17 November 2023 , 06:00
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Sir Bobby Charlton will be honoured at Wembley with a special tribute.
FA chiefs have created a crowd mosaic and a video celebrating Charlton’s life will be shown on the big screens before kick-off. There will also be guests of honour at the Euros qualifier with Malta at Wembley in what is was the first game since Charlton’s death.
World Cup winner Charlton, one of English football’s all-time greats for club and country, will also be acknowledged with a period of applause before kick-off. England players will wear black armbands for the game which is set to be an 86,000-plus sell-out.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate was at Charlton’s funeral at Manchester Cathedral on Monday, following his death at the age of 86 last month. And he revealed that they showed footage of Charlton at a team meeting this week to show how special he was.
“A big part of what we’ve wanted to do with our players is to talk about our identity as a team,” England boss Southgate said.
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“Part of that is knowing the history of our team and having an understanding of how special some of the players that have been England internationals before are.
“We’ve had the chance to do that this week. We showed some footage of Sir Bobby to the players, the first day we arrived.
“A reminder that, of course, even a Liverpool man (like Trent Alexander-Arnold next to me) given Bobby’s performances with England can relate to his importance for English football. You can have a fabulous club career and an international career.
England's manager Gareth Southgate at Manchester Cathedral (AFP via Getty Images)“At times those things can come into conflict because club managers of course have got to look after their own roles and responsibilities, and that can put players in difficult positions with all international teams, frankly.
“But your international team will always be there as well and if you can win something with your international team, it’s probably bigger than anything else you’re going to experience.
“So, there were lots of messages within that for all of the players but, most importantly, an incredible player, an incredible man.”