England 1966 World Cup winner’s son furious at being unable to inherit dad’s medal without paying ‘scandalous’ bill
THE son of one of England’s 1966 World Cup heroes was denied the chance to keep his father’s winners’ medal due to government taxes.
John Charlton, eldest son of Jack Charlton, couldn’t inherit his father’s medal after he passed in 2020 – labelling the reasons behind it as “scandalous”.
John, 64, was left the medal by his father, who passed away at the age of 85.
But despite it being just one of two remaining medals from the 1966 World Cup still owned by the families of the winners, John was forced to give it up because of inheritance tax.
The HMRC valued Jack Charlton’s medal and his famous shirt from that day at an incredible £200,000.
Which means, had John kept both of the prized possessions, he would have been slapped with a WHOPPING £80,000 tax bill.
Explaining the fact he had to pass up on the medal, John told The Mirror: “My dad kept his England shirt from the World Cup final. And his World Cup medal should have come to me.
“But the taxman valued them at somewhere between £100k to £200k, so we have left that in possession of my mum.
“The value of it in gold is not a massive amount of money. It is impossible to say how much it would be worth at auction.”
John, who is also the nephew of Sir Bobby Charlton, went on to slam the tax system, adding: “I think the inheritance tax in this country is absolutely scandalous: who can put a value on that medal?
“I think it is only my dad and uncle Bobby who have not sold theirs. I wonder what would happen if I said that I could not afford the tax on it. Would the Government take my dad’s medal from me?”
The medal, which is now kept in a bank safe, won’t be going anywhere soon.
John has vowed to keep it in the family and pass it down every generation to ensure that the piece of footballing history isn’t lost – no matter what the cost.
He added: “I would rather sell my business than sell the medal. It will be passed to my children and hopefully my children’s children.”