John Charles

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John Charles
Personal information
Full name	William John Charles CBE
Date of birth	December 27, 1931
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Date of death	February 21, 2004 (aged 72)
Place of death	Wakefield, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Nickname	Il Gigante Buono (The Gentle Giant) King John
Playing position	Centre Half, Centre Forward
Youth clubs
1946-1948	Swansea Town
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1948-1957 1957-1962 1962 1962-1963 1963-1966 1966-1971 1972-1974	Leeds United Juventus Leeds United Roma Cardiff City Hereford United Merthyr Tydfil	297 (150) 150 0(93) 011 00(3) 010 00(4) 069 0(18)
National team
1950-1965	Wales	038 0(15)
Teams managed
1967-1971 1972-1974	Hereford United (player-manager) Merthyr Tydfil (player-manager)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

John Charles, CBE (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh football player. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Britain,^[1] he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back.

He was never cautioned or sent off during his entire career, due to his philosophy of never kicking or intentionally hurting opposing players. Standing 6 feet 2 inches, he was nicknamed Il Gigante Buono - The Gentle Giant.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Leeds United first spell 1.2 Playing in Italy with Juventus 1.3 Returning to Britain 2 International career with Wales 3 Life after football 4 Ability 5 Honours 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Biography

William John Charles was born in the Cwmbwrla district of Swansea during late 1931. Charles would play football as a child, with younger brother Mel Charles who also went on to become a professional, later playing alongside each other for the Welsh national team.^[2]

While still at school, Charles joined the boys section of the local team Swansea Town, who would later become Swansea City. When he left school at age 14, he was taken onto the groundstaff at Vetch Field, yet because of his young age; Third Division Swansea never gave him a senior team call up.

[edit] Leeds United first spell

While playing for Gendros, a local youth club, he was scouted by Leeds United and given a trial in September 1948. At his trial he impressed and duly signed for them at the age of 17, relocating to Yorkshire.

Major Buckley, then manager of Leeds, selected John in a variety of positions including right-back, centre-half and left-half for Leeds Reserves. He made his league debut against Blackburn Rovers in April 1949, playing at centre-half. Two seasons later he played a couple of matches at centre-forward, scoring twice in the second match. This prompted a debate as to where John should play in the team, but he remained at centre-half until the 1952-53 season. He scored 150 league goals in eight years for Leeds, including 42 goals in the 1953-54 season.

He also played for the Army during his two years of National Service between 1950 and 1952, also dabbling in boxing, cricket, running and basketball. It was during this period that he suffered a serious cartilage injury, causing him to miss most of the 1951-52 season.

[edit] Playing in Italy with Juventus

In 1957 he joined the Italian club Juventus F.C. for a then-British record £65,000 transfer fee. The transfer was notable as Charles became the first British professional player to be signed for an overseas team. In his five years at Juventus he scored 93 goals in 155 matches, winning the scudetto (Italian league championship) three times, and the Italian Cup twice.

The respect Charles earned from Juventus fans was shown when, on the occasion of the clubs' centenary in 1997 they voted him to be the best-ever foreign player to play for their team. This is a remarkable feat at a club which has had such foreign stars as Michel Platini in its first team. Even in his later years he found it difficult to walk the streets of Turin without being mobbed.

[edit] Returning to Britain

Following his time at Juventus F.C., he returned to Leeds United but his second spell at Elland Road was less successful. After five years in Italy he found it difficult to adjust to life back in England, acknowledging that leaving Juventus was "the biggest mistake of my career". He returned to Italy to play for A.S. Roma, initially with success. However he then began to suffer from injuries and personal problems and left to join Cardiff City where he was to finish his league career.

He later became manager of Hereford and Merthyr Tydfil, and technical director of the Canadian team, Hamilton Steelers.

[edit] International career with Wales

John Charles first played for the Wales national team shortly after his 18th birthday.

He was the heart of the side which made it to the quarter finals of the 1958 Football World Cup (the country's only appearance in the World Cup), but was defeated 1-0 by eventual winners Brazil (a goal by the emerging Pelé) in his absence due to injury. In total for Wales, Charles made 38 appearances and scored 15 goals.

Charles played for the Great Britain team against Ireland in 1955.

[edit] Life after football

Following his retirement, he ran a pub in Yorkshire for many years. He was awarded a CBE in 2001, and until shortly before his death he still attended every Leeds United home game. In 2002 he was made a vice-president of the Football Association of Wales, and in 2003, he was granted the freedom of the city of Swansea. There was a campaign to knight John Charles, but, in the end, this never happened resulting only in a CBE. Charles became an Inaugural Inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. The West Stand of the Elland Road Stadium is named "The John Charles Stand" in his honour for the great service he provided to Leeds United and a bust has been created, financed by Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates, to be displayed in the entrance to the banqueting suite (attached to the back of The John Charles Stand) in his remembrance^[3]. The South Leeds Stadium, used by Leeds United for reserve matches, was renamed the John Charles Stadium in his honour.

He remained greatly honoured in both Britain and Italy. In January 2004 he suffered a heart attack shortly before an interview for Italian television, and required the partial amputation of one foot for circulation reasons before he was returned to Britain. He died in Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, early on 21 February 2004.

John had a brother, Mel Charles and a nephew Jeremy Charles, who also represented Wales.

On the 29 November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Wales by the Football Association of Wales as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.^[4]

In 2004, John was voted at number 19 in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll.^[5]

[edit] Ability

John Charles is considered by many commentators to have been one of the greatest all-round footballers ever. He was of world class standard in both the centre-half and centre-forward positions, a rarity in football. Apart from his versatility, he was comfortable with either foot, possessed a delicate first touch and had great stamina and strength. But his greatest attribute was his aerial ability. During his days in the Army he played basketball which taught him to jump great heights. This ability enabled him to rise above defences and deliver powerful headers.

In the foreword for John's autobiography, Sir Bobby Robson described him as "incomparable" and classed him among the all-time footballing greats such as Pelé, Diego Maradona and George Best. He also notes that Charles is the only footballing great to be world class in two very different positions.

Jimmy Greaves once stated that "if I were picking my all-time great British team, or even a world eleven, John Charles would be in it". Other footballers have also named him as one of the best, including Jack Charlton, Nat Lofthouse and Billy Wright.

Charles' accomplishments with Juventus led to him being voted 'the greatest foreign player ever in Serie A',^[6] ahead of Maradona, Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten and Zinedine Zidane - this in 1997, 34 years after his last appearance in the league. In 2001 he became the first non-Italian inducted to the Azzurri Hall of Fame.^[7]

[edit] Honours

• Serie A: Champions (1958, 1960, 1961)
• Coppa Italia: Winners (1959, 1960)
• Welsh Cup: Winners (1964, 1965)
• Italian Player of the Year: 1958

[edit] Notes

1. ^ IFHOF.com
2. ^ RoyoftheRovers.com
3. ^ LUFC Official Web-Site (2006). "John Charles Honoured" LeedsUnited.com (accessed 10th Aug 2006)
4. ^ UEFA.com - Europe's Football Website (2003). "Golden Players take centre stage" uefa.com (accessed 13th Aug 2006)
5. ^ 100 Welsh Heroes.com (2004). "100 Welsh Heroes" (accessed 21 December 2006)
6. ^ Oxford Times, 24th February 2004
7. ^ BBC Sport, 23rd February 2001

[edit] External links

• English Football Hall of Fame Profile
• UEFA.com - Wales' Golden Player
• John Charles - A True Leeds United Legend - LeedsUnited.com
• Leeds United Fan Club - John Charles

	Wales squad - 1958 FIFA World Cup
1 Kelsey | 2 Williams | 3 Hopkins | 4 Sullivan | 5 M. Charles | 6 Bowen | 7 Medwin | 8 Hewitt | 9 J. Charles | 10 I. Allchurch | 11 C. Jones | 12 K. Jones | 13 Vearnecombe | 14 Edwards | 15 C. Baker | 16 Crowe | 17 Leek | 18 Vernon | 19 Webster | 20 Elsworthy | 21 L. Allchurch | 22 T. Baker | Coach: Murphy