Mel Charles

Swansea City

Growing up in a poor family in the Cwmbwrla district of Swansea alongside elder brother John and three other siblings, the brothers grew up on Alice Street in Swansea, being neighbours of fellow future Welsh internationals Ernie Jones, Mel Nurse, and Jackie Roberts. John and Mel Charles seemed destined to begin their careers at local club Swansea Town. However, manager Billy McCandless was unwilling to test youngsters in the unforgiving waters of the Third Division South, so the boys were not signed up to the club. This proved costly to Swansea, and the result was that John signed with Leeds United, and 14-year-old Mel also followed him to Elland Road to become one of the ground staff. Despite fitting in well at the club, he was unable to settle in Leeds; due to his poor background he was unable to afford trips back to Wales to visit his family and he was also illiterate so could not write home. After a young apprentice, also from Swansea, failed to impress at Leeds, manager Major Frank Buckley asked Charles to accompany him on the trip back to his hometown. However, due to his homesickness, Charles never returned to Yorkshire once he made it back to Swansea. Instead, Swansea Town scout Joe Sykes persuaded Charles to join the club's ground staff. He was offered a professional contract with Swansea Town at the age of 17, and he immediately settled into the Second Division side. His debut came at Bramall Lane on 20 December 1952, in what turned out to be a…

Charles made his debut for Wales in a game against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park on 20 April 1955; the Welsh won 3–2 thanks to a John Charles hat-trick. His second cap came against Austria on 23 November, in a game latter dubbed the 'Battle of Wrexham'. He was stretchered off with 15 minutes to go after an Austrian boot went through the back of his leg; this was notable as the only time John ever lost his temper, as he reacted to the challenge by lifting the Austrian off the ground and screaming "If you ever do that to my brother again I'll bloody kill you!" Charles was then selected for the 1957 British Home Championship squad, and helped his country to record a 2–2 draw with Scotland at Ninian Park. He also battled against injury to play in the 3–1 defeat to England at Wembley Stadium, before the tournament ended with a goalless draw in Ireland. He helped Wales to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden after they were drawn in a difficult qualifying group consisting of themselves, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. A Roy Vernon goal gave Wales two opening points at home to the Czechs – this was John Charles' final game before his big-money move to Juventus. In the second game, Mel gave Wales an opening lead against the East Germans, only for the Germans to come back to record a 2–1 win in front of 100,000 supporters at the Zentralstadion. The return fixture to the Czechs at Prague ended with a 2–0 defeat, seemingly ending Welsh hopes of qualification. Juventus did…

Club

International

He was the brother of all-round player John Charles and father of former Wales international Jeremy Charles. In March 1958, Charles married Vera (surname Frame). His brother John Charles was unable to attend the wedding as he was in Italy at the time. It was a triple wedding, as Swansea teammates Don Pearson and Jeff Rees also married their partners in the same ceremony. In September 1959 Vera gave birth to a son, Jeremy, who went on to play for Swansea and Wales himself. They also had a daughter, Catherine. The couple divorced in 1972, though remained good friends. After he left the professional game he found himself 'virtually penniless'. He tried jobs as a door-to-door shoe salesman, as a scrap metal dealer (along with brother John), as a butcher, and as a potato merchant, often failing in a spectacular and humorous fashion. Charles' autobiography, entitled In the Shadow of a Giant, was released by John Blake Publishing in 2009. The title is a reference to his elder brother, John Charles, who became one of the biggest names in football as Mel was building his own career. The foreword was written by John Toshack and Jack Charlton. After a period of ill health, Charles died on 24 September 2016, at the age of 81.