Bobby Charlton - World Cup 1970 and Retirement

World Cup 1970 and Retirement

Shortly before the World Cup Charlton was involved in the Bogotá Bracelet incident in which he and Bobby Moore were accused of stealing a bracelet from a jewellery store. Moore was later arrested and detained for four days before being granted a conditional release, while Charlton was not arrested.

England began the tournament with two victories in the group stages, plus a memorable defeat against Brazil. Charlton played in all three, though was substituted for Alan Ball in the final game of the group against Czechoslovakia. Ramsey, confident of victory and progress to the quarter final, wanted Charlton to rest.

England duly reached the last eight where they again faced West Germany. Charlton controlled the midfield and suppressed Franz Beckenbauer's runs from deep as England coasted to a 2–0 lead. Beckenbauer pulled a goal back for the Germans and Ramsey replaced the ageing and tired Charlton with Colin Bell who further tested the German keeper Maier and also provided a great cross for Geoff Hurst who uncharacteristically squandered the chance. West Germany, who had a habit of coming back from behind, eventually scored twice – a back header from Uwe Seeler made it 2–2. In extra-time, Geoff Hurst had a goal mysteriously ruled out after which Gerd Müller's goal won the match 2-3. England were out and, after a record 106 caps and 49 goals, Charlton decided to end his international career at the age of 32. On the flight home from Mexico, he asked Ramsey not to consider him again. His brother Jack, two years his senior but 71 caps his junior, did likewise.

Despite popular opinion the substitution did not change the game as Franz Beckenbauer had scored before Charlton left the field, hence Charlton had failed to cancel out the German. Charlton himself conceded that the substitution did not affect the game in a BBC documentary. His caps record lasted until 1973 when Bobby Moore overtook him, and Charlton currently lies fourth in the all-time England appearances list behind Moore, David Beckham and Peter Shilton, whose own England career began in the first game after Charlton's had ended. As of September 2012, Charlton's goalscoring record still stands.

During the early 1970s, Manchester United were no longer competing among the top teams in England, and at several stages were battling against relegation. At times, Charlton was not on speaking terms with United's other superstars George Best and Denis Law, and Best refused to play in Charlton's testimonial match against Celtic, saying that "to do so would be hypocritical". Charlton left Manchester United at the end of the 1972–73 season, having scored 249 goals and set a club record of 758 appearances, a record which Ryan Giggs broke in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final. His goalscoring record, however, is still intact by a comfortable margin.

His last game was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 28 April 1973, and before the game the BBC cameras for Match of the Day captured the Chelsea chairman handing Charlton a commemorative cigarette case. The match ended in a 1-0 defeat His final goal had come a month earlier, on 31 March, in a 2-0 win at Southampton, also in the First Division.