He may not have been the most gifted of players and he admitted he watched Bobby Moore in the World Cup final and thought, 'I'll never be able to play this game,' but Jack Charlton was the igneous core on which Leeds's success was built, albeit that he had left before the second title was secured in 1974. A self-confessed jack-the-lad, who trained to be a miner, it was Revie who changed Charlton's life. However, in 1962, Leeds were almost relegated to the third division and Revie said he would sell him. Bill Shankly was interested and so was Matt Busby. In the end, he stayed put and formed a bad cop-bad cop combo with Norman Hunter.
They made a combined total of almost 1,500 appearances for Leeds, with Charlton named as the football writers' player of the year in 1967. The only other Leeds players to get the award have been Bobby Collins, Billy Bremner and Gordon Strachan.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Charlton | ||
| Date of birth | 8 May 1935 (1935-05-08) | ||
| Place of birth | Ashington, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Playing position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1950-1952 | Leeds United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1952-1973 | Leeds United | 629 | (70) |
| National team | |||
| 1965-1970 | England | 35 | (6) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1973-1977 | Middlesbrough | ||
| 1977-1983 | Sheffield Wednesday | ||
| 1984-1985 | Newcastle United | ||
| 1986-1995 | Republic of Ireland | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||