at the time.

In 1966, England hosted the FIFA World Cup. The team that year was completely in the hands of Alf Ramsey, who selected Charlton for the side playing the World Cup Finals. His contribution to England was commendable throughout the tournament, as he won himself the Golden Ball that year. However on 30th July 1966 when England played their World Cup Final at Wembley, Charlton was rather quiet. England, though, went on to win the cup.

Two years later, he captained United to remarkable run in the European Cup, leading a team that became the first English side to reach the cup final. The final, played at Wembley against Benfica, was a tight affair, until Charlton scored twice in extra time to hand United a 4-1 victory.

Much later, during his days at Old Trafford, he was a part of the Holy Trinity which included himself alongside Denis Law and George Best. George Best said for Charlton, "I've never seen anyone go past players as easily as he did.". On the individual front, the list of the honours he's won is too long to be written here. But some of the greatest honours such as the Ballon d'Or, FWA Footballer of the Year, among others still dress up his cabinet.

Bobby Charlton went on to manage Preston North End towards the end of his career, and also had a brief spell at Wigan as a caretaker manager. However, he didn't embark on a full fledged career in management. Charlton was conferred with the knighthood in 1994, and is currently on the Board of Directors at Manchester United.

His contribution to the club is and probably will be unmatchable by anyone so far, and even in the future. Despite the many blows he took at Manchester United, starting from the Munich disaster, to the 1958 FA Cup loss, and the 1969 European Cup defeat, Charlton believed in hanging in there, unlike many of the modern footballers who change colours for medals.

-PRANAV MUKUL

Written for India's premier football magazine: 90 minutes (October 2011)

Player Profile: Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore

12th April 1941.

Country: England

Club played for majorly: West Ham United

He stands 20ft. tall at the Wembley weighing about two tons, portraying the many successes he has won for his country. “He was my friend as well as the greatest defender I ever played against,” said Pele himself for this English Captain who was the first and till date remains the only one to have won the World Cup for England.

Robert Fredrick Chelsea Moore a.k.a. Bobby Moore is considered to be one of the greatest footballers in the history of England as well as West Ham United. He held a record of 108 caps for England until March 28th 2009, when David Beckham played against Slovakia at the Wembley. But unlike Beckham, Bobby Moore has played every single minute of every single cap he’s earned. He was a poised central defender and was well known for his ability to foresee the opposition’s movements. To mock his ability former Celtic centre half Jock Stein once said, “There should be a law against him. He knows what's happening 20 minutes before everyone else.”

Moore joined West Ham United in 1956 as a youth player and advanced through this setup to join the senior team on September 8th, 1958 playing his first match against Manchester United. But he’s more a legend for the English team than for The Hammers. It is said that in early 1966 Bobby Moore wanted to leave West Ham the reason being some heat he shared with his club manager Ron Greenwood. Also, the fact that his demand of £10 more per week as his wage with his contract expiring at the end of that month wasn’t being fulfilled made him decide that he would leave the club as soon as his contract expired. But Sir Alf Ramsey who was then the manager of England, intervened timely and helped Moore realize that he would become technically ineligible to contribute for the England squad if he left the club. Ramsey called Greenwood to the hotel where the English team was staying and told him and Moore that they had one minute to sort out their problems. Moore then signed a one month contract to elongate his stay at Upton Park which allowed him to captain the English National Team for the World Cup they later went on to win.

After the World Cup win, he won several individual honours including the “BBC Sports Personality of the year” and the OBE (Order of the British Empire) at the end of 1966.

He ultimately left West Ham in 1974 after playing for 16 years and making 544 appearances while scoring 24 goals in the process. After leaving West Ham he joined Fulham where he played for three years. Ultimately, he retired from club football playing for the Danish club Herning Fremad which is now known as “FC Midtjylland”.

Other than football, he also played county cricket for Essex with his West Ham teammate Geoff Hurst. More than being just a good footballer, Moore was also a good person and a good teammate. When the English team got a £22,000 bonus for winning the World Cup, Moore insisted that the money should be split between every player in the 22-man squad regardless of whether he played or not.

Also published here

-PRANAV MUKUL

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