Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton receives surgery after being taken ill

LEGEND: 249 goals in 758 United appearances

By Dean Wilkins

Manchester United hero Sir Bobby Charlton is recovering from surgery after being taken ill before a sports presentation evening in London last night.

The 74-year-old World Cup-winner had been due to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus Sports Awards but left London after he continued suffering discomfort. Sir Bobby started feeling unrest on Sunday, and received minor surgery last night to remove a gallstone.

Sir Alex Ferguson received the award on behalf of Charlton, as both United heroes mourned the 54^th anniversary of the Munich air tragedy.

The United boss said: "Sir Bobby is fine, but it was felt he should go back to Manchester. He is very annoyed not to be here to receive this Award. I'll be taking the statuette back to Old Trafford for him.

"He loves the work he does for Laureus and I know how delighted he is to have received this tribute."

Ferguson paid his respects to the fallen ‘Busby Babes’ as he described the memorial day as ‘emotional’ and claimed that the United ambassador Charlton is ‘very special to me’.

He said: “This is the 54th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, when we lost eight of our young players. Through that time, Bobby has kept his fantastic humility, and that makes him very special to me.”

Sir Bobby Charlton scored 249 goals in 758 appearances for Manchester United and is the club’s all-time leading goal scorer.