Bobby Charlton at 80

Bobby Charlton at 80

Sir Bobby Charlton by far was regarded as one of the world's best players of all time. This documentary looks back at what has been an incredible and highly successful career for the former England and Manchester United midfielder.

This programme also has a clear understanding of the way in which Bobby Charlton's career was built around football and it's society.
  

Having been brought up in Northumberland, no one expected him to have a highly successful career and achieve all that there is to achieve in both international and club football. particularly with his family being so poor at that time. This is why this documentary is so intriguing to watch, it's the history behind the success of English football.

What is also intriguing is the fact that this happened when it almost didn't, especially after that horrific plane crash in which he somehow managed to survive but unfortunately lost his best friend two weeks later. To have overcome all those emotional barriers and still have a phenomenal career is just incredible and shows what a true sportsman he was and shows the mentality he had as a player. .

In sport, it is great to see a coach having an impact on a player's performance, especially if it happens week in and week out. That's where former United assistant coach Jimmy Murphy had a huge influence on Bobby's success.

Murphy described Sir Bobby as his golden apple in the sense that the team was built around him being the focal point. What stands out for me is his passion and respect for the game especially after Manchester United's victory against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup, which was the first match post the plane crash. He also rated him as being one of the worlds top players alongside players like Pele. That for me is a bold statement to make because you are comparing one player in one decade to another player in another decade, which can be difficult to prove at times.

Bobby Charlton had tremendous respect for the Owls and felt sympathy for them as they didn't stand a chance of beating his United side.

In terms of building relationships with his teammates for both club and country, Duncan Edwards was rated as one of Sir Bobby's best friend. He was traditionally a left half but he could play in all different positions if necessary.

One of Bobby Charlton's memorable moments was playing alongside one of his two brothers, Jack  at the 1966 World Cup. This was because he felt a family connection with them and had  a great understanding amongst each other. This is what I feel is emotional in the sense that if I were playing in the same team amongst my siblings, it would probably inspire me as well as them to perform to the best of our abilities

With Charlton in the team, England were almost unbeatable, especially going into the World Cup. in which the did not lose a single game and only conceded two goals to West Germany in the final. It was a golden era for English football in which Sir Bobby was the mainstay of that fabulous 1966 World Cup team.

I was slightly surprised to see that they didn't at least show a clip of England's 1966 manger Sir Alfred Ramsey as I'm sure he must have had some part to play in Bobby Charlton's career, especially at the World Cup.