John Charles, CBE (27 December 1931 - 21 February 2004) was a Welsh football player. Rated one of the best all-round players in the world of his generation, 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 Buono Gigante - The Gentle Giant. 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 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.
warm regards, -lo sono interista- ----- Original Message ----- From: Frely Pakan To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 3:53 PM Subject: [BolaML] William John Charles <--- ada yang pernah tahu? Barusan browsing2 artikel tanya jawab di skysports. Kebetulan nemu salah satu statement dari martin tyler yang cerita tentang John Charles. Dia pemaen british yang pertama maen di luar negeri. Yang bikin kaget ternyata baru2 ini dia terpilih ma fansnya Juve sebagai Best Foreign Player yang pernah maen untuk Juve. Gak salah tuh? padahal di juve kan pernah disinggahi maestro kek zidane ato platini tapi malah pemaen british john charles yang kepilih ma fansnya juve. Tapi setelah ngecek daftar prestasinya ternyata gak jelek2 amat. 3 kali juara serie A, 2 kali copa italia and 1 kali jadi pemaen terbaik di serie A (1958). kabarnya nih orang sangat dihargai di italia. sir Bobby robson bahkan nyamain dia dalam kelompoknya pele, maradona, ma george best. mungkin fans juve ada yang bisa kasih info lebih detail soal john charles ini? _frely_ . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
