Last surviving Charlton brother says Bobby and Jack will be united again
Sir Bobby Charlton has been reunited with Jack Charlton in heaven, according to their little brother and biggest fan. England legend Bobby died aged 86 on Saturday. Jack passed away at 85 in 2020.
Fighting back tears, Tommy Charlton, 77, said: “If ever there was a place reserved in heaven, it is for Bob. He and Jack were everybody’s heroes.”
They were loved by football fans all over the world, but no one is prouder of the legendary Charlton brothers than their brother Tommy. The World Cup-winning pair’s youngest sibling, 77, fought back tears as he described growing up with Sir Bobby, who passed away aged 86 on Saturday, and Jack, who died aged 85 in 2020.
Tommy revealed Bobby’s widow Lady Norma called early on Saturday to inform him of her husband’s death. He was so upset that his wife Carol called former Leeds United star Jack’s widow Pat, 88, to pass on the news.
Jack and Bobby in the 1985 charity match (Getty Images)“Throughout my life, from being a little boy, I have never felt anything other than pride in both of Jack and Bob,” said Tommy, of Rotherham, South Yorks. Being the youngest, Jack was a big, towering guy, my big brother, I looked up to him growing up. And I respected Bob’s integrity and intelligence. You could talk to him about any subject.
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“I am a little bit annoyed that football took them away from me when we were young. From the age of 10, I would see them when they came home from their clubs, or we went to visit. Other families were growing up together.” Tommy described Bobby as as a sporting icon revered around the world, and a “wonderful’ human” being.
To him, he will always be “wor Bob”, a humble man of “integrity and intelligence”, who will take his place on the teamsheet of all-time greats in the sky alongside brother Jack, both struck down by dementia late in life. Tommy said: “If ever there was a place reserved in heaven, it is for Bob. He is going to be up there. He was world famous, he was so loved.
“He and Jack were everybody’s heroes, they were idols to other people. But to me, they were my brothers. That is where my heart is, with my brothers.” Tommy recalled their early days in Ashington, Northumberland.
Tommy at Jack's funeral (Newcastle Chronicle)
Bobby Charlton with his wife Norma (PA)They lived on Beatrice Street, home to three footballers of the year in the 60s, Bobby, Jack and the former Burnley star Jimmy Adamson. Their mum Cissie, who died in 1996 aged 84, loved the game. Her four brothers played professionally while her cousin was Jackie Milburn, a Newcastle United legend. Jack and Bobby fell out after Cissie’s death, exposing Jack’s rift with Norma.
They were reunited with a hug as Jack presented Bobby with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC ’s Sports Personality of the Year in 2008. Tommy was only 12 when he almost lost Bobby, then 20, in the Munich air disaster. He was the last survivor of the 1958 crash.
Tommy is still playing football (Glen Minikin)“It was a terrible time for me and the family,” he said. “The strangest thing is that I was quite certain that Bob would come through. I really cannot explain that.”
Tommy bears a striking resemblance to Bobby and receives a warm reception on terraces around the country. Carol, 72, said: “He thought the world of both of his brothers. I always remember when Bobby was knighted and that made him ‘sir’. He he wanted his friends, the people who knew him, to always call him Bobby. He was so modest.”
Gordon, 10, Bobby, 15, and Tommy, seven, with mum Cissie at home in Ashington in 1953 (Mirrorpix)Jack’s son John, 64, recalled his memories of his uncle Bob as a quiet man who shunned the limelight. “He was an all-time great,” said John, of Ponteland, Newcastle. “For a time Bobby and my dad were probably the most famous brothers on the planet. Everywhere you went, they knew Bobby Charlton.
“There were four brothers – my dad, Bobby, their oldest brother Gordon, who passed away earlier this year, and Tommy, now the only one left.” The son of fellow 1966 World Cup winner and Man U star Nobby Stiles described Bobby as a “beautiful man”, who would come and see him with Christmas presents.
Jack, Tommy, Cissie, Gordon and Bobby (Glen Minikin)John Stiles said: “As a kid, he was Uncle Bobby. He always made you feel special. You’d never have known that he was an unbelievable superstar.” Lady Norma and their daughters Andrea and Suzanne announced Bobby’s death “with great sadness” on Saturday. Fans from around the world queued up at Old Trafford today to sign a book of condolence.
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Bobby played 758 games for Man U between 1954 and 1973, scoring 249 goals. Former manager Sir Matt Busby once said: “There has never been a more popular footballer. He was as near perfection as man and player as it is possible to be.” For Jack, “wor Bobby” was simply “the best footballer I have ever seen”.
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