THE scene at the German airport that bitter February afternoon in 1958 was one of utter devastation.
Pulled free from the twisted wreckage of the Munich air disaster, Sir Bobby Charlton rose to become one of the finest footballers England — and the world — has ever known.
But for the rest of his life he would be haunted by the tragedy that left eight of his Manchester United teammates dead, including England legend Duncan Edwards.
Sir Bobby said: “All my mates — I think about this fact every day of my life.”
Over the next decade, he reached peaks of achievement no other domestic player has reached.
An exceptionally gifted midfielder with a thunderbolt shot, he was the leading scorer for both United and England for more than 40 years until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.
Partly because of the trauma of Munich, his character has been described as modest and reserved.
Flamboyant former Manchester United boss Ron Atkinson once called him a “grizzlin’ old miser” — but on the field Charlton oozed a unique charisma.
Renowned football correspondent Geoffrey Green summed up his brilliance in 1969, writing: “It is the explosive facets of his play that will remain in the memory.
“His thinning, fair hair streaming in the wind, he has moved like a ship in full sail.
“He has always possessed an elemental quality, jinking, changing feet and direction, turning gracefully on the ball or accelerating through a gap surrendered by a confused enemy.”
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Charlton was an enigma — unable to fulfil his talent consistently.
But all that changed when he was switched from left winger to the role of attacking central midfielder for club and country.
The national team was now under the management of Alf Ramsey, whose pioneering approach abandoned the use of traditional wingers.
With more scope to dominate, Charlton flourished. In 1963, he said: “I’m in the game all the time. I could not be happier.”
He became the fulcrum of United’s forward line as the revived club won a host of trophies, including an FA Cup, three league titles, and, above all, the European Cup in 1968 — exactly a decade after Munich.
Charlton was just as vital to Alf Ramsey’s world-beating England side of 1966.
Squad member Jimmy Armfield said: “We had a trump card — every great team has one and ours was Bobby Charlton.”
His typically spectacular long-range goal against Mexico kick-started England’s campaign, and his brace against Portugal saw England through to the final.
Full-back George Cohen recalled: “He had that great acceleration and beautiful balance that gives great players half a chance at goal where there isn’t one.”
It was a reflection of Charlton’s stature that in the 1966 final, the German maestro Franz Beckenbauer was instructed to sacrifice his own freedom to mark him, though that did not prevent an England triumph.
Beckenbauer said: “I have more admiration for Charlton than any other player, even Pele.”
Central to the admiration Charlton provoked was his supreme professionalism.
Unlike his United team-mate George Best, who squandered his talent through alcoholic self-indulgence, Charlton was a role model in the way he conducted himself, never flinched from the fight and gave wholeheartedly to every team he represented.
Even his signature comb-over — for which he was ribbed by some — was a mark of an unflashy man brought up in a Northumberland mining town.
He appeared in more than 750 matches yet was only booked twice.
Irish legend Johnny Giles, who began his career at United, said: “He always tried his hardest, no matter what the circumstances.
“He would never hide on the field, even when he was not playing well. I never saw him give anything but his best.”
His decency extended to his personal life, built on his happy marriage to Norma Ball, who was a receptionist in a fashion agency before she met Bobby in 1959.
They had two daughters — Andrea and Suzanne, who went on to become a weather presenter for the BBC.
There was never the slightest whiff of scandal about Sir Bobby.
He was too restrained, too self-conscious ever to have been a playboy, and a secure domestic life as both loyal husband and devoted father suited him perfectly.
Ronnie Cope, who played 93 games for United with Charlton, remembered: “I have always said that marrying Norma was the best thing that ever happened to Bobby.
“She was a smashing girl, very attractive and seemed to have an influence on him straight away.”
But the advent of Norma into his life also caused a rift in his family, particularly with elder brother Jack and his mother Cissie — who came from the famous north-eastern Milburn footballing family and was very much the matriarch of the Charlton household in Ashington.
Outspoken, domineering but warm, Cissie was similar in character to Jack, whereas Bobby took after his quiet father, Robert, a miner who worked down the local pit and was more interested in boxing than football.
It was a tough life, and Jack and Bobby grew up in a small terraced house where they had to share a bed and use an outside toilet. They also shared an ability at football.
From his earliest years in Ashington, Bobby had seemed destined for greatness, as his neighbour Walter Lavery recalled: “He stood out like a beacon.
“He was different, far above the rest of the young players, as near a genius as you could get.”
But Jack, while more limited, was still sufficiently effective as a defender to attract the interest of league clubs.
He joined Leeds United at the age of 15, a year before Bobby signed for Manchester United.
Despite embarking on the same career path, the two brothers were never close.
Indeed, the differences between them were far greater than the similarities.
Uninterested in academic work, Jack went to a secondary modern school, Bobby, more diligent, to a grammar.
Jack was a rebel, always challenging authority, while Bobby was a conformist. Jack was a voluble Labour supporter, whereas Bobby was essentially conservative in outlook.
Against this backdrop, Bobby’s marriage to Norma dramatically widened the chasm between the brothers. Norma and Cissie could not abide each other.
Norma once said: “I was never accepted into the family by my mother-in-law. She has never acknowledged me or my children.”
In her turn, Cissie admitted as much: “We got off to a bad start. I think we rubbed each other up the wrong way.”
Inevitably, Bobby took Norma’s side, and Jack his mother’s.
The result was that they were barely on speaking terms for much of their later lives.
In the playing arena, there was an air of anti-climax for Bobby after 1968.
United went into decline following the retirement of manager Sir Matt Busby, while Bobby’s England career ended on a sour note when he was substituted in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final defeat by West Germany in Mexico.
On his departure from United in 1973, he had a spell as manager of Preston North End.
But his habitual reserve and inability to connect with players much less skilful than him meant he was never cut out for such a role. He left after two seasons.
More fulfilling were stints as an international ambassador for the FA — where he was the architect of a network of international youth coaching schemes, of which David Beckham was one product.
As a director of Manchester United from 1984, he played a vital part in the success of Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial career at Old Trafford.
Bobby himself was knighted in 1994. No one was ever more deserving of the honour.
And it was his elder brother Jack who presented him with a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
Jack told his sibling: “Bobby Charlton is the greatest player I’ve ever seen. And he’s my brother.”
