This Is Your Life: Bobby Charlton

THIS IS YOUR LIFE – Bobby Charlton, footballer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews – with the help of Jimmy Hill – as he became the first recipient of an award for great moments in sport at The Sportsman’s Club in London, from where the programme was then broadcast.

Bobby, who was born in Ashington into a family with a footballing tradition, signed with Manchester United as a 15 year old in 1953. As one of the Busby Babes, he made his first team debut in October 1956, and played regularly until the Munich air disaster of 1958, in which eight players and three club officials were among the 23 people who were killed as the team returned from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Bobby recovered from the crash and went on to play a major role in rebuilding the team, most notably in 1968 when he captained the team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help them become the first English club to win the competition. He made his debut for England in 1958, and was a member of the England team that won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, the same year in which he was named European Footballer of the Year.

“I said before there were too many here!”