This Day in History: 2023-06-27

Nr. 484

CHARLTON’S ‘LITTLE BLACK BOOK’ OF REVELATIONS (1970)

Jack Charlton was never afraid to speak his mind, but it was a throwaway line during a television football programme on 4 October 1970 that got him into trouble with the Football Association (FA). During the chat Charlton said he’d once had a «little black book» of names of players he’d marked out for retribution when he encountered them again future matches. He was threatened with a joint FA and League enquiry, but later explained that he was just using a figure of speech and that no such book existed.

Jack Charlton was forced to quickly back-track once he made his ill-advised comments about a ‘Little Black Book’ of scores to settle.