Ashington AFC are delighted to reveal our 2022-23 away kit in tribute to Ashington hero Jack Charlton.
Jack was born and grew up in the Hirst (Beatrice Street) and spent countless hours on Hirst Park playing football. He had a superb playing career winning domestic and European honours with Leeds United.
Along with brother Bobby, Jack was famously part of the England side that won the World Cup in July 1966 beating West Germany 4-2 at Wembley. Following retirement in 1973 Jack moved into management at Middlesbrough where he won the Second Division in 1974. He oversaw a successful time at Sheffield Wednesday followed by a short spell at boyhood club Newcastle United.
Jack then became manager of the Republic of Ireland in 1986 making an immediate impact on the Irish game with qualification for Euro ’88 in West Germany which saw Ireland beat England in Stuttgart but ultimately fall with a defeat to the Netherlands. They once again qualified for a major tournament – World Cup ’90 in Italy, successfully qualifying from a group including England and the Netherlands. The Round of 16 saw David O’Leary‘s penalty securing a shootout victory over Romania. Unfortunately the superb Salvatore Schillaci scored the only goal of the quarter final to see Italy win 1-0 in Rome. By this point Jack had certainly won the hearts and minds of the Irish and changed the game in the country in a short space of time. The song from the tournament ‘Put Em Under Pressure‘ is still played to this day.
Qualification for Euro ’92 was a tough task with a group including England, Poland and Turkey with Ireland missing out by a point to England. World Cup ’94 in the USA followed and once again Ireland progressed beyond the group stage, helped by a superb Ray Houghton goal that saw Italy beaten 1-0. Unfortunately they fell 2-0 to the Netherlands in the Round of 16 but once again had given a superb account on the highest stage. Jack left his post in 1996 but in ten years had changed the face of Irish Football forever – on and off the field.
He sadly passed away in 2020 and despite the pandemic thousands lined the streets of Ashington to pay tribute to one of our heroes as he made his last journey through his hometown.
It was only a short few weeks ago we were proud to host the Jack Charlton Memorial Cup between England Fans FC and You Boys in Green.
We are delighted to present a tribute to Jack with our away shirt in honour of his special time as Republic of Ireland manager. An Ashington lad who achieved so much at home and abroad – thank you Jack from us all.
Details on the full release and availability of shirts to follow.