One of the strange things about getting older is that the number of people who share the same cultural references diminishes as time rolls on, quite often I hear of people famous in the 1930s who have died and that helps me imagine how younger people feel when someone I am aware of (but younger people are not) dies.
It is difficult to overstate how the name Bobby Charlton resonated across the whole of football when I was younger and he was probably the bridge between the football that existed in black and white (and that’s not just in terms of colour) and what we see as now as modern football. The 60’s changed so much in British Culture and it almost feels like it lit up in many ways a world that was still connected to the Victorian world.
When you see Busby’s babes in the 50s and see how that shifted to George Best and his ilk, someone who would not be that out of place today, you can see that starkly. In terms of how the game was played, how footballers lifestyles changed and how supporters behaved. From celebrating goals with a handshake to cynical tactics and cheating (imported from Europe and South America), from players going on the bus to the match and living in suburban semis to out on the town and ‘glamour’, from wooden rattles and wearing a suit to the match, to crowd trouble and unfriendly rivalry, everything changed.
Bobby Charlton strode across that gap, he strode across from Munich to Wembley Glory (twice), he strode across from Duncan Edwards to George Best and from Matt Busby and the gentleman managers (Mercer/Nicholson/Mee/Stein) to Tommy Docherty and a new way of managing (Clough/Allison).
Before Charlton, clubs and players were often friends not deadly rivals and could be seen to be so, Busby was Paisley’s best mate and Busby captained Liverpool, no terrace rivalry of the type we’ve seen since the 70s. He was not the reason for that but was the epitome of what that looked like and he carried that on through his life until this week. Because of his shot, regardless of who you supported, kids smashed the ball towards goal while shouting “AND CHARLTON SCORES FROM NOWHERE”.
He’s probably the last link to that world, at least in terms of profile and, I think, because of his experience in Munich (an event that should never be forgotten or treated lightly), he had aged before his time such that he carried over more maturity than any other 22 year old would normally do. He always carried himself with great dignity, whilst sometimes inhabiting waters in which the others around him singularly failed to do and in that respect (whatever you think of our outdated feudal monarchy) it feels the same way the queen was viewed relative to her family. With Pele dying last year I think the living connection to the 1950s is gone now whilst the connection to the 60s feels different even though it lives on. The most iconic name in British Football and probably always will be. We probably started missing Bobby Charlton in 1974 without knowing it and I think football as a whole is poorer for the likes of him not being around.
