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'Sir Bobby Charlton was an unbelievable mentor'

News imageJohn Shiels Sir Bobby Charlton is standing on the left, wearing a navy blue suit and tie with a pale blue shirt. He is largely bald and wears glasses. John is on the right also wearing a blue navy suit. Crowds in the stadium are in the background. John Shiels
John Shiels says he first met Manchester United and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton 47 years ago

The late Sir Bobby Charlton would be "very, very proud" of the work done by community football coaches supported by his charity foundation, one of his close friends has said.

John Shiels, who sits on the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation's board, is nearing the end of a charity cycle ride which takes in the stadiums of all 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League.

Shiels said he aimed to raise money for children's football across the UK as well as highlight the importance of what Manchester United legend Sir Bobby called "the best toy ever invented".

The former CEO of the Manchester United Foundation was speaking on the 60th anniversary of Sir Bobby's England winning the World Cup.

Shiels, who first met Sir Bobby 47 years ago, spoke warmly of his late friend, who died in 2023 aged 86.

Together, they established the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools which thousands of youngsters attended during school holidays.

He said Sir Bobby had been "an unbelievable mentor, taught me everything I knew and taught me how to go about life".

Shiels said Sir Bobby "used to say 'If people go to any soccer schools, what would he want it to be?' He'd want every day to be like Christmas Day."

News imageJohn Shiels Four men are standing next to each other in front of a football club entrance. One of them is holding a black bike. They are all wearing white cycling tops with black shorts. John Shiels
John Shiels and other volunteers from the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation Trust are cycling to every stadium in the Premier League and Football League

The charity ride, called the Beautiful Game Tour, sees Shiels and other volunteers from the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation Trust cycling to 88 football grounds in England and four in Wales.

Collectively, they have so raised £5,000.

Shiels said he hoped the money would allow more young people to enjoy playing football.

He explained: "Sadly there are tens of thousands of young kids who can't afford to play - so the idea is that we want to give back to those kids.

"We've met wonderful people - unbelievably good people in each of their community schemes.

"I said to them 'If Sir Bobby was still alive, he'd be very, very proud of the job that you're doing in your community' because that's all he wanted to do."

The Beautiful Game Tour started at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium on 11 June and will finish at Middlesbrough FC on 9 August.