Football legend Bobby Charlton helped raise a “substantial sum” in an Irlam charity football match back in 1980 (as reported by the Cadishead and Irlam Guardian).
The 43rd anniversary of the match came up last Thursday (October 19), just a couple of days before Charlton sadly passed away last week, aged 86.
The Elizabeth Fitzroy Home for the Handicapped and the Pendlebury Children’s Hospital were the beneficiaries of the “substantial sum” raised by the match.
Bobby Charlton was widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, as he was part of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, and won the Ballon d’Or in the same year.
He also won the European Cup with Manchester United in 1968, ten seasons after surviving the Munich Air disaster which killed eight of his teammates.
The idea for the match came from Dave Bennison, a former Irlam Town player and manager but also a site agent at a large construction company who were looking to organise something to help local charities on their centenary.
Charlton reportedly agreed to help and brought along some of the biggest stars of the day. This includes World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, who was Preston’s manager at the time, while Charlton was the headline name of an All-Star XI that contained United greats like David Herd, Wilf McGuinness and European Cup winning goalkeeper Alex Stepney (pictured in centre, below).
The charity match was played at Irlam Town’s Silver Street ground and ended in a 2-2 draw, with Charlton scoring his side’s first goal of the match to delight the 300 spectators in attendance.
Manchester City’s Francis Lee would also get on the score sheet to earn Charlton’s side a hard-fought draw against their youthful opponents.
After the match, Charlton autographed his football boots to be raffled in aid of a young Irlam Town footballer who had recently broken his back in a work accident.
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