Sir Bobby Charlton died five days after a fall at his care home, an inquest has heard; hearing was opened into his death at Chester Coroner's Court in Warrington on Wednesday; the causes of death were given as "traumatic haemopneumothrax, a fall and Alzheimer's dementia"
Wednesday 1 November 2023 15:04, UK
Manchester United and England football star Sir Bobby Charlton died five days after a fall at his care home, an inquest has heard.
The hearing into the death of the 86-year-old member of the World Cup 1966 squad was opened at Chester Coroner's Court in Warrington on Wednesday.
According to a record of the hearing, Sir Bobby was admitted to Macclesfield Hospital following the fall during which he suffered rib fractures.
After he was assessed by medics at The Willows care home, he was taken to hospital where he was put on "end-of-life care".
The causes of death were given as "traumatic haemopneumothrax, a fall and Alzheimer's dementia".
The document states: "Retired Manchester United legendary footballer Sir Bobby Charlton was admitted to Macclesfield Hospital at the age of 86 following a fall at his care home on 16 October 2023.
"He sustained rib fractures as he stood up and fell against a window sill due to being unsteady on his feet.
"He had resided at The Willows since July 2023 initially for respite and last two months of life.
"He continued to mobilise as usual following the fall until it was noted that he had swelling to his back.
"He was examined by the home's GP and transported to hospital where he was placed on end-of-life care and sadly passed away on 21 October 2023 at 03:50 hours."
Manchester United have confirmed that a memorial service celebrating Sir Bobby's life will take place at Manchester Cathedral at 2pm on Monday November 13.
The procession to the service will pass by Old Trafford, where he is immortalised alongside Denis Law and George Best in the United Trinity statue.
United said in a statement: "The service will pay tribute to Sir Bobby's incredible life as a husband, father, grandfather and, of course, as one of the finest footballers this country has ever produced.
"The procession to the cathedral will pass by Old Trafford for a moment of reflection and provide an opportunity for fans to say a final farewell to a true Manchester United legend.
"Further details on the memorial service and the procession will be communicated in due course.
"The family will then hold a private funeral ceremony for Sir Bobby and have requested privacy around the arrangements for this."
Bundles of flowers, scarves, shirts and messages have been left at the United Trinity statue since his death.
The club say memorabilia has "been carefully relocated to the Old Trafford museum and will join the tributes left by fans following the passing of Sir Matt Busby in 1994".
The flowers will be composted and used in the gardens at United's Carrington training ground, with the plastic from the tributes removed and recycled.
Gary Neville hailed Sir Bobby Charlton as the greatest Manchester United ambassador and England player ever following his death.
He said: "He's Man Utd's greatest representative around the world and has been for 50 to 60 years. He was one of the Busby Babes, he was part of that tragic Munich air crash, he survived it and lost a lot of his team-mates and colleagues and came through. He won youth cups at Man Utd under Sir Matt Busby then went on to win the European Cup, the World Cup and then in the more modern era was a director of the club.
"He used to come into the changing room after every single match win, lose or draw. It was something that as a player at the club you might take for granted. An icon, a legend walking around your changing room saying well done or offering his commiserations and trying to pick you up if you'd lost the game. It's obviously a great loss.
"There's no doubt he's English football's greatest player and English football's greatest ambassador more importantly. A champion on the pitch and off the pitch.
"When I joined Man Utd, Sir Alex Ferguson brought Nobby Stiles and Brian Kidd in. Bobby was a director at the club but those other European Cup winners were brought in to remind us of the club's history. The likes of Duncan Edwards and those lads that died in the Munich air crash, Bobby surviving it was instilled in you every day, how important it was.
"When you think of the Man Utd blazers the players wear currently and we wore through the 90s and 2000s, they were the blazers that the Busby Babes wore and for those traditions and standards you couldn't have anybody better than Sir Bobby Charlton to represent that.
"What Sir Bobby Charlton did was a great example of how you can have a great ambassador of the club, someone who was a legend of the club who does it very well in the boardroom, represented Man Utd in the right way.
"The way in which he spoke about the club was incredible. He was the golden thread from Sir Matt Busby to Sir Alex Ferguson, two golden eras in Man Utd's era, and he was the constant through both of them."
