Bobby Charlton is an English football legend, one of the few "Busby Babes" who survived the terrible tragedy in Munich. Despite the severe shock, Charlton was able to find the strength to continue playing football and became one of the most famous athletes.
Biography
On the 11th day of October 1937, Sir Robert Charlton was born in the small English town of Ashington. Despite the fact that young Bobby loved football in all its forms, his grandfather had a great influence on the choice in favor of sports. He was a real football fan and his four sons became famous players at the time.
While receiving school education, Charlton devoted a lot of time to football and training, and once he was noticed by the scout of the famous English club Manchester United. Bobby without hesitation signed the proposed agreement, and on January 1, 1953, he officially became a player of the "Red Devils".
Career
After World War II, Manchester United needed major changes, which head coach Sir Matt Busby decided on. He completely changed the composition and focused on the education of his own youth. This is how a new "MJ" appeared, which is usually called "Busby Babies". Robert Charlton became part of these changes, at first he could not adapt and reveal his potential, so assistant coach Jimmy Murphy devoted a lot of time to individual training with a promising footballer.
It took Charlton two seasons at the youth academy to make his first-team debut. In the 1956 season, he first appeared on the list of the main squad and ended up playing 17 matches and scoring two goals. From the next year, he was firmly entrenched in the base and began to appear more often on the field. The Busby Babes proved not only to English clubs, but throughout Europe that young and inexperienced players can compete with professional footballers. The Red Devils easily reached the quarterfinals of the European Champions Cup, where they defeated the strong Crvena Zvezda in a two-legged confrontation.
Inspired by the victory and the passage to the semifinals, the "kids" were already dreaming of the cherished trophy, but on the way back from Yugoslavia, a famous tragedy happened. The plane on which the United players flew made a planned landing in Munich for refueling. When attempting to take off, the aircraft encountered problems, but despite this, a second attempt was made, which also failed. The tight schedule did not allow the team to stay in Munich for the night, and therefore a third, fatal takeoff attempt was made, in which the plane crashed. Of the 40 people on board, only 21 survived, including Bobby.
After the experience, having at once lost his teammates and, possibly, the future, Charlton did not want to return to football for a long time, but, thanks to the support of his family and fans of his sports “creativity”, he found the strength to again become a part of Manchester United. Fans pinned their hopes on him to revive the team and in every possible way welcomed this difficult decision of their idol.
Charlton became not only a part of Manchester United, but also the leader of the team for many years. His career as a leading "red devil" ended only in 1973. During this time, he entered the field 765 times and scored 253 goals. He became the champion of England three times, and in 1968 he raised the coveted Champions Cup over his head. The famous athlete has a lot of trophies in his piggy bank. This player, along with his closest associates Denis Lowe and George Best, is immortalized in a bronze statue created by the legendary sculptor Philip Jackson. It is installed on Matt Busby Street in Manchester.
England squad
Bobby Charlton made his debut for the English national team in 1958. In total, he played 109 matches in national colors, in which he scored 49 goals. In 1966 he became world champion.
Personal life
Sir Robert is married. He met his wife Norma Ball at a small ice rink in Manchester. The wedding took place in 1961. During their marriage, they raised and raised two daughters: Suzanne and Andreu.
