Sir Bobby Charlton: Man Utd and England legend funeral was 'the most special of occasions'
Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett reflects on an emotional day and 'the most special of occasions' as some of the biggest names in football and beyond attended Sir Bobby Charlton's funeral
Senior Reporter, Sky Sports News @RobDorsettSky
Tuesday 14 November 2023 07:19, UK
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The future King of England. The president of UEFA. The chair of the Football Association. The current England manager, who delayed the national squad meeting up so that he — and other England stars — could attend this most special of occasions.
Very few footballers could draw such a crowd. But Sir Bobby Charlton was a unique footballer and person.
He is the only Englishman to have been selected for four World Cup squads, the only Englishman to have won the feted treble of World Cup, Ballon d'Or and European Cup, and (for more than four decades until Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane pipped him) was England's all-time leading goalscorer.
Many expert pundits and star players claimed on the steps of Manchester Cathedral that Sir Bobby Charlton remains, even in death, the greatest ever English footballer.
The predicted Manchester rain stayed away, as if a greater power knew today was not the day for brollies and puddles. People arrived early. Famous people, busy people. All of them pausing, to pay the most heartfelt respects.
Dozens of TV cameras and scores of photographers were packed into the small grassy area outside the north entrance to Manchester Cathedral, as the autumn leaves whirled around the feet of the gathering congregation in the stiff north-west wind.
But, temporarily at least, gone were the usual rivalries of journalistic one-upmanship. Even those, like myself, who strained
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