One of the most frequently told tales about Jack Charlton is that he would regularly settle a pub or restaurant bill with a cheque instead of cash knowing that the owner would frame the payment and put it on the wall rather than take it to the bank. It was actually mentioned on RTÉ Radio 1 during Saturday morning's tribute hour to the former Ireland manager.
However, Charlton - who died on Friday night aged 85 - hated that story and strongly opposed its veracity.
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Charlton denied that he could never buy a drink in Ireland as others would continuously put one in front of him. He also addressed the cheque myth saying that it was fabricated by a "nasty journalist".
"The cheque [story] is a load of rubbish," said Charlton.
"It's an old Stanley Matthews story; that he'd stop at a pub, settle up with a cheque because he hadn't any money on him, and the bloke would stick the cheque on the wall instead of cashing it.
"But if there's one person in Ireland who can produce a cheque from me that was given for that reason by me... well, I'll, I'll... give 'em a load of money. It was a piece that was written by a nasty journalist at the bottom end of a piece and I got on to me solicitor because it's a load of rubbish."
Charlton agreed that the story embodied how beloved he was in Ireland.
"But it's not true and it's as if someone's trying to have a go at me that I'm tight," he added.
"I might be tight but I certainly don't go as far as that. The truth is, it's not unusual for me to be standing at a bar and a pint of beer will appear in front of me, and I've already got one. Or I go to pay my bill and it's already been taken care of. That happens and the Irish are very, very generous people, but that cheque story is just wrong."
Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
