Leeds United pay tribute to Jack Charlton by renaming Elland Road's East Stand in his honour

Leeds United have paid tribute their legendary defender Jack Charlton by remaining the East Stand at Elland Road in his honour.

Charlton, whose passing in July was mourned on both sides of the Irish Sea, spent 23 years with the Yorkshire club, during which time he amassed a club record 773 appearances.

He joins club royalty Don Revie, John Charles and Norman Hunter in lending their name to one of the ground’s stands.

The Northumberland native joined Leeds as a 15-year-old in 1950, working as part of the ground staff before earning his shot with the first team, and spent his entire career at Elland Road.

Charlton won helped the club to the First Division title under Revie in 1969, having already been an integral part of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning side.

Following retirement, Charlton managed Newcastle United and Sheffield Wednesday but his managerial peak came during his ten-year stint in charge of the Republic of Ireland.

Ireland’s first non-native manager led the side to their first major tournament, Euro ’88 in Germany, before successive World Cup appearances in 1990 and 1994.

The highest honour in his managerial career came at Italia ’90 as he guided Ireland to the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly edged out by hosts Italy in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Jack and his wife Pat were taken on as one of their own by the Irish people and became the seventh and eighth people to be offered honourary Irish citizenship in 1996.

Charlton passed away in July, at the age of 85, following a battle with dementia and dementia, survived by Pat, his children, John, Peter and Deborah, and brother Bobby.

“It is only right that we name a stand in his memory – he is an icon,” said Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear.

“We are looking forward to the day fans return to Elland Road to celebrate the life of Jack along with Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry.”