Manchester United legend and England World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton was one of British football’s greatest-ever players.

For those of a generation who did not have the privilege of watching Sir Bobby Charlton caress a football, the most evocative images of him were in Barcelona and in Moscow.

Thirty-one years after Charlton solemnly lifted the European Cup at Wembley, he clasped his hands joyously at Camp Nou and was imbued with the enthusiasm of a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 again. Charlton could be seen uttering two cherishable words: “Oh boy.”

Then, in 2008, a camera was fixed on Charlton as Nicolas Anelka skulked towards the penalty spot at the Luzhniki Stadium. Edwin van der Sar smacked his gloves together as though 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing a fly, sized up the resigned Anelka, pointed to his left, Anelka went right and so did Van der Sar, a smile widening on his face before he palmed the ball away.

Charlton rose to his feet and jumped up and down. His wife, Lady Norma, sat with restraint whereas Charlton was that overgrown 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 again, one of the few individuals present for all three of United’s European Cup triumphs.

The disgraced Uefa president Michel Platini suggested the ludicrous idea that a dignitary from each club lead the teams to collect their medals. The former United chief executive Peter Kenyon had the ignominy of leading the blubbing John Terry up the steps.

As he had done at Wembley 40 years earlier, Charlton sheepishly ascended the steps, pressed the flesh of Platini and moved to the side. Cristiano Ronaldo affectionately embraced Charlton, his demeanour more in keeping with his calm public image.

Charlton was one of British football’s playing trailblazers in the European Cup and it is not a coincidence he was a picture of unbridled joy when Sir Alex Ferguson emulated Sir Matt Busby. United’s 2008 victory was all the more poignant in the year the club commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

Within 10 years of being hauled out of the wreckage and into the slushy snow by Harry Gregg, Charlton recovered from the physical and mental scars to inspire United to two English championship wins, an FA Cup success and, last but not least, the utopia of the European Cup, starting and finishing the scoring in the 4-1 defeat of Benfica at Wembley.

Whatever the year you were 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 following Charlton’s farewell to United at Chelsea in 1973, you could not follow the club without knowing about their most storied homegrown product. It was only in the summer after United were last crowned European champions that Charlton was immortalised with the Trinity statue placed opposite Sir Matt Busby and the south stand was renamed in Charlton’s honour in 2016.

There was already the Munich clock, the plaque with the names of the 11 United players and officials who died in Munich, the statue of Busby and the sheer size of the stadium. Charlton is inextricably linked with each landmark.

Charlton is perhaps the greatest English sportsman, one of only two Englishmen to play and prevail in a World Cup final and a European Cup final. His England goalscoring record stood for 45 years after his final cap and Charlton was supplanted by Wayne Rooney as United’s leading marksman nearly 44 years after he sheepishly strode out to the centre circle for a special presentation at Stamford Bridge, flanked by ‘The Old Man’ Busby.

Charlton was in attendance when Rooney passed him to become United’s record goalscorer at Stoke in January 2017. Charlton congratulated Rooney in the dressing room.

My mother-in law recalls holidays that, whenever the conversation with fellow holidaymakers started with where they were from, the very mention of ‘Manchester’ elicited the reply: “Bobby Charlton!”

When Charlton arrived at the DW Stadium for United’s friendly at Wigan in July 2016, both United and Wigan supporters applauded.

Sir Bobby Charlton pictures through the years as footballing world mourns loss of Manchester United and England great

A fixture at first team matches until early 2020, Charlton, synonymous with the academy, also occasionally watched the reserves. At one of the last United games he attended in the December 2019 derby at the Etihad, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer triumphantly waved at him.

You do not have to have been present for Charlton’s heyday to settle on a favourite goal of his. The personal standout was at Liverpool in December 1969, exchanging a one-two with Willie Morgan before wellying the ball high into the Anfield net. Some in The Kop applauded.

Charlton was ubiquitous at Old Trafford in retirement, a director-cum-ambassador since 1984 and a welcome visitor in the dressing room. Charlton, a staunch backer of Alex Ferguson in his unfulfilling first years as manager, was almost as joyous as the Scot during United’s celebrations on the train back to Manchester with the FA Cup in 1990.

Charlton prior to his last appearance for United at Chelsea in 1973

On the final day of the 1994-95 season, United arrived at the Boleyn Ground bearpit to a throng so intimidating the verbose Paul Ince was silenced. Charlton entered the away dressing room and did a tap dance Fred Astaire would have marvelled at in front of a boyish David Beckham, whose middle name is Robert in his honour.

Charlton was so wedded to ‘The United Way’ that he endorsed Sir Alex Ferguson’s anointing of David Moyes – a British manager synonymous with longevity – in a statement.

That romanticised thinking was antiquated yet Charlton was still such an influential figure he attended Louis van Gaal’s unveiling and greeted Jose Mourinho upon his arrival at the club’s Carrington training complex.

The sight of red flags swirling around Old Trafford, replete with a ‘Sir Bobby’ mosaic in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, was befitting the naming ceremony of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand in April 2016. Charlton looked typically stoic and barely broke into a smile.

Unlike in Barcelona and Moscow.