He's got a World Cup winner's medal, he had the most famous comb-over 
on the planet, and his brother Jack called him "wor kid". These are 
everyday facts that we all know about the footballing legend that is 
Bobby Charlton.

http://www.midfielddynamo.com/fancythat/charltonb.htm


But here's 10 that you might not...

No. 	Suprising Fact

1 	Not a lot of people know this, but Bobby's famous comb-over was 
actually a wig, given to him by Yul Brynner on a short trip to Didsbury 
in 1959.

2 	Bobby's real hair, known to close friends as 'Wild Pete', only came 
out on Monday nights, at the local Tarot reading school he ran in 
Altrincham. To this day Bobby's missus, Norma, still doesn't know the 
truth behind his real hair.

3 	At birth Bobby's mother had triplets, not twins. The other famous 
brother, Eddie, also entered the sporting arena, disguised as an 
Australian snooker player. Speaking on the subject years ago, Eddie 
said "I probably could have been as good as my brothers at football, 
but then again in reality I wasn't. I couldn't get the hang of those 
half-time oranges". Philosophical stuff from Geordie Eddie.

4 	Bobby used to put his trademark rocket shots down to built-in 
hydraulic rams in both legs, triggered every time he was 25 yards from 
goal as he whispered the magic words "Thundercats are go". 30 years 
later Bobby would make 4 billion pounds by selling on the idea for the 
cult cartoon, inspired by those magic words and Norma's cowardly pet 
cat, Snarf.

5 	Everyone knows that Jackie Milburn was a famous uncle of Bobby's, 
but not many people know of his other uncle from that great north-east 
region - a local celebrity and Tyne-Tees TV game show host named Anton 
Dech, famous for his catchphrase "Pickle my cabbage!".

6 	Speaking of game show hosts, Bobby's long-running frinedship with 
3-2-1 frontman Ted Rogers came to a dramatic end in 1998, when Bobby 
revealed live on the Richard and Judy Show that Ted's lightening quick 
3-2-1 finger movement was actually done with mirrors.

7 	During the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, Sir Alf Ramsey (dad of 
Gordon), told Bobby at half time that he was going to pull him off if 
they were beating Germany. Bobby's now famous response "Bloody hell 
Alf, we normally only get an orange at Man U!" has been mimicked ever 
since in changing rooms up and down the country.

8 	Bobby is now a world-wide respected ambassador of the beautiful 
game, reaching the far corners of the planet preaching words of wisdom 
about this great sport. But when he's back home relaxing, he loves 
nothing more than getting his feet up and watching endless repeats of 
Blakes 7, Timothy Lumsden sitcom Sorry, or the hit film of the time 
that coined his nickname... Spartacus.

9 	Just before he signed a schoolboy contract with Man Utd, Bobby had 
the chance to tour the North-East as a double act with his brother 
Eddie, performing their their ventriloquist routine "Eddie and his 
beer-loving small brother". However, a childhood speech impediment put 
pay to this, as Bobby could say "Bottle of beer" when his mouth was 
shut, far too well for the paying public of the Geordie nation.

10 	The last, and possibly most surprising, fact about our Bobby is 
that he has no thumb on his right hand, and had to learn to hold his 
after-game pint with his left. Gottle of Geer anyone?

-- 
Count Baldoni