As manager of Ireland’s national team, the former Leeds United star became one of the country’s most extravagantly loved foreigners
The story of Jack Charlton’s amazing ascent and virtual canonisation as the manager of the Irish Republic’s national football team in the 80s and 90s is retold in this warm and affectionate documentary portrait. He was a vital part of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger modernity and confidence in that era, and a part also of the new mood of the peace process.
These chapters are poignantly juxtaposed with Charlton’s later life (he died in July this year) and his issues with dementia, and these are very emotional, intimate scenes – especially the cheerful, unsentimental interviews with his wife and carer Pat. They are movingly captured.