Leeds rename East Stand in honour of club great Charlton

(Reuters) - Leeds United will rename the East Stand at Elland Road in honour of club great Jack Charlton who died aged 85 in July following a long-term illness, the Premier League side said on Friday.

Charlton, who helped England beat West Germany to become world champions in 1966, was a tough tackling centre back who graduated from the Leeds academy and spent his entire playing career at the club, making 773 appearances.

He helped Leeds win promotion from the Second Division twice and was also part of the team that won the League Cup in 1968 and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup the same year and in 1971.

He was also in the Leeds side that won the top-flight First Division title in the 1968-69 season and the FA Cup in 1972.

"His legacy will now be engrained at Elland Road forever and he joins fellow greats John Charles, Norman Hunter and Don Revie who also have stands named in their honour, along with the great Billy Bremner whose statue stands proudly outside," Leeds said in a statement https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/27379/the-jack-charlton-stand.

Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear added: "The contribution made by Jack Charlton to Leeds United and the game of football is immeasurable. It's only right that we name a stand in his memory, he is an icon."

With a month-long national lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus set to be lifted on Wednesday, the British government has said up to 4,000 fans can attend outdoor elite sports events in the lowest-risk areas of England.

Howevr, Leeds supporters will have to wait longer to take their place in the newly-named stand, with the city being classified in the very high alert Tier 3 zone.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)