Jack Charlton funeral: No masking Ashington's pride as thousands turn out to say goodbye

There were plenty of green shirts and Irish tricolours on show in Ashington

People line the streets as the funeral cortege of Jack Charlton passes through his hometown of Ashington, in Northumberland, ahead of his funeral service at West Road Crematorium, in Newcastle. Photo: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

They stood, socially distanced, but they stood very much as one. Jack Charlton's achievements have left a lasting legacy on football's world stage, but he never forgot his roots, and the people of Ashington will never forget him.

Big Jack was always very much a feet and inches man, imperial always over metric. So while he might have doffed the flat cap to scratch his head at the official six kilometre route measurement that marked the start of his final journey, the turnout from his hometown on those three-and-a-half miles would have very much have met with that trademark wide, beaming smile.