Newcastle United's biggest missed opportunity as Bobby and Jack Charlton story revealed
Tributes have poured in from across the world following Sir Bobby Charlton's passing last weekend... but why did he, or his equally as iconic brother Jack, never play for Newcastle United?
Sir Bobby Charlton, from the small pit village of Ashington, is the greatest English footballer of all time. But have you ever wondered why he, or his brother Jack, who later managed the club, never played for Newcastle United?
A continual theme throughout the Magpies’ history is their failure to scout young talent. In recent generations, Michael Carrick and Steve Bruce were forced to break through elsewhere despite growing up just five miles away in Wallsend.
Even Alan Shearer, a sheet metal worker’s son from Gosforth, only arrived at his boyhood club once Newcastle stumped up a world-record fee. The most ruthless striker of his generation honed his craft at Southampton - on the opposite side of the country.
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Aside from Paul Gascoigne, any generational Tyneside talent has been poached by fields afar. While Peter Beardsley is thought of as a homegrown phenomenon, it was the Vancouver Whitecaps, on the other side of the Atlantic, who gave the Geordie his break after impressing for Carlisle United.
But no error can be deemed as monumental as the Charlton brothers.
How can Bobby and Jack, two stalwarts of the Three Lions’ historic World Cup-winning campaign, slip through the net at St James’ Park?
The brothers are finally reunited, with Bobby’s passing rocking English football last weekend following a battle with dementia. Jack died just three years earlier, with the streets of Ashington lined with mourners paying their respects.
Still working class to its core, the town has changed beyond recognition since the 1940s and 1950s. Hard labour no longer takes the shape of coal mines and shipbuilding - but the love for football remains the same.
“What made the North East unique was its enthusiasm for the game of football,” Bobby said in a 2001 interview. “They talk about nothing else (up there). They’ll talk about what the Newcastle match was like on Saturday and then talk about the game from the week before.
“My grandfather used to take me out. I used to read the Saturday scores out to him from the Newcastle Evening Chronicle when he wasn’t so well. Football was everything. It took over people’s minds.
“It was non-stop football. There were lots of local teams too. Ashington, where I come from, has a football team. I used to watch games every day of the week. The North East of England was a difficult part of the world. It was coal mines and shipbuilding. The mines eventually closed so, if you were good enough, you had to seek your fortunes somewhere else.
“If you were good enough, you’d be a footballer… and that’s what happened to me. I listened to everything my uncles used to say to me. I loved football. People worked hard. The mining industry is a tough one. When you’d finished a hard shift and wanted to enjoy yourself, you could go to the football and let your hair down. It was something special.”
So what about Newcastle United? Living just 20 miles from St James’ Park, both Charltons were on the Magpies’ radar.
Their mother, Cissie Milburn, grew up in a fervent football family. Brothers Jack, George, Jim and Stan all played professionally while her cousin, Jackie, went on to become the greatest Newcastle ever had.
Her unwavering love for the game was passed on to her sons but, with it, came a stern warning. Speaking a few years before his death, elder Charlton brother Jack revealed an underhand tactic from Newcastle meant they were never going to wear black and white.
“I could have had a trial with Newcastle but my mother never let us go there,” he said. “She said that Newcastle would get kids to sign a form which meant they’d never be able to go anywhere else to play football. She wouldn’t have anything to do with them.”
Ironically, this ruling has previously prevented Wor Jackie from leaving Newcastle in 1948. Long before earning iconic status for three FA Cup triumphs and 201 goals, the legendary number nine desired a move down south and was forced to plead in front of club directors. As everyone knows, his demands were ultimately turned down.
Bobby expanded on why they never joined Newcastle further, citing an underperforming youth academy. This is a label the club struggled to shake in ensuing decades, with bitter rivals Sunderland being renowned for their superior facilities.
In an era when Sir Matt Busby was wilfully playing 16, 17 and 18-year-olds in the First Division, the decision to join Manchester United appeared a no-brainer when chief scout Joe Armstrong watched him play for East Northumberland schools. However, the door was not as shut as his older sibling suggested…
“When I first started to play football, people used to tell me Newcastle didn’t have a good coaching system for young players,” Sir Bobby revealed. “I was told Manchester United had the best. Sir Matt Busby introduced the Busby Babes. Young players who would straight into the first team.
“For most people in the North East, it was a hard place to live in those days. If you didn’t work in the mines or the shipyards, there wasn’t that much to work at.
“If there was ever an opportunity to travel, you went and you travelled. It was expected of you. When I got the opportunity to become a professional, at Manchester United, I went. If the coaching system at Newcastle or Sunderland was good at that time, maybe I would’ve stayed.”
Ultimately, an odyssey at Old Trafford beckoned for Bobby while Jack enjoyed a 21-year career at Leeds United. Two local brothers became etched in English history when they lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966.
Now laid to rest, their impact on the game was seismic but only a ripple, Jack’s brief stint as manager in the 1980s, was felt in the North East. That fact remains a crying shame but should serve as a lesson - especially for Newcastle. The sport is far removed from the days of coal mines and shipbuilding but, backed by astronomical wealth, local talent must never be forced out of the region to pursue their footballing dream.