Bobby Charlton proudly sits at the top of the England goalscoring charts - despite never playing as an out and out striker.

He did begin his career as a centre-forward, but soon became famous in a deeper-lying role - his powerful long-range shooting and fine passing ability making him a real attacking threat.

Charlton's ability was in the blood, hailing as he did from a famous footballing family which included Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn. His brother Jack was also an England international and they shared the joy of winning the World Cup Final in 1966.

Bobby made his England debut in 1958, just two months after surviving the Munich Air Crash which killed eight of his Manchester United colleagues. In fact, he acknowledged that he would not have been playing for the Three Lions against Scotland if the likes of Tommy Taylor, Roger Byrne and Duncan Edwards had still been alive.

Even so, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and scored with a long-range strike which was to become something of a trademark.

He followed it up with two against Portugal in his second match and was selected for the 1958 World Cup Finals, although he did not feature in any of the games.

However, from that point he was a virtual ever-present for the England side when fit and continued his impressive goalscoring exploits with hat-tricks against USA and Mexico in 1959 and 1961 respectively.

By the time he scored against Argentina in the 1962 World Cup Finals he had found the net 25 times in 38 appearances, but the real glory came four years later on home soil.

Manager Alf Ramsey built the team around Charlton and the Manchester United star did not let him down as he opened the England account with a powerful run and 25-yard shot into the top corner of the Mexico net - one of the most famous goals in Three Lions history.

Two more followed in the semi-final against Portugal which set up the glorious victory at Wembley over West Germany.

In 1968 versus Sweden, Charlton overtook Jimmy Greaves on 44 to become England's highest-ever scorer and he extended that to 49 with his final international goal against Colombia.

The 1970 World Cup Finals saw the attacking midfielder break Billy Wright's international appearance record as well, his 106 caps remaining the most ever until 1973 when Bobby Moore took over the mantle.

At club level, Charlton won three Division One championships with Manchester United and also lifted The FA Cup and the European Cup during a career that took in 752 matches and 247 goals.

He remains on the board of directors at Old Trafford and was knighted in 1994.

England Legends
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