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Jack Charlton
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D.O.B. :08/05/1935
Place of Birth :Ashington, England
John 'Jack' Charlton OBE (born Ashington, Northumberland, May 8, 1935) was a footballer who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and who won the World Cup with England.

He later became a manager of both domestic and international sides, and is particularly well known for his successful spell as manager of the Republic of Ireland team.

Born into a footballing family (his uncle was Jackie Milburn), Charlton was initially overshadowed by his younger brother Bobby, who was taken on by Manchester United F.C. while Jack was doing his National Service.

Charlton played in the Leeds senior team for the first time in April 1953 and within another two years was a regular fixture in the side.

Leeds were a second division side for much of the 1950s, with the side built around Welsh legend John Charles. Under Raich Carter, Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1957, before suffering relegation again two years later. Carter was replaced by Don Revie as manager in 1961.

Charlton was joined at centre back in 1962 by Norman Hunter, a product of the youth policy. Other youth team players such as Peter Lorimer, Paul Reaney and Billy Bremner also came into the side and Leeds won promotion back to the First Division in 1964.

Leeds made an immediate impact on their first season back in the top flight; they were runners up in the league, losing the title to Manchester United on goal difference, and were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Charlton, operating as an emergency striker, set up Bremner's goal for Leeds.

With Charlton approaching his 30th birthday, he was called up by Alf Ramsey to play for England against Scotland at Wembley. The game ended 2-2 and Charlton was impressive enough to keep his place.

Charlton got his first England goal in a pre-tournament victory over Denmark before Ramsey confirmed his squad of 22 players for the finals. Charlton was in the squad, and was given the No.5 shirt, an indication that if fit he would be the first choice partner for Moore.

In the final, West Germany took an early lead through Helmut Haller. England equalised shortly afterwards through Geoff Hurst and then as the second half wore on, Charlton came close to scoring the goal which would have put England ahead.

England dominated the added 30 minutes, Hurst scored twice to complete his hat-trick, and England won the World Cup 4-2. One of more memorable images at the final whistle was the sight of Charlton, at 31 the second oldest member of the team, sinking to his knees with his face in his hands, weeping with joy.

In 1967 Charlton had a mixed time. Leeds missed out on domestic honours again and Charlton picked up an injury while playing for England in a 3-2 defeat to Scotland at Wembley, during which he scored. However, he ended the season as the Footballer Of The Year and his future after football as an after-dinner speaker was marked by his speech at the awards ceremony, which earned him a standing ovation.

Charlton finally won domestic honours with Leeds in 1968 with a controversial League Cup victory over Arsenal - the Arsenal players claimed that Charlton had committed a foul in their penalty area prior to the ball reaching Terry Cooper, who scored the only goal. Leeds also won the Fairs Cup and Charlton completed the year by playing his 447th League game, breaking the club's previous record for appearances.

In 1969, Leeds finally got their hands on the League championship, with Charlton proving a rock at the back as the team lost just two games all season. A year later, Leeds went for the unprecedented treble of League title, FA Cup and European Cup - and missed out on all three.

Everton pipped Leeds to the title, Celtic F.C. beat them in the semi finals of the European Cup, and Leeds lost the FA Cup final to Chelsea after a replay, after a pressured Charlton had unwittingly back-headed a long throw across his own area, allowing David Webb to score Chelsea's winner. Charlton was so angry he didn't bother collecting his runners-up medal afterwards.

In the summer on 1970, Ramsey named Charlton in his squad of 22 for the 1970 World Cup. However, Charlton wasn't Moore's first choice partner, with Everton's Brian Labone getting the nod after a sturdy series of displays during the European Championships two years earlier. Charlton played his 35th and final England game in the 1-0 group win over Czechoslovakia. England lost in the quarter finals to West Germany, and on the flight home, both Charlton brothers asked Ramsey not to be considered for international duty again.

In October 1970, Charlton famously appeared on a football programme, where he said he'd once had a "little black book" of names of players whom he intended to hurt or exact some form of revenge upon during his playing days. He later said this was a figure of speech and that no such book existed.

Leeds won the Fairs Cup again in 1971, but lost the league championship to Arsenal. In 1972, Leeds finally won the FA Cup and Charlton completed his set of domestic medals. Although he continued playing, he suffered an injury in 1973 which ruled him out for the rest of the season, including another FA Cup final, and eventually retired from playing aged 38, with 773 club appearances and 96 goals to his name.

He was offered the job as manager of second division Middlesbrough, and he led them to promotion back to the top flight in his first season by such a considerable margin that he was given the Manager Of The Year award. Previously, the honour had never been awarded to a manager outside of the First Division.

Charlton quit Middlesbrough in April 1977, and applied unsuccessfully for the job of England manager, which had been controversially vacated by the resignation of his old Leeds boss Don Revie. He then took over as manager at Sheffield Wednesday and took them to promotion from the Third Division. He resigned his position in 1983, went briefly back to Middlesbrough, then became manager of Newcastle United. However, after the first signs of unrest from supporters, he resigned after a year in the job.

Charlton spent a brief time outside of football before being approached to manage the Republic of Ireland. Ireland had some great individual players at the time, including Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan, and David O'Leary, but had no history of qualifying for major tournaments. Charlton, with a little luck, astute tactics, strong organisation and the crafty stretching of the eligibility rules, managed to change that.

He approached players with even the most tentative Irish links to hook up with the Republic - John Aldridge and Ray Houghton, for example, were deemed to be eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland as their grand parents were Irish. Ireland qualified for the 1988 European Championships in Germany, and were drawn against England in their group.

The World Cup winner with England found himself plotting their downfall as a manager, and he duly delivered; an early Houghton goal was enough to beat England 1-0. Ireland subsequently drew 1-1 with the USSR but went out of the competition when they lost to eventual champions Holland. As a result, Charlton was rewarded with the runner-up prize in the World Soccer Manager of the Year awards in 1988.

Charlton developed a love for the Irish lifestyle, and for his position as Republic Of Ireland manager, and the people of Ireland returned this with a passion. Under Charlton, Ireland qualified for the 1990 World Cup for the first time ever. In an eventful competition, the unfancied Irish qualified from the group stage, defeated Romania in the second round match which went to penalties, met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and eventually went out to the hosts Italy in the quarter finals by just a single goal. It was a tremendous achievement for a team with no previous World Cup history.

Several Irish songwriters waxed lyrical about Big Jack. Songs like "Give It A Lash Jack" (Liam Harrison) and "Put 'em Under Pressure" (Republic of Ireland Football Squad) actually topped the Irish charts during 1990.

Ireland failed to reach the Euro 92, but qualified again for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where Charlton infamously had a pitch-side argument with a linesman who was delaying a substitution, and was later fined. In the tournament, Ireland defeated favourites Italy during the group phase, but eventually went out to Holland in the second round.

After failing to qualify for Euro 96, Charlton quit. His involvement in the game since has been restricted (by his own choice) to punditry and speaking.




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Jack Charlton's managerial record
Season Games Won Drawn Lost Win%
1986 7 2 3 2 28.57
1987 8 6 1 1 75.00
1988 10 5 3 2 50.00
1989 8 5 3 0 62.50
1990 13 5 7 1 38.46
1991 8 3 5 0 37.50
1992 10 5 2 3 50.00
1993 9 6 2 1 66.67
1994 12 7 2 3 58.33
1995 9 3 2 4 33.33
Total 94 47 30 17 50.00




Games in which Jack Charlton was a Substitute.
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