The 10-year-old Bobby Charlton first fell for the charms of Manchester United during the 1948 FA Cup final. After playing for East Northumberland Boys in the morning, he had been invited to a teammate’s house to listen on the wireless to United playing Blackpool in what proved a classic final. Though he and his pals missed much of their 4-2 win through playing football on the street outside, he later said: “It was from that day I wanted to be a footballer and join Manchester United.”
Sixty years later, on a sodden night in Moscow, after United had beaten Chelsea in the Champions League final, Charlton, his jacket wet through, led the players up to collect their medals, receiving one of his own. He had been on the club’s board since 1984, brought in as a football face to replace a retired Sir Matt Busby, and remained highly influential until the onset of dementia forced a retirement from public life.
