John Aldridge calls for a Jack Charlton statue at the Aviva: 'It should have been done years ago when he was alive.'
Jack Charlton with John Aldridge . Image: Billy Stickland/INPHO LAST WEEKEND, a statue of Jack Charlton was unveiled to great acclaim in his hometown of Ashington, Northumberland in the north of England.
“The ’88 Championships when we beat England — beating England, for me, was mega. Being born in Liverpool… What a team. It was like a derby with a lot of my mates playing with them and the way it was. I’ll never forget that day and obviously getting to the quarter-finals against Italy — that was remarkable for a small country like ourselves. And going to America was a great experience as well. So many. 69 caps and 10 years.
Aldridge finished that 1986-87 campaign as the seventh-top scorer in the First Division with 17 goals, but he took his time finding the net for Ireland, as it was not until his 20th match at international level that he eventually broke his duck. “Jack was great, wasn’t he? He was my favourite manager [to play under] by a mile. I still miss him now. I still dream of him. He had that much of a bearing on all of us. I just loved him. I get emotional when I think about him and talk about him — that’s the stamp he put on me and a lot of our players.”
Yet by the end of his reign, Charlton had unquestionably won over the Irish public after a decade of unprecedented success. He was widely regarded as a heroic figure thanks to a mixture of his considerable footballing acumen and often genial, loquacious manner off the field.really like? Rare insights on sport's biggest names from the writers who know them best. Listen to Behind the Lines podcast.
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