How meeting Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton left Hong Kong footballer Charlie Scott ‘gobsmacked’
- ‘He would always talk to us, more about your life than about football,’ Scott says of his time with the late United great at the club’s academy
- Kitchee midfielder admits he did not even recognise United legend when he first saw him however – as he carried himself as a ‘regular guy’
Bobby Charlton is set for a final footballing send-off in Sunday’s Manchester derby – and one of the many young players he inspired has paid a fitting tribute to the sporting legend.
Manchester United icon Charlton – who lifted the European Cup with the club in 1968 as captain at Wembley Stadium, 10 years after surviving the Munich air disaster – died aged 86 last week.
He will be honoured with a minute’s applause before the home Premier League game against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Midfielder Charlie Scott, who now plays with Hong Kong champions Kitchee, grew up at United and when he signed a professional contract with the club in 2014 was joined for pictures by England great Charlton.
“When I first saw him at the training ground, I did not know who he was,” Scott – who was 15 at the time – told the Post.
He admitted that he did not recognise Charlton when he saw him in the car park at the training ground because there was no air of importance or superiority about him – so Scott thought he was just a “regular guy” working there.
Scott knew the name, and Charlton’s standing in the game, just not what he looked like or much detail about his career.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up
Then he walked into the academy building and saw the pictures of Charlton – a World Cup winner with England too in 1966 – lining the walls, and it all clicked.
“I was gobsmacked,” Scott said. “I knew how much people respected him. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.”
Scott said he got to know more about Charlton, and was blown away that this man would be regularly asking about his family.
Charlton used to go to the training ground for lunch with the manager and directors on a Friday, and would always talk to the academy players.
“He would always talk to us, more about your life than about football,” Scott added. “To have this legend asking about my parents and family was incredible.”
Scott’s mother and father also loved meeting Charlton – and fellow club legend Brian McClair – when he signed his contract.
The picture of them all together is one of his favourites, one he will treasure and show to his children and grandchildren.
Scott obviously keeps it handy – he sent it to the Post within one minute of our phone call finishing.
“He was just such a nice man,” Scott added.
