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'Il buon gigante' remembered

Obituaries

John Charles was one of the greatest footballers of all, and a gentleman to boot.

By Mark Chaplin

Tears have been shed, especially in his native Wales and his much-loved Italy, for John Charles - one of the greatest of footballers, who died on Friday at the age of 72.

Immense power
Nowadays, players moving abroad is an accepted fact of everyday football life. When Charles went to Italy in 1957, he was a trendsetter. He was to spend several successful years in Serie A and his prowess, either as a dominant centre-half, where he began his career, or as an immensely powerful centre-forward, endeared him to fans everywhere.

'Gentle' giant
Charles was known as the 'Gentle Giant', his coaches, team-mates and friends remember a Greek god of a man, massive in stature but extremely humble. In his later years, Charles was dogged by ill health. Yet he bore his illness with fortitude, providing an example of the strength and dignity that had carried him through a memorable playing career and occasionally difficult economic circumstances after his retirement.

'Greatest player'
Charles even found the time to record a song 'Sixteen Tons', which met with some acclaim. "He could have become a boxer, a rugby player. He could have been anything," a friend from his youth and fellow Welsh international Terry Medwin, told the English press at the weekend. "The greatest player ever to wear the Welsh shirt," was how Wales manager Mark Hughes described him.

Turning point
Born in Cwmbwrla, near Swansea in south Wales in 1931, Charles won 38 caps for his country, scoring 15 goals, and played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup finals in Sweden – the last time that Wales reached the final round of a major tournament. He had won his first caps for Wales in the early 1950s as a teenage centre-half, but the turning point in his career came when his club, Leeds United AFC, decided to use the young man's power as a centre-forward.

World record
The goals began flowing, with a 30-goal haul in 1955/56 helping Leeds win promotion to the top flight. England's top defences also found him a handful, as he hammered 38 goals in 40 matches the following season. He came to the notice of Italian giants Juventus, who brought him to Turin in 1957 for a then world record €96,000.

Never booked
Charles blossomed even further in Italy. His strength and aerial power helped his team unlock the sophisticated defences that were prevalent in Italy even then. Throughout his career, he became known for his calm, controlled behaviour even when opposing defenders tried to reduce his threat, often in brutal fashion - indeed in his entire career he was never once booked, let alone sent off.

World Cup
Following the 1958 FIFA World Cup, in which injury kept him out of Wales' quarter-final defeat against Brazil, Charles remained a prolific goalscorer in Italy. His record there was remarkable - 93 goals in 155 matches. However, the lure of home beckoned, and he returned to Leeds in 1962. It was clear now, though, that his career was winding down, and a short spell back in Italy was followed by a stint in his native country at Cardiff City FC. Several coaching jobs and public-house ownership followed.

'Perfect ambassador'
He was made a honorary vice-president of the Football Association of Wales in 2002 in recognition of his outstanding services to the game in Wales. "He was the perfect ambassador for Wales and the great game that is football," the association's secretary general David Collins said in tribute. Minutes of silence were held in many places at the weekend. Applause rang around Italian grounds for 'Il buon gigante'. Welsh football will never see his like again.

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