The football world is in mourning this Saturday, after the sad news of the death of Bobby Charlton at the age of 86.
The Manchester United legend had suffered with dementia in the final years of his life, with his diagnosis being made public in late 2020.
Charlton joined United as an amateur player at 15 years old in 1953, and went on to play a crucial role in the club's first era of immense success under the stewardship of Matt Busby.
Then only 20-years-old, Charlton survived the Munich Air Disaster in 1958, which claimed the lives of eight of his Manchester United teammates, including Irishman Liam Whelan.
After recovering from the tragedy at Munich, Charlton returned to playing with United, and would finish his career with an FA Cup winners' medals, and three First Division winners' medals.
The highlight of his club career came in 1968, when he not only captained United to European glory, but scored two goals in the final against Benfica, as they became the first English club to win the European Cup.
Two years prior, he had won the World Cup with England alongside brother Jack Charlton. Bobby scored both goals in England's semi-final victory over Portugal, and won the 1966 Ballon d'Or in recognition of his outstanding performances throughout the year.
A titan of the game, the loss of Bobby Charlton will be felt most deeply at Manchester United, where he filled a role as a director and ambassador long after his retirement.
In the aftermath of his death on Saturday, Charlton was remembered by ex-United captain Gary Neville, who hailed the late Charlton as England's greatest ever player.
Gary Neville remembers influence of Bobby Charlton at Manchester United
In his role as a Manchester United ambassador, Bobby Charlton encountered many of the club's finest talent of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and handed over the trophy when the club won their third European Cup in 2008 in Moscow.
"English football's greatest player."
A moving tribute from Gary Neville after the sad passing of Sir Bobby Charlton ❤️ pic.twitter.com/I1TraqPHUZ— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 21, 2023
Gary Neville was club captain for that 2008 season, and started the 1999 Champions League final which was watched from the stands by Bobby Charlton, and he paid tribute to the immense legacy of Charlton on Saturday evening.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said that Charlton was Manchester United's greatest ever representative, and the best English footballer of all-time:
Manchester United's greatest representative around the world. He has been for 50-60 years.
When you think that he was one of the original Busby Babes, who was part of that tragic Munich air crash and survived it...he lost a lot of his teammates and colleagues in that but came through.
He used to come into the changing room after every single match, win, lose or draw.
It was something when I was a player at the club that you would maybe take for granted. This "icon", "legend" would be walking around your dressing room saying, 'well done,' or offering his commiserations and trying to pick you up.
It's obviously a great loss today but I've no doubt that he is English football's greatest player and English football's greatest ambassador, a champion on the pitch and off the pitch.
What Sir Bobby Charlton is is an example of how you can have a great ambassador of the club, someone who was a legend of the club, who does it very well in the board room.
He always represented Manchester United in the right way. I did a few appearances as Manchester United ambassador while I was at the club and after I left the club - and he was the greatest ambassador. The way in which he spoke about the club was incredible. He was the golden threat threw from Matt Busby to Alex Ferguson...he was the constant through both of them.
A true great of the game has been lost.
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