On This Day – 3rd August
Welshman John Charles left Leeds United to join Italian giants Juventus on this day back in 1957, breaking the world transfer record in the process.
Charles cost Juve £65,000 when he joined and he would remain the most expensive British player until Aston Villa’s striker Gerry Hitchens joined Inter Milan four years later.
In Charles’ first season in Italy, he won the Italian Player of the Year award and was voted Serie A’s Greatest Ever Foreign Player in 1997. Not bad considering other talents such as Diego Maradona, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini have graced the top flight in Italy!
In his five years at Juve, Charles scored a hugely impressive 108 goals in 155 appearances, playing both as a centre back and centre forward.
He won three Serie A titles and lifted the Coppa Italia twice, including a league and cup double in 1959/60.
He returned to Leeds United in 1962, only to leave after playing eleven games and scoring three times. He then moved back to Italy to join Roma, where he would spend a season before joining Cardiff City.
Charles featured in the ‘Far Post Header Hall of Fame’. The article about the powerful Welshman can be found here.
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