Perfect English gentleman

Happily ever after: Bobby Charlton and his bride Norma Ball, a fashion model, after their wedding on July 22, 1961. Right: Dazzling the crowd at a Manchester United game in 1969. — AP/AFP

LONDON: Former Manchester United and England star Bobby Charlton, whose death at the age of 86 was announced last Saturday, will go down in history as the gentlemanly embodiment of English football’s golden era.

A survivor of the Munich air disaster in 1958, which claimed the lives of eight of his United teammates, Charlton recovered to win the World Cup with England in 1966 and the European Cup with United two years later.