PA Media/DPA
London
Thousands of fans turned out at Old Trafford to bid a final farewell to Manchester United great Sir Bobby Charlton.
The 1966 World Cup winner’s funeral cortege was welcomed with gentle applause as it drove past the stadium’s East Stand and the United Trinity statue, which features Charlton himself, George Best and Denis Law.
Representatives of the club’s under-18 and under-21 teams formed a guard of honour flanking the statue and, behind it, there were numerous black and white photographs depicting Charlton’s long and illustrious career as a player and then a director at the club.
High on the glass wall of the East Stand were two huge black and white photographs - one of Charlton in his Busby Babes playing days and the other of him as the club’s elder statesman as a director – flanking the words Sir Bobby Charlton, 1937-2023. Forever Loved.
The cortege made its way across the stadium apron, lined by crowds three or four deep in places, before making a right turn out of the complex to continue its three-mile journey to Manchester Cathedral in the city centre.
Among the invited guests at the funeral included the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, current first-teamers Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton and a host of former players - including some of Charlton’s old team-mates, England manager Gareth Southgate, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, Prince William, the Prince of Wales and Football Association president, and Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano.
A United statement read: “The Charlton family and Manchester United would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and respect towards Sir Bobby.”
The family has requested donations in lieu of flowers to a series of charities close to Charlton’s heart, the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation, the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust, the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s UK.
The Ashington-born midfielder, who made 758 appearances and scored 249 goals for the Red Devils in a glittering 17-year playing career, died at the age of 86 last month.
He survived the 1958 Munich Air Disaster which claimed the lives of eight of his fellow Busby Babes and went on to win the World Cup with England in 1966 alongside older brother Jack and the European Cup with United two years later.
Charlton returned to the club with which he had made his name as a director in 1984 and continued to serve both it and football in general as a much-admired ambassador until his latter years.
His stature in the game was reflected in the tributes which poured in after the news of his death was announced.
Ferguson, who guided the club back to the pinnacle of European football under his watchful gaze, described him as a “tower of strength” during his 26-year spell at the helm.
In a eulogy published in the matchday programme ahead of the derby against Manchester City, Ferguson wrote: “It’s no surprise to me that we’ve seen tributes to Sir Bobby from everywhere in the world, on every TV channel and in every newspaper, because he was without question the greatest English player of all time.
“People loved him because of all those thunderbolt goals, but it was more than that. My dad used to say that humility in success is a sign of greatness, and that was Bobby.
“He never used to boast about his own achievements; it was always about the team and the club.”
