Jack Charlton’s family face €233k tax bill to keep his World Cup medal

The €233,000 question revolving around Jack Charlton's 1966 World Cup Medal

The Charlton family are facing an inheritance tax bill of around £200,000 (€233,000) if they wish to keep Big Jack's medal within the family.

His son, John, has warned the figure could balloon to as much as £1 million over future generations.

The medal, won when England beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley in the country's only major tournament triumph, is currently held by Charlton's widow, Pat.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport's, Damien O'Meara, on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, John Charlton explained how the problem first came to light after his father's death in July 2020 at the age of 85.

"When my dad passed away, my mother and my sister were sorting out all his affairs to decide how much we would have to pay inheritance tax.

"When they came to the medal, tax people here said that they were looking at around £200,000 for me to get the medal."

The family were left baffled by the valuation and unable to get a clear answer on where it came from.

"Now, either his estate could pay it, or I could pay it. But if it was given to me, it would really be coming from me.

"So we were like 'hang on a minute, where do you get that figure from?'" John said.

The back-and-forth over the valuation dragged on without resolution, leaving the family no clearer on how the figure had been reached or who was ultimately responsible for setting it.

A bill that keeps growing

According to John, a Daily Mirror journalist based in the northeast of England, Jeremy Armstrong, investigated on the family's behalf, only for the government and the tax department to each insist the matter had nothing to do with them.

The sting in the tail is that the charge would not be a one-off.

"Five generations down the line would mean that we would have to pay the tax man about a million pounds," said John.

Jack Charlton's Irish legacy

For Irish supporters, the story is a reminder of just how deeply Charlton is woven into the national story.

The Geordie defender turned manager remains one of the most beloved figures in the history of Irish football, and the medal at the heart of this row is a piece of the same career that later gave this country some of its greatest sporting nights.

Charlton's bond with Ireland was forged over a decade in charge, guiding the Boys in Green to Euro 88, Italia '90 and USA '94 and turning the team into a source of national pride.

The medal from 1966 predates all of that, but for a generation of Irish fans it belongs to the same story of the manager they simply knew as 'Big Jack'.

For now, the medal stays with Pat Charlton, and the family's hope is that a keepsake earned on the Wembley pitch will not one day be priced out of their hands.

You can find more Irish football coverage here, and the full interview carried by RTÉ Sport.