Leeds by Example - John Charles

After a bunch of arrogant, overpaid drunks kicked our top football club through the gutter we need a timely reminder of the greatest player ever to play for Leeds United.

Phil O'Connor salutes a proper role model, on his 70th birthday. Not so much as a booking in his entire career.

We learned that John passed away on 21st February 2004 after falling ill whilst promoting a book in Milan, Italy. Juventus football club took care of the Gentle Giant, making sure he was safely brought back to Yorkshire to be closer to his family. He died at Wakefield Pinderfields hospital. Respect.
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Even in the heyday of the Don Revie era the old dudes talked of John Charles. They would stand there, chewing on their Embassy No.6, watch Mick Jones and Allan Clarke take the '74 title, and tell us that these fancy dans in their trendy sock tags were not fit to lace John Charles boots.

Of course us young 'uns would put all this flat capped rambling down to the usual boring old blokery, and cheer on Revie's boys all the way to the Fairs Cup podium. What could be better than the Leeds team we now bore teenage Allan Smith fans with. "Mark Viduka? you should have seen Mick Jones breaking bones, matey..." Well not quite. The old gimmers were right, you should have seen John Charles.

Leeds United's post war struggle to get back into the top flight seems unreal today. Surely Leeds have always been " back at the first attempt" boys, and would never sink into the quagmire that the South Yorks teams are now sinking into. But it took a genius move by the man who signed him as a schoolboy, Major Frank Buckley, to change Leeds fortunes and put the team and the man on top.

The kid born to a Swansea steelworker had made his debut early and grown into a towering centre half by the time he was 18. He'd already been playing in that position for the Welsh national team (their youngest player ever) , but it was Buckley's decision to play him up front that made him a legend.

Suddenly he was unstoppable.A huge 14 stone, 6' 2" centre forward, notably quick on his feet who could fly like a bird. In the air he was awesome. Within weeks he was crashing in the goals, copping 26 in the 52-53 season. A season later he scored a club record 42 goals while he captained his country at center half! In 1956 he was on the top of his game, powering Wales to qualify for the 58 World Cup Finals (where he missed the game against Pele's Brazil through injury), and taking Leeds United back to to the top flight for the first time since the war. The big issue of the day was how The Gentle Giant would fare against England's best teams.

	"Everything he does is automatic. When he moves into position for a goal chance it is instinctive. My feet do not do my thinking for me as they do for a player like John Charles. That is why I can never be as great a footballer as he." DANNY BLANCHFLOWER

A year later he was the first division's top scorer with 38 goals and was now the talk of Europe. A player of his versatility was gold. Arsenal offered £40,000, Manchester United and Sunderland £50,000. Lazio apparently matched the then huge fee of £65,000 from Juventus, however a £10,000 signing-on fee from Juve's owner, FIAT's Umberto Agnelli made the deal irresistible. Leeds needed the cash badly - Elland Road's west stand had gone up in flames uninsured. Pro footballers were paid a pittance in the bad old days, so John Charles took the Lire.

The glory didn't stop there, as Charles was even more successful in Turin as he was in Yorkshire. At Juve Charles scored an amazing 97 goals in 160 games, strolling back to defend once he had put the team in front. In five seasons Juventus won the Scudetto thrice and the cup twice. He earned the nickname Il Massivo, lived in a 17th-century villa overlooking the Po valley, ran a Turin restaurant and was a major celebrity - The King of Turin. Juventus fans still vote him above the likes of Platini and Zidane as their greatest ever player.

Years later, back in Leeds, John would become involved in several businesses. He ran the New Inn at Churwell for a time, and for the Gomersal Park Hotel and still lives in the city in a semi between Bradford and Leeds, where he's recently recovered from a cancer scare.

Peter Risdale recently honoured him as Leeds United's most valued ex-player and the club published a book on his life, Richard Coomer's King John. And finally, in August 2001, he was presented with a CBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, nearly 40 years since he retired from the game.

In a month where football in Leeds has been overshadowed by a gang of overpaid, arrogant toughs who clearly have no regard for their role as heroes to Yorkshire kids, John Charles is peerless. His record of never being sent off, or even booked throughout his career, for club and country, is truly astounding. Lee Bowyer, when he next sees a red card, or finds himself legless in the street, needs to realize he has a long way to go to prove himself a real man.

And, Mr Risdale, given the two-bob a week he was paid back then, how about a testimonial to really pay him his due?

PHIL O'CONNOR