Fair to say that he was the heart and soul of the club for quite a few years.
I first saw him pre-Munich when he was an ' inside left ' and although he was still young, he wasn't really on the same level as some of the other youngsters such as Eddie Colman, David Pegg and of course Duncan Edwards. He could, however, score spectacular goals.
The season post-Munich, he was, by default, one of our senior players with Dennis Violet, Harry Gregg and Bill Foulkes even though still quite young and maybe it was these circumstances which caused him to become well known and almost a ' personality ' as he became an England regular as an ' inside left '. Around that time, we bought Albert Quixall from Sheff Wednesday and he and Sir Bobby were as good a pair of ' inside forwards ' as anywhere in the league. And it was about this time that he started to get his reputation for scoring from long range with ' thunderbolts '
After that, there was a spell when he was used almost as an ' outside left ' and although he was never really fast, it seemed to suit him and that went on for another couple of years. Although his goal ratio dipped a bit, he was still oor top scorer or second top scorer between the early 60s and the arrival of Denis Law.
His rise to Global Superstar really started when Denis and Pat Crerand joined us and he had switched back to basically an attacking midfielder. Add George Best a couple of years after that, and we became a fantastic team - Foulkes and Stiles at the back; Crerand and Charlton midfield; Law and Best up front. By then, he was playing the best football of his career - combining a midfielder's energy and work rate with a regular supply of goals. I don't recall any tap-ins, not too many headers, but usually hard hit shots from either outside or just inside the penalty area. His two goals in the 68 win over Benfica were, in fact, both very untypical Bobby Charlton goals.
The really strange thing is that throughout his career with us, he was always much more loved and appreciated by England football fans rather than United supporters, although we always did have a soft spot and appreciation of his talents. I guess he just lacked the superstar charisma of Denis and George.
As the 68 team began to unravel, his form started to dip as he found himself surrounded by players of much lesser quality and I remember his final days at OT were in a midfield of himself, winger-turned-midfielder Willie Morgan, and all-round journeyman Alan Gowling. Not Charlton's fault, but week after week we were terrible and getting worse and, of course, we eventually got relegated with a team that really did deserve to be relegated. And in the end, there was a feeling that he hung on at OT a bit too long and his final couple of seasons he was fairly ineffectual and holding back promising youth players. A lesson there for Wayne R, perhaps....
Whatever, he is a genuine United Legend of course, but, more importantly to me, has always been modest about his career as one of history's best players. An all round classy person.
And best of all, he's probably as big a United Fan as most of us who post on here.
