Gentle Giant from Wales who stole Italian hearts
Juventus fans will cherish memory of John Charles in Cardiff – and so should the locals, writes
Had Charles been fit to face Brazil in 1958 then Pele would not have been the match-winner
Acouple of gentlemen from Turin stopped me in Cardiff a few years ago and inquired as to the whereabouts of the John Charles statue.
They were bemused when I answered in the negative, and seemed less than impressed when I directed them towards the Gareth Edwards sculpture. “But this is the Welsh capital, no? And he was your greatest footballer, no? And one of the best the world has ever seen, no?”
Well, yes, yes and yes. And what is more, Charles actually finished his professional career playing for Cardiff City, for whom he scored on his debut – from 20 yards inside his own half.
But apart from a mention in the Wales Sports Hall of Fame display at the Principality Stadium, there is no tribute to the legend who passed away in 2004. There is a bust of him at the Liberty Stadium, in his home city of Swansea, but for any Juventus fans wishing to see a fitting homage, they would have to travel 200 miles or so to see the John Charles Stand – in Leeds.
It is a curious snub to the Charles legacy as Wales is such a small country. Perhaps it is because Charles left Swansea as a teenager to make his name in Yorkshire, and from there found superstardom in the shadows of the Alps.
Yet Charles helped his country progress to the World Cup quarter-finals in 1958, and had he been fit to face Brazil then a lad called Pele would probably not have been the match-winner.
Charles began to receive more adulation in his later years, although I remember him being turned away from a function at a Cardiff hotel when he was guest of honour. The manager said he had never heard of John Charles.
Well, why should he have? At the end of the last century, Charles was only voted the best foreigner to have played in the Italian league, above the likes of Diego Maradona, Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane.
In 155 Serie A matches, Charles scored 93 times. What made this record remarkable was the fact the league boasted the meanest defences, and what made it yet more remarkable was that Charles played many of these games at centrehalf. As Jimmy Greaves said: “John was not just a fantastic player, he was two fantastic players”.
It was this peerless versatility which Tom Holley, his old Leeds team-mate, best summed up in his later days as a sports writer. “I asked Nat Lofthouse, the famous English striker, who was the best centre-half he’d played against, and without hesitation he named John Charles,” Holley said. “The same week I asked Billy Wright, the famous English centrehalf, who was the greatest centre-forward he’d ever faced, and he, too, answered without pause, ‘John Charles’.”
Italy’s tifosi would agree. They understand that greats do not need to have the double-jointed ankles of a George Best or the magical shoulderdrops and feints of a Maradona. Juventus would find special resonance in winning the European Cup in Charles’s capital city, against Real Madrid, of all teams.
It was the biggest club trophy to elude him and, ironically, his most bitter defeat came against the legendary Real side of that era, in the 1962 quarter-final. They punched and kicked Charles so badly he spent that night in hospital, but as was his way, he never reacted, he simply got up and carried on. That is why they called him
Il Gigante Buono – The Gentle Giant.
Yes, Charles was a proper role model, and in Cardiff this weekend, the Juventus faithful will talk about his memory. It would be nice to think the locals will, too, and appreciate that this should not all be about Gareth Bale, Britain’s second-greatest footballing export.