England World Cup winner and Manchester United Legend Sir Bobby Charlton Has Passed Away

England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton has passed away at the age of 86 after a battle with dementia.

Sir Bobby, who made 758 appearances for his club and earned 106 caps for his beloved country, peacefully passed away surrounded by his family this morning.

He is survived by his wife Lady Norma, their two daughters Suzanne and Andrea, and grandchildren. The gifted footballer, born in Ashington, Northumberland, on October 11, 1937, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever grace the game and played an integral role in England's 1966 World Cup glory.

Following his death, Sir Geoff Hurst, who famously scored a hat-trick in England's 4-2 victory over West Germany at Wembley, is now the only member of the team still alive. Former England right-back George Cohen also passed away at the age of 83 in December.

A statement from the family of Sir Bobby, who went on to have a remarkable career after surviving the Munich air disaster in 1958, said, "It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sir Bobby passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was surrounded by his family. His family would like to pass on their thanks to everyone who has contributed to his care and for the many people who have loved and supported him. We would request that the family's privacy be respected at this time."

Manchester United expressed their grief, stating, "Words will never be enough as we mourn one of the greatest and most beloved players in the history of our club." England described Charlton, who had previously held the record as the all-time top goalscorer for both England and United, as a "true legend of our game."

United great David Beckham said Charlton was "truly a national hero." Beckham came through the ranks at Manchester United, having attended Bobby Charlton's Soccer School and was given the middle name Robert as his father was such a fan of the 1968 European Cup winner. Beckham posted on Instagram, "It all began with Sir Bobby. Sir Bobby was the reason I had the opportunity to play for Manchester United... I will be forever grateful to a man I was named after, someone I looked up to and was a hero to many around the world, not just in Manchester and our country where he won the World Cup in 1966. A true gentleman, family man, and truly a national hero... Today isn't just a sad day for Manchester United & England; it's a sad day for football and everything that Sir Bobby represented... Our thoughts go out to Lady Norma, their daughters, and grandchildren. Rest in Peace Sir Bobby."

Sir Geoff Hurst noted, "We will never forget him, and nor will all of football."

Prince William, who is president of the FA, described Sir Bobby Charlton as "a true great who will be remembered forever" in a personal message on social media. The Prince of Wales said, "Sir Bobby Charlton. First Division Champion. European Champion. World Champion. Gentleman. Legend. A true great who will be remembered forever."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called him "one of the game's greatest players."

Sir Bobby's death was announced as Saturday's 3pm kick-offs were preparing to start the second half, and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola paid his respects, saying, "On behalf of the Manchester City family to his family, to the Man United family and for England football - these type of football players and personalities represent English football like no one else can do it. So condolences from all of us, for his family especially."

Middlesbrough manager and former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick said he was "devastated" to hear of Charlton's death. He said, "My mind went back to the moments I shared with Bobby - an inspirational character and such an iconic figure, you don't always get those in world football."

New Birmingham boss Wayne Rooney was leading his side at Middlesbrough, who are managed by his former United team-mate Carrick, and both were clearly still shaken by the news when they discussed it soon after Middlesbrough’s 1-0 win.

"I'm still in shock," said a visibly emotional Rooney, who broke Sir Bobby’s goalscoring records for both United and England. "I saw his image on the big screen at the start of the second half and didn't know what was happening. He was a legend but more importantly a great human being."

Sir Bobby had withdrawn from public life since he was diagnosed with dementia in November 2020, just four months after his elder brother Jack Charlton - another 1966 hero - died aged 85. The brothers famously had a bitter feud for several decades but made amends later in life. Sir Bobby was, however, unable to attend his brother's funeral due to illness. He was last photographed in public bravely posing for a Covid-19 jab to encourage others to do the same.

Sir Bobby was one of five of England's 1966 winners to suffer from dementia after his brother, Nobby Stiles, Ray Wilson, and Martin Peters. The midfielder, who joined United as a schoolboy in 1953, embarked on an extraordinary career after surviving the Munich air disaster when he was 20, which tragically killed eight of United's Busby Babes and 23 people in total.

In a glittering 17-year spell with United, he won three league titles, the FA Cup, and captained the Red Devils when they became the first English club to win the European Cup. Sir Bobby, known for his powerful shooting and distinctive hairstyle, scored 249 goals for Man United, including two in the famous 1968 European Cup final win over Benfica. Charlton is one of the 'Holy Trinity' along with George Best and Denis Law, who are immortalized in a statue outside Old Trafford. In 2016, he also had the South Stand at the iconic stadium named after him, which is opposite the Sir Alex Ferguson stand.

Sir Bobby also scored 49 goals for his country and won the Ballon d'Or in 1966 for his part in England's World Cup triumph. England paid tribute following his death, writing, "It is with a heavy heart that we have learned of the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton. An integral part of our 1966 FIFA World Cup winning campaign, Sir Bobby won 106 caps and scored 49 times for the #ThreeLions. A true legend of our game. We will never forget you, Sir Bobby."

His goal records for club and country both lasted decades until they were overtaken by Man United legend Wayne Rooney, with Harry Kane more recently taking over as England's top marksman.

Following his retirement from football, Sir Bobby managed Preston North End from 1973 to 1975 and was later a director at Wigan Athletic. Returning to United as a member of the board of directors in 1984, Sir Bobby was a constant presence at Old Trafford until recent years.

He and his wife Lady Norma, who were married for over 60 years, would take their seats week in, week out to watch the Red Devils march out and play at the Theatre of Dreams. Sir Bobby, who's bitter feud with his brother Jack was well documented, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994, having previously been awarded the OBE and CBE.

He also set up the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation in

 2011, which focused on removing landmines in former war zones. Sir Alex Ferguson once praised Sir Bobby for how he "handled the greatness." In a tribute on his 80th birthday, the former United manager said, "Success can change people, and it's never changed Bobby Charlton. He is what he is: quiet, shy, and I think it's fantastic."

FIFA President Gianni Infantino described Charlton as a "football legend whose impact on the game spanned generations."

In an interview with the Mail in 2018, Sir Bobby showed that he had never really shaken off his sense of guilt at going on to achieve so much while the dreams of so many friends and team-mates perished so tragically when a Man United flight crashed on the runway at Munich on February 6, 1958.

British European Airways Flight 609 was making its third attempt to take off after stopping to refuel en route from Belgrade, where United had beaten Red Star on aggregate to reach the semi-finals. It was the last time the Busby Babes played together.

'Why me?' he always asked himself. 'Why did I survive?' The practical reason was that the lucky ones were occupying the rearward facing seats as Airspeed Ambassador Flight 609 plowed into slush at the end of the runway at its third attempt to take off and crashed through a perimeter fence. After losing his team-mates in the 1958 crash, Sir Bobby felt he could never play football again.

Sir Matt Busby, the legendary manager and another survivor, was struggling to dissuade him from premature retirement. The members of the team patched up by Busby had no more effect when the recovering Charlton visited them in the dressing room before matches during his recovery from the head wounds and trauma suffered when his seat with him strapped in it was thrown from the plane onto the ice. Not until he went to visit the humble but loving family home in Ashington where he and his brother Jack grew into footballers did he find his reason to lace up the boots again.

Sir Bobby would go on to have a sensational career at the very top level, playing alongside his brother Jack for their country. Despite images of the brothers embracing after the 1966 final, their relationship, which, far from being warm, was actually marked by distance and discord for many years.

'To be honest, me and our kid were never the best of friends,' Jack once said. For his part, Bobby complained that his brother's attitude was sometimes 'unacceptable', writing that Jack could be 'too impetuous, too eager to speak and to lash out'. The taller brother was the rebellious maverick, whereas Bobby was the conformist. 'Everything I liked in life he didn't have anything to do with, and everything he likes in life I don't want to know about,' said Jack in 1997.

But at the heart of this fraternal friction was the fact that their mother Cissie, a matriarchal figure who came from a North-Eastern footballing family called the Milburns, had a strong antipathy towards Bobby's wife Norma — a feeling that was reciprocated.

'There was no meeting point, no common ground with my mother. It was very painful,' wrote Bobby. Inevitably, he took the side of his wife in the dispute as the chasm between the two women widened, while Jack took Cissie's side. At times, especially in the 1990s, there was a real bitterness between the brothers, which meant they were not even on speaking terms.

Sir Bobby explained that he had been angered by passages in Jack's autobiography, published in 1996, in which Jack not only attacked Bobby for failing to visit their mother Cissie in her final years but described Norma as stand-offish and difficult. Sir Bobby said years later that these comments about his wife Norma were 'disgraceful' and 'nonsense'. Writing in a book in 2007, he confessed he and his brother had 'never been further apart than we are now', adding, 'I just don't want to know him.' Their relationship seemed irreparably broken, but they were very publicly reconciled a year later when Bobby was presented with a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. Jack agreed to present the trophy and told his sibling, 'Bobby Charlton is the greatest player I've ever seen. And he's my brother.' The pair embraced – just as they had on the turf at Wembley 42 years earlier.

In the years before Jack's death, family members also revealed they often spoke over the phone if someone was sick. News of Sir Bobby's dementia diagnosis three years ago sparked upset but also more frustration as he became yet another of England's heroes to suffer from the illness.

But, even without the shadow of this family rift, the fact is the two men were never close. The row between Cissie and Norma only became so incendiary because Jack and Bobby were profoundly different, with little fraternal empathy.

In a column for The Sun this week, West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said that football has no choice but to change. 'There are injuries and then there are injuries without healing. The worst by far is dementia,' she said. Brady welcomed measures which are being introduced to limit the injuries caused by repeatedly heading a ball.

Sir Bobby's death comes less than a year after his former team-mate George Cohen died. Cohen was vice-captain of the first and only England squad that became world champions, having made his international debut in 1962 and become a mainstay in Alf Ramsey's side four years later. Captain Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks, Jack Charlton, Ray Wilson, Nobby Stiles, Alan Ball, Martin Peters, and Roger Hunt have all also tragically died.

United paid tribute in a statement, saying, "Manchester United are in mourning following the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the greatest and most beloved players in the history of our club. Sir Bobby was a hero to millions, not just in Manchester, or the United Kingdom, but wherever football is played around the world. He was admired as much for his sportsmanship and integrity as he was for his outstanding qualities as a footballer; Sir Bobby will always be remembered as a giant of the game. A graduate of our youth Academy, Sir Bobby played 758 games and scored 249 goals during 17 years as a Manchester United player, winning the European Cup, three league titles, and the FA Cup. For England, he won 106 caps and scored 49 goals for England, and won the 1966 World Cup. Following his retirement, he went on to serve the club with distinction as a director for 39 years. His unparalleled record of achievement, character, and service will be forever etched in the history of Manchester United and English football, and his legacy will live on through the life-changing work of the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation. The club's heartfelt sympathies are with his wife Lady Norma, his daughters, and grandchildren, and all who loved him."

Tributes poured in for Charlton, with ex-England striker and Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker hailing his lasting impact on the sport. He posted on Twitter, "Deeply saddened to hear that Sir Bobby Charlton has died. A truly wonderful footballer and genuinely lovely man. A World Cup winner, @ManUtd great

 and, for me, England's greatest ever player. He may no longer be with us, but he'll have footballing immortality. RIP Sir Bobby."

A number of former United players took to Twitter to offer their condolences, with ex-captain Gary Neville writing, "So sorry to hear the news of Sir Bobby Charlton. The Greatest English Football player and Manchester United's greatest ambassador. A champion on and off the pitch and a Busby Babe that paved the way for all to come at United. Rest In Peace Sir Bobby."

Speaking later to Sky Sports, Neville said, "I think he is Manchester United's greatest representative around the world and has been for 50/60 years. When you think he was one of the original Busby Babes, part of that tragic Munich air crash and survived it having lost a lot of his team-mates and colleagues in that but came through. He won Youth Cups at Manchester United under Sir Matt Busby then obviously went on to win the European Cup, World Cup and in the more modern era a director of the club. He used to come into the changing room after a match - win, lose or draw. Something when I was a player at the club you maybe would take for granted - this legend would be walking around your changing room saying 'well done' or offering his commiserations. It is obviously a great loss today, but no doubt he is English football's greatest player and greatest ambassador. A champion on and off the pitch."

Rio Ferdinand wrote on Twitter, "Sir Bobby... Icon, Legend, Great! these words are thrown around by all of us to many who 100% don't deserve them, especially when you compare them to man of Sir Bobby's calibre. What a true gentleman of not many words, but when he spoke you stood still, stopped what you were doing, and listened. A lot of the history was living and breathing through him, and he was a constant at the club while I was there - traveling with us all over the world. Win, lose, or draw he would be in the changing room wishing us well. The words he shared with me at the bottom of those stairs in Moscow, before I went up to lift the CL trophy will stay with me forever. What it meant to lift that trophy for Man Utd, what it meant for the fans, what it meant for us as a team, and what it now meant for myself doing it as captain. It was a privilege for me to even get that moment with him at that specific time. Thank you Sir Bobby. Mr. Manchester United. RIP."

Man United are playing Sheffield United at Bramall Lane later tonight, where players are expected to wear black armbands, and a pre-planned minute's silence will be expanded.