The story of Jack and Bobby Charlton, and a family that characterised English football for decades
'Gripping' Daily Mail 'Wilson is a fine, nuanced writer' TLS 'A powerful chronicle' Irish Times 'Surprisingly moving' Guardian 'Razor-sharp tactical analysis' Irish Independent
In later life Jack and Bobby didn't get on and barely spoke but the lives of these very different brothers from the coalfield tell the story of late twentieth-century English the tensions between flair and industry, between individuality and the collective, between right and left, between middle- and working-classes, between exile and home.
Jack was open, charismatic, selfish and pig-headed; Bobby was guarded, shy, polite and reserved to the point of reclusiveness. They were very different Jack a gangling central defender who developed a profound tactical intelligence; Bobby an athletic attacking midfielder who disdained systems. They played for clubs who embodied two very different approaches, the familial closeness and tactical cohesion of Leeds on the one hand and the individualistic flair and clashing egos of Manchester United on the other.
Both enjoyed great success as Jack won a league, a Cup and two Fairs Cups with Leeds; Bobby won a league title, survived the terrible disaster of the plane crash in Munich, and then at enormous emotional cost, won a Cup and two more league titles before capping it off with the European Cup. Together, for England, they won the World Cup.
Their managerial careers followed predictably diverging paths, Bobby failing at Preston while Jack enjoyed success at Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before leading Ireland to previously un-imagined heights. Both were financially very successful, but Jack remained staunchly left-wing while Bobby tended to conservatism. In the end, Jack returned to Northumberland; Bobby remained in the North-West.
Two Brothers tells a story of social history as well as two of the most famous football players of their generation.
Jonathan Wilson is a British sports journalist and author who writes for a number of publications including the Guardian, the Independent and Sports Illustrated. He also appears on the Guardian football podcast, Football Weekly.
A good, well researched and I think a pretty balanced biography on the Charlton brothers, Bobby and Jack. Also highlighted quite a bit due to the influence and role they played on the brothers' careers are Sir Matt Busby and Don Revie.
I was a Man City supporter back in the day when I was an Australian lad living in the English Midlands for several years. It was a great era as England was still reveling in the glory of their World Cup win and Saturday nights in my small village always included checking in on Match of the Day. It remains one of the great sports TV music qthemes ever (check it out here). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Vsc...
Man United and Leeds were always lurking at the top of the table in those days and I quickly came to appreciate the skill of Bobby and the height of Jackie. I largely lost track of their movements after I returned to Oz but have always being intrigued by the story of two very different brothers who made it to the top of the heap. So, I was intrigued to finally catch up on their life stories, particularly what they have done in their post-playing days.
You can't talk about the United teams of the 60's without talking about Munich. I was only broadly aware of it but the book describes the horror of it all in a very factual way, which only makes it all the more tragic. The plane crashed after hitting snow slush on its third attempt at taking off - terrifying stuff! It must have had a life-long impact on Bobby - both professionally and personally. About ten of Busby's Babes either perished or never played again as a result of the disaster. To rise from the ashes the way the team did is a testament to Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton along with the enigmatic George Best. Living not far from Northampton at the time, I still remember watching Best tear the under-matched Cobblers apart in an FA Cup round in 1970 (and I can't remember what I had for dinner last night!!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NhR...
Jack is a lot more enigmatic than his brother but I think a fan of any sport would be interested to learn of his coaching style. He seems to have spent much of his work time fishing and hunting but the author notes that there was likely a method to his madness. Setting an authoritarian tone early in his tenure, not requiring a contract which provided him with operational freedom, keeping players on edge with spasmodic appearances at training, and developing a tactical approach that was suited to the abilities of his players are all techniques that could be applied to any team, in any sport, at any level.
It was interesting to learn how rudimentary and amateurish so many of the practice sessions and facilities were at the time compared to the pampered existence of today's Premier League teams. It was also new to me how Bobby and Jackie really did not get along - it seems that Bobby's wife was a thorn in the side of his relationship with Jack and with his mother.
Soccer is "the global game" and, like most sports, it has become more risk averse and formulaic as big money has entered the arena and not losing is almost as important as winning. But the game still holds its magic because of the individual flair and creativity of its star players - Pele, Maradona, Best, Messi, Ronaldo et al - but Bobby Charlton is still at the top of my list (well, maybe it's Pele if I'm being honest!).
I have not read any other books by this author, but he clearly knows his stuff. The book is well researched, factually detailed and has enough personal stories to show that he spoke to all the right people.
“Bobby was the better player; I was the better bloke”. This self-depreciating yet also rather self-aggrandising quote, attributed to Jack Charlton when talking about his [troubled] relationship with his brother Bobby, is an assessment that Jonathan Wilson appears to subscribe to in “Two Brothers”.
Tracing their humble origins in the North-East pit village of Ashington, through to winning the World Cup for England and becoming arguably the most famous brothers in global sport, and on to their variable managerial careers, Jonathan Wilson tells the stories of two wildly different sporting siblings.
Bobby Charlton was the natural footballer, the supreme English talent of his generation, yet taciturn and reserved, no doubt traumatised by seeing his friends perish in front of his eyes at the Munich Air Disaster. Jack Charlton was, by comparison with his brother, a workaday clogger of a player; yet he was a hugely charismatic personality, an anti-establishment extrovert with a lust for life and a natural affinity with ordinary people.
Jonathan Wilson traces the development of Bobby and Jack’s playing careers in relation to their principal influences: their respective club managers of Matt Busby at Manchester United and Don Revie at Leeds United. Given his background in the tactical analysis side of football journalism, Wilson places much weight on how Busby and Revie’s diverse managerial styles moulded the approaches of the Charlton brothers to the sport (with Wilson throwing considerable shade on what he considers to be Busby’s primitive tactical acumen). Manchester United’s post-1968 decline is well-told, with the mercurial George Best (who the buttoned-up Bobby Charlton actively despised) coming in for particular derision from Wilson.
Where “Two Brothers” is most impressive is in its meticulous retelling of Jack Charlton’s spell as Republic of Ireland manager (a role that Jack initially took on almost “by mistake”). Many British journalists might consider this a mere postscript to Jack’s career in England, but Jonathan Wilson is not just insightful on the innovative (if unsightly) playing style that the elder Charlton brother employed, but also on the wider socio-cultural significance of Jack Charlton to Ireland (and how he brought a greater confidence to a previously disconsolate country).
It is during this final third of the book that the distant, self-contained Bobby seems to fade into the background, seemingly content to remain as an establishment figure on the Manchester United board. In a way, “Two Brothers” is dominated by Jack – undoubtedly the inferior footballer, but a more dynamic presence and a deceptively astute thinker about the sport. The story of the Charlton brothers endures as one of the most compelling and important tales in British life, and Jonathan Wilson has done that story considerable justice in this impeccably well-researched book.
A well-researched and straightforward chronicle of the lives (but mostly careers) of two of English football’s most notable figures who also happen to be brothers.
As an Irish Manchester United fan, who has enjoyed many of Jonathan Wilson’s previous works, I felt this book was uniquely suited to myself. Although I found it a pleasant read overall, there were some sections that dragged on a bit from my perspective.
Wilson at various times highlights the opposing natures of the two Charlton brothers - and the biggest negative of the book for me is that one of them is vastly more interesting than the other. Ironically, it is the more limited footballer, Jack, who has a much more colourful character. Almost all the memorable anecdotes and comments relate to Jack rather than Bobby. This issue becomes much more prominent in the last third of the book which details the Charltons’ post-playing careers - where Bobby is relegated to a handful of paragraphs in each chapter.
Wilson is of course one of the very best football writers around and there are some great passages in Two Brothers. Some of my favourite are:
- The chapter on the Munich air disaster. Without doubt where we get the most insight into Bobby as a person. - The detail relating to the contrasting management styles and philosophies of Matt Busby, Don Revie and Alf Ramsey was very interesting. - The passage covering George Best - his talent, his celebrity and how he slipped down a dark path. - The two chapters on Jack’s time as manager of the Irish national team. Probably the most lively part of the book with a number of great stories and one-liners. “You’re the only f*king Italian here!”
Not Wilson’s best - but definitely worth a read if you have any interest in English / Irish football.
An informative and interesting everyday tale of two Geordie brothers who just happened to grow up and win the World Cup together for England. Wilson is a well known football writer, and covers the well-known events well, although I did have a few grumbles about some of the small details. He has a chapter devoted to Jack's early years at Leeds United, during the fifties , in which they were promoted to Division One in 1956 and relegated in 1960. There is a picture of the two brothers together in their kit on the pitch before a game - the caption reads "A youthful Jack and Bobby as Leeds faced Manchester United in 1956-57". And yet , following a chapter on Revie's influence on Leeds, and the subsequent promotion to the First Division in 1964, the author ends with a dramatic "Jack was in the First Division". He then compounds this on page 122 whilst describing the following season, with "On 5 December (1964), Manchester United hosted Leeds, the first meeting of Jack and Bobby as professional footballers". Has he not read his own earlier chapters? Has he not looked at the picture in his own book , of them together in 1956-57? Other small "proofreading" niggles - I hate it when journalists and authors carelessly get facts wrong, as if they dont matter - a picture of Bobby "recovering from the crash" and "persuaded to kick a ball around with some kids behind his parents house in Ashington" - dated, the blurb says, February 1957. A last niggle, Wilson, - Stan Cullis did not take Wolves to the Cup Final in 1938 - it was 1939. These little errors irritate me.
“Two Brothers” by Jonathan Wilson is an excellent read that tells the story of the fairy tale lives of the Charlton brother, Bobby and Jack. Two completely different characters who both achieved excellence throughout their careers.
The book is well written and although I felt I already knew much of what I read it still made a fascinating and enjoyable read. It starts with Jacks early life working at the coal mine leading on to his life in football. Bobby was always the more skilled footballer but Jack more than made up for it with his sheer determination and passion.
The book also tells of the brother differing managerial careers, Bobby for once was completely outshone by his elder brother Jack. Bobby left management early after a tough beginning and became a prominent member of Manchester United’s boardroom. Overall I really enjoyed this read and felt that it was a fairly accurate account of these two famous brothers who reached the pinnacle in their football careers.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I found this extremely well researched and well written by Jonathan Wilson.
The only issue I felt was perhaps that Bobby Charlton isn't as interesting a subject as Jack (nor George Best or Don Revie, whose chapters were fascinating) - I found myself waiting for the sections on Jack whilst reading the ones on Bobby.
The big exception to that were the early chapters on the Busby Babes and then the Munich Air Disaster which were absorbing and poignant in equal measure.
Overall I really liked this one, thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
It was really good. I found it fascinating particularly on Jack's career as a manager after retiring as a player. The only part where I think it didn't work was getting under the skin of Bobby. To be fair to the author, he does mention Bobby is reserved so that could explain some of it. I thought there could have been more of Bobby's post playing career which there isn't really apart from a brief mention of his time in management. Was there challenges in football administration that Bobby tried to take on but didn't get? A really good book generally.
Honestly might be my favourite of Wilson’s. Bobby and Jackie, as well as being two of the greatest footballers this country has ever produced, are perfect for any football history fan because they both existed in a time of great change within the game. And despite all that, what Wilson does so well is channel an emotional side that I don’t think his other books have done before as well. We’ve all seen the SPOTY video with the two brothers but the way Wilson includes it into the book is perfect and had my crying the same way I did when I watched it live.
A brilliant book. The story of Jack and Bobby Charlton from their childhood, through the football years both as players winning the world cup, managerial careers and their later lives. Both brothers suffering from Alzheimer's in later life. Jack Charlton was the only Englishman Irish people loved he led the country to the World Cup twice! If you haven't read this book pick it up and watch the documentary "Finding Jack Charlton"
I’m a huge fan of Wilson’s writing - always interesting, thoughtful and drily funny. This is my favourite of his books. The two Charlton brothers are both fascinating characters - the fact that two siblings can have such a similar upbringing and yet be polar opposite personalities in particular. The section on Munich and the coda, as both men succumb to Alzheimer’s, were incredibly moving. Anyone with an interest in football or in English sport/culture in the 20th century should read this.
Wilson has written a good study of the two Charlton brothers, Jack and Bobby. They certainly had contrasting personalities. It does well to highlight how the tragedy of Munich affected Bobby so profoundly. It is good on Jack's post-football career but is weak on Bobby's later life.
Great read. Laughing about Jack and loving Bobby. Although the book plays on negative traits about Bobby, typical that a quiet person doesn't get their side as easily heard. At the end of the day though, what happens on the pitch is what matters in this story.
Like many similar books the times you don't know about are most interesting. The world cup in 1966 had too much cover for me, but maybe not for others. Jack's time in Ireland is uplifting yet not all sailing.