Gary Neville pays tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton as the greatest Manchester United and England icon

Gary Neville has hailed Sir Bobby Charlton as the greatest Manchester United ambassador and England player ever following his death aged 86.

Charlton scored 249 goals in 758 appearances for Manchester United between 1956 and 1973 and won the European Cup with United in 1968, as well as three First Division titles.

He earned 106 caps for England, scoring 49 times, a record which he held from 1970 to 2015, and won the 1966 World Cup before winning the Ballon d'Or that cemented him in football history.

• Man Utd legend, World Cup winner, gentleman - Sir Bobby Charlton obituary

"He is the greatest English football player of all-time," said Neville on the Gary Neville Podcast. "The impact he's had on English football winning all those trophies but also his longevity at Manchester United. Playing over 750 games is just unbelievable and over 100 games for England.

"His journey as a youth player is what I always think of. Those three consecutive FA Youth Cups where Manchester United was built on the principle of the Youth Cup. When I joined in 1991/92 that was everything. It was a big trophy.

"Manchester United won it five times in the early 1950s and Sir Bobby Charlton was a part of that. When you think of the Busby Babes and what that created at Man United - this belief in youth and opportunity. He was the greatest representative of that."

'The spirit of Man Utd lived through Sir Bobby'

Neville paid tribute to Charlton for helping to lay the foundations at Manchester United and continuing to represent the club after his playing days in the best way possible.

"Sir Bobby Charlton is an icon. He is the genuine legend of Manchester United. He is the only player who has ever played for the club that has ever had a stand named after him," said Neville.

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"He's got the statue with George Best and Dennis Law. The three greatest names in Manchester United's history. The godfathers of what Manchester United is.

"When you go there as a young player and hear the story of the Busby Babes and the club blazers they wore, the expectation of discipline and hard work, The Cliff training ground in Salford and Littleton Road and all those places where the Busby Babes grew up.

"Bobby Charlton lived to tell the story through the great eras of Manchester United of Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson because he came to every single match. When I was there, he was in the dressing room after every single match. All the directors were.

"You think of his stability and guidance in those early years of Sir Alex Ferguson when he could see what he was doing behind the scenes with the youth system. When he could see the principles Sir Alex Ferguson was putting in place when many wanted him gone.

"He was one of the stalwarts, he was one of the ones in the boardroom along with Martin Edwards that said something is happening, foundations are being built.

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"Sir Alex has spoken about how important he was to have that thread of history running through the club and that football experience and knowledge.

"I always think of him in '99 the tear in his eye when we won the Champions League in the Nou Camp. He travelled with us in Europe, he used to train with us the night before a game in the boxes, the rondos they call them now.

"Sir Alex Ferguson would join in with one and he would join in with the other and this was well into his 50s. That spirit of the club lived through Sir Bobby Charlton, that representation of what the club meant.

"I know I sometimes get criticised when I talk about, 'This is Manchester United' and what a Manchester United player is but it was these people: Sir Bobby Charlton, Brian Kidd, Nobby Stiles, Sir Alex Ferguson explained to us what a Manchester United player was and what was expected of you on and off the pitch.

"He is the greatest ambassador of Manchester United on and off the pitch that has ever lived. He's also the greatest ambassador and icon of English football that has ever lived."

'The perfect role model'

Charlton survived the Munich air disaster in 1958 in which 23 people died, eight being Manchester United players, and was pivotal in rebuilding the club.

"It's unimaginable what those players and staff and the fans went through at the club when the Munich air crash happened," said Neville.

"They had to go out and play again a few weeks later. You talk about resilience, robustness, character and personality, these great traits that we all want in our children and in all the people we come across in life, they had it in abundance, but they also had skill, talent and humility.

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"Sir Bobby carried all those characteristics throughout his life. He was always humble, a gentleman. I did many appearances with him as an ambassador whilst I was at the club where you'd meet dignitaries and people like that and he was the perfect role model of how you should behave as a football player on and off the pitch.

"He was rightly knighted for his achievements in the game and he also set up the Sir Bobby Charlton Soccer School which had an impact on so many young people. That soccer school found David Beckham, there's pictures of him there with Sir Bobby Charlton.

"His standards were everything. We were playing against Bradford at Old Trafford in a night game and we were winning 6-0. It was right near the end and I was playing left centre-back. A Bradford player broke down the right-hand side, my left, and I went over and absolutely clattered him. The crowd cheered and I didn't think anything of it. That was what you did. I gave a foul away.

"Bobby Charlton pulled me after the game and said, 'Can I have a word with you?'. He said, 'We don't do that, we show class'. That's something I always remember to this day. He always wanted the club to represent itself well."