Tommy Charlton pays emotional tribute to Jack and Bobby – and reveals why he missed the 1966 World Cup final
Tommy Charlton said his siblings Jack and Bobby “died as my brothers – not as famous footballers”, as he remembers the legacy they left behind.
Speaking to Sky News, Charlton shared memories of his brothers and his sadness since their deaths – as well as how he missed the 1966 World Cup final because he couldn’t afford the fare to Wembley.
Sir Bobby Charlton died last month at the age of 86 and is remembered as one of the heroes of England’s World Cup-winning 1996 squad.
His brother, and fellow World Cup winner, Jack died in 2020 aged 85, after a long career both on and off the football pitch.
“They were real big brothers,” Tommy said of Sir Bobby and Jack, telling Sky News he “hated it” when they left home to go and play football.
Jack, Tommy and Bobby Charlton
“I didn’t know what was happening,” he said.
“I didn’t know why he had to go away. I didn’t know why Jack had to go.
“My uncles, Jack, George, Jim and Stan all went away to play football, so I’ve experienced the fact that we had relatives who didn’t live at home. They had to travel all over the place playing football, and I was quite used to that.
“But when Bob left, I didn’t really understand it because it was my brother leaving, and it was like: ‘where’s he going?'”.
Tommy added: “They were my brothers, and I was proud of them. I always have been sincerely proud of my two brothers.”
The Charlton brothers with their mother – Jack, Tommy, Gordon and Bobby
England’s Jack Charlton and Sir Bobby Charlton
‘Heart-warming’ to hear from people
In the weeks since Sir Bobby’s death and the years since Jack died, Tommy said it has been heart-warming to hear people talk so fondly about his brothers, and expects people to line the route for Sir Bobby’s funeral this month.
“It’s been very heart-warming to have so many people telling me that they were really proud of Bob.
“I’ve never thought of Bob and Jack as anything but my brothers – they died as my brothers, not as famous footballers.
“And that is difficult for me. It’s difficult to separate the two. And it’s heart-warming to see that the number of people, thousands of people, telling me that they respected Bob and they respected Jack.”
Tommy said he expects people to line the procession route for Bobby’s funeral “and they’re going to clap”.
“Wonderful. That’s my brother they’re clapping.”
Sir Bobby and his mother. Pic: Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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‘End of an era’: Fans pay tribute to Sir Bobby
‘He remembered the life’
The trio were brought up in Ashington, Northumberland, where Tommy explained despite their “hard” upbringing, Bobby never spoke ill of his home town.
“He always spoke in a proud way he always remembers those mates from Ashington, and he remembered the life.
“It was a hard life. We had a hard upbringing. My dad worked at the pit, he didn’t make a lot of money… Bob remembered that with pride.
“He didn’t speak in a derogatory manner about Ashington ever.”
Sir Bobby in Ashington after the Munich Air Crash. Pic: Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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‘A champion on and off the pitch’
‘We both started crying’
Tommy recalled the last time he spoke to Sir Bobby on the phone before he died.
“It got to be that we only conversed on the telephone because I’ve stopped driving, and we used to meet at football matches… but Bob didn’t end up doing that,” he told Sky News.
“Bob never got very far.
“And I remember the last time I spoke to him. We were on the telephone, and he broke down and started crying while I was crying.
“His wife, after that, Norma, said, ‘it’s probably best not to put Bob on the phone’, so she kept us updated on how he was, and, well, she was a saint.”
Read more:
‘Never a more popular footballer’: Sir Bobby Charlton obituary
Sir Bobby Charlton was ‘forever a gentleman of English football’
England players including Sir Bobby and Jack Charlton, right, parading Wembley after winning the World Cup
Sir Bobby in his Manchester United days
‘It was just my brothers playing a game’
Despite both his brothers playing in the 1966 World Cup final, Tommy revealed to Sky News he never actually made it to Wembley to watch them.
“Before the final, Bob managed to get me a ticket to the final,” he said.
“And I lived in Ashington and Ashington is a long way from London. I’d never been to London. I’d very rarely been out of Ashington, if the truth was known.
“I didn’t have any money to get there. Nobody in the family had that sort of money, and I didn’t want to ask brother Jack to help me, because they had far too much on the plate at the time.
“And that was just not the thing that I was willing to do, so I watched the match at home on the TV, and, well, it was actually with my girlfriend at the time – it was at their house
“But I regret that now. I regret that I should have, actually got a bank loan or something to get there.
“But to me, it was just my brothers playing a game… it was playing for England again, you know?
“I don’t know what he probably makes of that.”
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
“It has been a success.”
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
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As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.
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