Tributes To Charles

Evening Post Readers Pay Tribute To John Charles

Readers of the South Wales Evening Post have paid tribute to Welsh legend John Charles in a Postbox special included in tonight’s paper – these are the letters published

Please find a small poem as a tribute to the late and great John Charles. He was born in Cwmbwrla and played football for fun, you could see he was special from day one. He would only play one way and that was to play fair, it was a sight to behold as he rose in the air. He was soon to be renowned from home and afar when Juventus said come and join us we’ll make you a star. He was kicked he was fouled but still stayed defiant so the fans named him the Gentle Giant. We are proud he was Welsh and mourn now he’s gone, but there’s one thing for sure, there’ll never be another King John. Peter Whatley —

May I suggest that the name John Charles Waterfront would be a lasting attractive memorial rather than the utilitarian but dull SA1 Waterfront. Catherine Beet —

We have lost a truly great Welshman. Your country has produced many great men and women, statesmen, poets, singers and playwrights. We have lost a son of Yorkshire, a man of Italy who they called The Gentle Giant. Many years have passed since I first saw John Charles play for Leeds United. The best all round footballer who played in Britain ever. John rose from a humble background to become a king. This man, was indeed, the people’s Prince of Wales. Jack Speight —

While John Charles was a wonderful footballer I do not think the White Rock Stadium should be named after him as he never played for Swansea. A tribute of some other kind would be well deserved and we should honour him in some way. Bryn Thomas —

The sad recent death of Welsh football legend John Charles has rightly prompted numerous calls for a fitting tribute to Wales’s greatest ever player. Anyone doubting the correctness of the term "greatest" in describing John Charles’s footballing ability should pay a visit to Italy, where John by popular consent remains the greatest ever "foreign" player to grace the Italian league. When one considers all the truly outstanding foreign players to have played in Italian football over the last 50 years – for example, Maradona, Zico, Klinsmann, Greaves, Ronaldo and the like – for John Charles to be rated by the highly knowledgeable Italian footballing public better than any of them is surely evidence of his tremendous footballing prowess. It remains one of the great tragedies of Welsh football that John, through injury, was robbed of the chance to play against Brazil in the 1958 World Cup quarter final. There are many respected commentators who today still maintain that if he played Wales would have won that game – and, who knows, changed the course of footballing history in the process. In Swansea we are fortunate that we have in the new stadium being built at Morfa – an ideal opportunity to give lasting recognition to John Charles’s sporting achievements by naming the new stadium The John Charles Stadium. Leigh Richards Swansea Green Party

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As a former pupil of Manselton school in the 1940s and 1950s and a Cwmbwrla Jack born and bred, John Charles would, like the rest of us ex-pupils of that school, have used Cwmbwrla Park during the weekly sports class and the annual sports day, also for a kick about after school. His achievements as an outstanding footballer and the manner in which he always conducted himself as a man, are well documented. It would be a lasting and fitting tribute to his name to rename the park in his honour – the John Charles Park, Cwmbwrla. Regrettably, I only had the pleasure of seeing him play on one occasion. Towards the end of his career he played for Hereford United, and I saw him play against Cambridge United at Edgar Street, Hereford, where he gave a marvellous exhibition of skill, power and control scoring five goals. It was poetry in motion. A statute of the Swansea-born legend is a must. Good to see the Post and the council getting together on this. Let’s hope it will be an inspiration to our present day youngsters. Thank you John for the pleasure you gave to the millions of us. Sadly missed, but never to be forgotten. G Lewis

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Instead of naming the new White Rock stadium, John Charles, may I suggest a statue of him outside the stadium for all to see, as a permanent memorial, which could also contain his ashes.

Stavros Galanos —

With the recent passing away of a true soccer legend, I wonder if the people in charge of naming our new stadium at Morfa will consider renaming it The John Charles Stadium? This would be a fitting tribute to one of the greats of not only soccer but of Wales.

Peter Hooper — Like thousands of others who were fortunate to see John Charles play for Leeds and Wales, I was greatly saddened to learn of his passing. I have listened to all the accolades and memories and I share the loss that so many in the sporting world are feeling at the moment. I do hope that we will be able to have a fitting memorial to King John here in Swansea. He never forgot his roots and although he described himself as a Leeds player he also wanted to be known as a Swansea boy. This is the measure of the man himself. A man of tremendous talent but also one of great modesty. I think he might have been a little reluctant to have a stadium named after him, but I think it is entirely in keeping to name a stand in his memory. I wrote to Swansea council leader Lawrence Bailey some years ago, suggesting that John should be given the freedom of the city and a knighthood. He never received the knighthood but at least we were able to have a great day in the Brangwyn Hall where he was honoured as a son of Swansea. I will be writing to the leader of Swansea council again, but this time suggesting that a stand is named after John’s memory. I hope that others will do the same. Terry Hughes —

What a fitting memorial if plans to rename Cwmbwrla Park after John Charles go ahead. He lived as a boy in the very fine terraced houses in Alice Street, less than five minutes from the park. His father Ned was known locally to be an exceptional footballer. John Charles and his brothers would have obviously also have played football on the nearest open field – at Williams Farm – the land later to be bought for the community and called Cwmbwrla Park. As he was little more than a schoolboy when he went to play for Leeds, Cwmbwrla Park would have been the one place in Swansea that John Charles would have played the most football. Later, on a sunny day in the 1950s, when – in addition to the football pitches, Cwmbwrla Park also had flower beds, paddling pool, a shop, tennis courts, a cricket pitch and pavilion – John Charles must have been visiting his family. Local children were thrilled to witness an impromptu tennis match between John, Mel Charles and brothers Len and Ivor Allchurch. Unfortunately there were no cameras to record the event. Descendants of the Williams family who grew corn where the pitches are today and grazed massive cart horses in the upper fields, still live in the local area, and Williams farm – as Cwmbwrla Park today – continues as a precious green space in the centre of an increasingly built up area. Many boys (and men) have played and continue to play on the football pitches in Cwmbwrla Park. Some have been scouted to play for Manchester United, Yeovil, Arsenal, Swansea City and other teams. Cwmbwrla Park is a valuable resource for the boys and youth of the town to pursue healthy sporting activities and continue to aspire to greatness as did John Charles. Eventually some of the boys may get to play football or rugby in the new White Rock Stadium, but it is places like Cwmbwrla Park, local green spaces that are near their homes and schools, that they have the room to run, jump and kick a ball, to train and strengthen their muscles while they are young and growing. V Samuel

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Swansea has been given a great opportunity to name the new Morfa football stadium. We now mourn the loss of one of Wales’s greatest footballers. According to First Minister Rhodri Morgan "We have lost one of the greatest Welshmen of the 20th Century". What a worthy name for the new football stadium – The John Charles Stadium. He was a gentle giant, the first genuine football superstar and brought nothing but credit to the game of soccer. I feel sure that if a vote was taken he would surely be the choice of all of the Swansea football fans and the people of the John Charles era. Let this be a fitting tribute to a great footballer. Catherine May —

I Would like to pay my tribute to John Charles, who I knew in my schooldays as Charlo. He played football for Manselton, I played for Waun Wen but we played together for the Swansea Schoolboys 1944-45. Even in those schoolboy days he stood out from the rest with his football skill. It was several years later that I met John again. I was walking past High Street Station when a voice called out: "Hey Bill". It was John with a group of mates. He called me over, we had a chat. He was still the same Charlo I’d known. Fame hadn’t gone to his head. That was the last time I spoke to him. He said recently all he wanted was memories. That’s what I’ve got of the greatest Welsh footballer ever. It makes me feel proud that I featured in a small part of his life. Goodbye Charlo. Bill Jewell

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