Sports

England World Cup winner Jack Charlton dies

Jack Charlton, a World Cup winner with England and a former Republic of Ireland manager, has died aged 85, reports The Guardian.Charlton was awarded the freedom of the city of Dublin in 1994 in recognition of his work and stood down as manager after the team lost a play-off to reach the 1996 Euro finals. He was 60 at that point and retired.

Charlton had a strained relationship with his brother Bobby. His final England cap came at the 1970 World Cup but he continued playing until 1973 for Leeds, for whom he made 772 appearances.

Charlton, the elder brother of Bobby, played 35 times for England as a central defender, including all six matches at the 1966 World Cup.

He spent his whole playing career at Leeds United, with whom he won several major honours, including the First Division title in 1969, the FA Cup in 1972 and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

After retiring as a player Charlton became a successful manager. He started with Middlesbrough, leading them to promotion to the top division as champions in 1974, and in 1980 led Sheffield Wednesday into the second tier. He also had a season with Newcastle but is arguably best remembered as a manager for his work with the Republic of Ireland.

Charlton took the team to their first major finals by qualifying for Euro 1988 and followed that by reaching the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Ireland got to the quarter-finals in 1990 before losing to Italy, whom they sent to a shock defeat four years later.