{"id":291901,"date":"2023-10-24T22:24:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T22:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=291901"},"modified":"2023-10-24T22:24:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T22:24:41","slug":"wheeler-a-night-of-love-as-sir-bobby-worshippers-are-out-in-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/wheeler-a-night-of-love-as-sir-bobby-worshippers-are-out-in-force\/","title":{"rendered":"WHEELER: A night of love as Sir Bobby worshippers are out in force"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>CHRIS WHEELER: A night of love as Sir Bobby Charlton worshippers are out in force to pay their respects to one of Manchester United&#8217;s greats &#8211; he was a man of the people and always will be<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Man United legend Sir Bobby Charlton passed away at the age of 86 on Saturday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>United&#8217;s players and supporters paid tribute to Sir Bobby on Tuesday evening\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Follow Mail Sport&#8217;s new\u00a0Man United WhatsApp channel for all the breaking news\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the fans filed past the Trinity statue to pay their respects to Sir Bobby Charlton\u00a0on Tuesday night, one man in a baseball cap stopped and bowed his head as if facing an altar. After a few moments of quiet contemplation he unclasped his hands and crossed himself.<\/p>\n<p>MUFC The Religion, a banner used to declare at Old Trafford, and no-one was worshipped more than Sir Bobby.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the swathe of floral tributes, scarves and jerseys laid out beneath Charlton, Denis Law and George Best flickered a solitary candle.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the statue, among the pictures adorning the perimeter wall, there was an iconic black and white image of Charlton lifting the European Cup at Wembley in 1968 and a colour photo of Sir Matt Busby kneeling next to the trophy that meant so much to both men.<\/p>\n<p>Other supporters stood behind metal railings and simply observed the scene. A separate area had been set up for the media to record the events. Stars of yesteryear came and went. Sammy McIlroy spoke to Sky Sports News.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/24\/22\/76945803-12668153-Tributes_from_clubs_all_over_the_country_have_been_laid_outside_-a-29_1698182172221.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Man United fans came out to pay their respects to Sir Bobby Charlton on Tuesday evening<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/24\/22\/76952825-12668153-Erik_ten_Hag_led_the_tributes_as_he_walked_out_from_the_tunnel_b-a-30_1698182182659.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Erik ten Hag led the tributes as he walked out from the tunnel behind a bagpipe player while being flanked by United&#8217;s youth team captain Dan Gore (left) and Alex Stepney (right)<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t all nostalgia, of course. The hawkers were doing brisk business, some having hastily produced black T-shirts with Charlton on the front. Beneath two banners draped on the front of Old Trafford paying tribute to arguably United&#8217;s favourite son, the Megastore was busy too.<\/p>\n<p>A few yards away, police in full riot gear prepared for the FC Copenhagen fans to arrive. It was only a few weeks ago that 2,000 Galatasaray fans infiltrated the home end here, so they couldn&#8217;t be too careful.<\/p>\n<p>But this was a night for love not hate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A planned anti-Glazer protest had been called off, and the usual messages telling the owners to get out of the club were for once absent from the south-west quadrant of the stadium next to the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand and directors&#8217; box where a wreath had been placed on seat number 122 by chief executive Richard Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Loved, adored, never forgotten,&#8217; read a handwritten note.<\/p>\n<p>When the United fans next to the Copenhagen supporters sang &#8216;there&#8217;s only Bobby Charlton&#8217; shortly before kick-off, the Danes held their white scarves over their heads in a show of silent solidarity.<\/p>\n<p>They were just as respectful when a lone bagpiper emerged from the tunnel followed solemnly by United manager Erik ten Hag, Charlton&#8217;s former team-mate and fellow European Cup winner Alex Stepney, and the Under-19s captain Dan Gore. Sir Bobby knew the significance of United&#8217;s youth more than anyone.<\/p>\n<p>They placed a wreath in the centre circle before referee Marco Guida&#8217;s whistle signalled the start of a perfectly observed minute&#8217;s silence.<\/p>\n<p>Ten Hag once again paid tribute to Sir Bobby in a match programme that carried a photo of the United icon on a black and white front cover.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/24\/22\/76952967-12668153-Sir_Bobby_s_seat_was_left_empty_and_the_wreath_could_be_seen_fro-a-32_1698182187773.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sir Bobby&#8217;s seat in the director&#8217;s box was left empty and a wreath was placed there instead<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/24\/22\/76952799-12668153-Both_United_s_and_Copenhagen_s_players_observed_a_minutes_silenc-a-31_1698182184918.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Both United&#8217;s and FC Copenhagen&#8217;s players observed a minute&#8217;s silence ahead of kick off<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He is a loss for our club, of course, but also for the whole sporting world. He was a giant figure in the history of football,&#8217; wrote Ten Hag. &#8216;He will always be someone who represented the best of Manchester United.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Look around the press room at Old Trafford and among the old billboard posters for newspaper columns by Best, Law and Nobby Stiles \u2013 reminders of a bygone age \u2013 is a fascinating photo.<\/p>\n<p>It is of Charlton and his team-mates being given a homecoming welcome by thousands of fans in Albert Square after winning the European Cup at Wembley in &#8217;68.<\/p>\n<p>The open-top bus transporting the United players was little more than a mini-van by today&#8217;s opulent standards. But that would have been more than enough for Sir Bobby. He was a man of the people, and always will be.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12668153\/Sir-Bobby-Charlton-Man-United.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHRIS WHEELER: A night of love as Sir Bobby Charlton worshippers are out in force to pay their respects to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WHEELER: A night of love as Sir Bobby worshippers are out in force - 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