Over a pint in Peter Lorimer's pub, John Charles once told me how he had signed for Juventus despite never having heard of them and how he saved Omar Sivori, the 1961 European Footballer of the Year, from a Mafia bullet. The Argentinian had been threatened with sudden death if he scored in a particular game. Almost inevitably, a ball ricocheted off the back of his head and into the goal. Charles and his team-mates formed a protective cortege around Sivori and shuffled down the tunnel. Charles then scored the winner, but it was disallowed. He asked the referee why. "Like Mr Sivori, I want to get home safely," he said.
He was more than just a great raconteur. Equally at home up front or in defence, he was a softly spoken Everyman, although Jack Charlton took issue with the Gentle Giant moniker. "When he went on a surge he would leave a terrible trail of human devastation in his wake," he said. "Bloody gentle giant indeed!"
To get a real indication of how good Charles was, you have to look beyond Leeds. He scored 23 goals in 34 games for Juventus in 1960 and ended up with 93 from 150 in Serie A. His billing reputedly turned Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren green with envy, he sang on the same stage as Nat King Cole and he caused a national debate when he gave up a certain goal by kicking the ball out of play as an opponent lay injured in the Turin derby. That night, Torino fans gatecrashed his house and drank his wine cellar dry.
Utterly unpretentious, he reacted to getting his CBE by asking what it stood for. At his funeral, John Toshack read a self-penned poem. "A giant with a gentle touch, just watching him we learnt so much, I think you know the one I mean, the greatest player that's ever been." He later added: "We thought the sun shone out of his backside."
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | William John Charles, CBE | |
| Date of birth | 27 December 1931(1931-12-27) | |
| Place of birth | Swansea, Wales | |
| Date of death | 21 February 2004 (aged 72) | |
| Place of death | Wakefield, England | |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Playing position | Centre Half, Centre Forward | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1946-1948 | Swansea Town | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| 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 (93) 11 (3) 10 (4) 69 (18) 173 (80) |
| National team | ||
| 1950-1965 | Wales | 38 (15) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1967-1971 1972-1974 1987 | Hereford United (player-manager) Merthyr Tydfil (player-manager Hamilton Steelers | |
1 Senior club appearances and goals | ||