BOBBY CHARLTON

One of England's most successful players of all time, attacking midfielder Bobby Charlton survived near tragedy to become a legend at Manchester United as well as England's all-time record goalscorer. Coming from a talented footballing family, his brother Jack also an international, he joined Manchester United as a teenager and made his first team debut in 1956 aged just 18.

Winning a league championship medal in his first season with the club, Charlton had a great career ahead of him but everything could have been taken away when he was involved in the Munich Air Crash in 1958. Surviving with relatively minor injuries, he made a quick recovery to make his international debut later that year. Missing out a place in England's squad for that year's World Cup, Charlton had to wait until 1962 for his first major championship.

As Manchester United's squad was rebuilt in the 1960s, success started to come at club level. The F.A. Cup was won in 1963, and two years later Charlton won his second league championship medal but the finest year of his career was to be 1966. Inspirational as England won the World Cup on home soil, Charlton scored twice in the semi-final win over Portugal and went on to be named English and European Footballer of the Year.

Manchester United won the league championship again in 1967, and the following year became the first English club to win the European Cup with Charlton scoring twice in the final. Having helped England to third place in the 1968 European Championship, his international career ended when he was substituted in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final against West Germany with England leading a match they went on to lose 3-2. Charlton's record of 49 goals for England is a record that stands to this day.

Leaving Manchester United in 1973, he also set club records for both appearances and goals before moving to Preston North End, where he became player-manager. Achieving little success as a manager, Charlton wound down his playing career in Ireland with Waterford United before moving into the administrative side of the game as a director of Wigan Athletic. Returning to his beloved Manchester United in the 1980s as a director, he has since been knighted for his services to the game.