What Was Bobby Charlton's Net Worth?
Bobby Charlton was an English professional soccer player who had a net worth of $25 million at the time of his death in 2023. Bobby Charlton is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He was a member of the English team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup and he played almost all of his club career at Manchester United.
Charlton first played for the East Northumberland Schools before spending his youth career playing for Manchester United. Bobby was called up to Man U's senior side in 1956. He played there until 1973 and scored 199 goals, appearing in 606 matches. He then played for Preston North End from 1974 to 1975 and Waterford United in 1976. Charlton also represented England in international competition, first with England Schoolboys, then up to England Youth, England Under-23, and finally for the senior side, where he scored 49 goals in 106 caps.
Charlton is considered one of the best midfielders of all time and won a World Cup with England as well as the Ballon d'Or in 1966. He played in four World Cups. After he left Manchester United, he became a player/coach for Preston North End. He then became a director for Wigan Athletic before becoming part of Manchester United's board of directions in 1984. He won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, was named to the FIFA 100, and received a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. Bobby Charlton died on October 21, 2023, at the age of 86.
Early Life
Sir Robert Charlton CBE was born on October 11, 1937, in Ashington, Northumberland, England. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Charlton. His father was a coal miner. On his mother's side, he was related to the professional soccer players Jack Milburn, George Milburn, Jim Milburn, and Stan Milburn, and Jackie Milburn. Charlton began playing soccer at a young age, encouraged by his mother and grandfather. His older brother, Jack, originally pursued a career as a miner and then policeman before also becoming a professional soccer player.
Career
While playing soccer at Bedlington Grammar School at the age of 15, Charlton was spotted by Joe Armstrong, the chief scout for Manchester United. He signed amateur forms with United in January 1953. Bobby worked his way up the pecking order of the teams over the next few years before debuting with the top team in 1956. He played for United 17 times in his first season. He scored twice on his debut and managed 12 goals total over this period of time.
In 1958, his team was on an airplane leaving the Munich airport when disaster struck. The plane clipped a fence while taking off, and one of its wings caught on fire. The plane was cut in half, and 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, died as a result. Charlton suffered some injuries but ultimately was able to return to the United Kingdom eight days after the crash.
Bobby returned to playing with Manchester United and the team kept improving more and more over the next years. The club reached the 1968 European Cup Final ten seasons after the Munich airplane crash. By this time, Charlton was the team's captain. During the match, he scored twice in a match against Benfica. However, over the next few years, the team did not do as well. Charlton left Manchester United at the end of the 1972-1973 season. In total, he had scored 249 goals for the team and set a club record of 758 appearances total. This record was only broken in 2008 by Ryan Giggs. Bobby played his last game with Manchester United against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in April 1973.
In addition to his club career, Charlton had a successful international career. He was called up to join the England squad for a British Home Championship game against Scotland in April 1958. This was just two months after he had survived the Munich air disaster. The team won 4-0. Bobby later scored both goals in his second game against Portugal. He was selected for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but ultimately, he did not play. In 1959, Charlton scored a hat-trick against the United States. In 1961, he scored a second hat-trick against Mexico. He also scored in every British Home Championship tournament he played in from 1958 to 1970, with the exception of the 1963 game.
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In 1962, Bobby played in qualifiers for the World Cup in Chile against Luxembourg and Portugal. He was named to play in the squad for the finals. At the time, he was only 24 years old but had already appeared on behalf of England 38 times.
In 1966, Bobby helped England secure the title at the World Cup. In 1968, he played for England in the Euro 1968. He won his 100th cap for England in April 1970. Charlton decided to end his international career at the age of 32 on his way home from the 1970 World Cup when England was eliminated after making it to the final eight.
After his professional playing career ended, Charlton became the manager of Preston North End in 1973. Some years later, he joined Wigan Athletic as a director and was briefly caretaker manager there in 1983. In addition to continuing to work in soccer, he also built up several businesses in areas such as travel, jewelry, and hampers. In 1969, Bobby was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to football, and he was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1974. He was knighted in 1994.
Personal Life and Death
Charlton met his future wife, Norma Bell, at an ice rink in Manchester in 1959. They started dating and were married in 1961. They had two daughters, Suzanne and Andrea. Throughout his life, Bobby was involved in a number of charitable activities. He raised a lot of money in support of hospitals over the years and also became involved in the cause of land mine clearance. He supported the Mines Advisory Group and founded his own charity, Find a Better Way, which funds research into improved civilian landmine clearance.
In November 2020, it was revealed that Charlton had been diagnosed with dementia and withdrawn from public life. On October 23, 2023, his family released a statement that confirmed he had died that morning at the age of 86. The cause of death given was complications from dementia. After his death, Manchester United paid tribute to Bobby at a match they played three days later. All the players wore black armbands, and a minute of silence was observed in honor of Charlton's death.
