ISSUE 2 Wednesday 7 September 2005 Jack Charlton

YBIG: Back in the day you had a serious relationship with the Irish fans, why do you think they took to you so well?
JACK: Em, I have really no idea why. It (qualifying for a major event for the first time) happened and then gradually the team improved, so more and more players came to us but I honestly don’t know why. I like people and I stop to have a word with people, I’ve been like that all my life. I think that’s probably one of the reasons.

YBIG: Of all the fond memories you have had with Ireland, what stands out the most?
JACK: Waiting to get on a plane in Malta. Somebody came in with a paper and that weekend there was
more alcohol drunk in Malta than there had been the whole of the summer. One weekend, I enjoyed the
Irish fans, I liked the way they went away. They wanted a result but if they didn’t get it they would still have the craic and the signing in the pub.

YBIG: Would you ever go away with the fans now, as a fan?
JACK: Probably, ye I would. I would certainly go, people recognise you so it is difficult to go with a group.

YBIG: What about meeting the Pope.
JACK: O a wonderful experience. I’m not a catholic but I appreciate nice people. I met him and talked to him, he said he enjoyed the game. We chatted for five, six, seven minutes. I don’t know what it is but when you first meet someone you get an impression of them and I thought he was a very very honest, straight forward man.

YBIG: Best memory while playing?
JACK: It has to be the World Cup, the biggest event in the world. The amount of work you spend on it and then you achieve it, it’s got to be that.

YBIG: What about a match as Ireland manager, which one stands out?
JACK: The one I remember is the one we lost in Italy. The way the game had been handled. The first question after when I went into the press room was what did I think of the performance of the referee. I told them I couldn’t talk about things like that.

YBIG: Who was your role model when you were a child?
JACK: Jackie Milburn, Frank Brennan, all the Newcastle players.

YBIG: The hardest opponent you have played against?
JACK: There were ones you had to be very careful with. They were nasty. Everyone used to say that Tommy Smith was a hard man. Tommy I always thought was a very good tackler, he wasn’t that type
(nasty). I ran into him once and I tell you what, it was like running into a brick wall. He was a strong lad, I got up and tried to walk away and nearly fell down again. Tommy was as hard as they come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 YBIG: Funny moments.
JACK: We had a father called Liam Boyle, a priest who used to travel with us and we used to wind him up something terrible, he was a good man and the best of fun.

YBIG: Best atmosphere
JACK: Liverpool, a ye, we won the Championship at Liverpool, we needed a draw and we got one at Liverpool.

YBIG: And what about with Ireland?
JACK: Well who could forget the day we flew in from Rome. They took us up O’Connell and tipped the plane sideways so we could see all the crowds. It took us hours to get into town from the airport, it was
absolutely incredible and we only got to the quarter final. That’s exactly the way the Irish were, you know
they had never done that before so it was something special. It was a tremendous reception, unbelievable.

YBIG: Catching a record salmon on the fly or winning the World Cup?
JACK: Well if you won the World Cup you would be part of a team but if you caught the biggest salmon in the world you would be alone, it would be just you. You would be in every fishing diary, book every information story whatever, for eternity really but you wouldn’t be part of a team.

YBIG: What is your biggest salmon.
JACK: 28 and a half (pounds). I had one 56 pounder in Alaska but that’s not classed as a big fish there. They come very big up there.

YBIG: You played with Leeds for 21 years, do you think a player will ever play at a club that long again?
JACK: I wouldn’t of thought so, not the way things are. Most players coming into the Premiership now
are all foreign players anyway. I’m like anybody else, I think money is killing the game. And eventually
there will be an explosion.

 

YBIG: What about Ray’s goal against England, can you describe that?
JACK: There is always chances and there are always people getting into the right positions, goals will come. It was a header but he hadn’t a clue where it was going and it just dropped into the right place! We told Ray that many many times since. He was one of the nicest guys we had with us. Very well behaved, a terrific lad to have in the team, worked his bollox off and if he had a point to make he would make it in a very nice way and he was always up for a laugh.

YBIG: Who else was up for the craic?
JACK: John Aldridge, you would never believe what John was saying one minute to the next. Some of
them stood and listened, like Packie didn’t say much, Gerry Peyton stood and listened. They were all up for a laugh and a bit of fun.

YBIG: What about that emotional night in Anfield when we were beaten by the Dutch in a play-off.
JACK: Strangely enough, the result didn’t surprise me cause we had to make too many changes going into the game. We had a few injuries. Andy Townsend didn’t play. I’d lost three or four, I can’t remember the team but we didn’t have everyone available, we lost real strong parts of the team.

YBIG: What about after the match when you were saluting the Irish fans on the Kop?
JACK: That was unbelievable. I mean I was in the dressing room when the police came in and said they won’t go until you come out. I thought the stadium would be empty by then and I went out and it was still packed. Very emotional, very very emotional.

YBIG: Any player you have ever taken a dislike to?
JACK: I wouldn’t like to answer that. I like to think I got on with most of the players. There are players that you fall out with from time to time, I fell out with Frank, I fell out with Liam Brady, I fell out with Paul. You fell out with different people in different ways but it never affected the game of football.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 YBIG: Paul McGrath?
JACK: The only thing you remember about Paul is what a player he was, a good reader of the game and very mobile, his limbs suffered as he got older, but he could still get there if he had to. But Paul, as everybody knows, had his problems and his problems caused us to have a laugh many times. I mean
you couldn’t be serious all the time. I remember we were playing Americans in a friendly match on a tour we were on and we had just flown in the day before. I played Paul and when the game kicked off Paul was unbelievable. Not as a good player. he couldn’t kick the ball, couldn’t stand up. I said to, what do ya call him, the fella who played with Mick McCarthy, O ye Kevin Moran. I said, ‘what the hell is up with Paul’, and he said he was drunk. I said ‘he’s what’ and Kevin repeated he was drunk. As soon as the game stopped I got him off. Apparently he had been drinking on the plane out. Normally I would spot it with Paul a mile off. He was drinking for a couple of days and nobody knew, we only found out in a football match. It wasn’t funny, but it was funny, we could laugh about it.

YBIG: Andy Townsend said that you were always forgetting names but he didn’t know if you meant it
or not. What was the story there?

JACK: No, no, no. Andy Townsend didn’t say that. It was a guy from
Liverpool, centre forward I think. When I took the job he was there but he never came back, he wasn’t
good enough. But I can’t remember his name!!!!

YBIG: A prediction for Ireland v France?
JACK: I wouldn’t even dream of it, i’ll keep my fingers crossed though. I’ll sit in front of the telly with a bottle of whiskey.

interview: Ger Keville