Leeds pays tribute to Charles

The funeral of Welsh football legend John Charles has been held in Leeds Parish Church in Yorkshire, England.

Pall bearers
Charles, who made his name at Leeds United AFC and Juventus FC, was born in Swansea and died just over a week ago at the age of 72. Players from the famous Leeds side of the 1970s, including Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer and Allan Clarke, were among the pall bearers at the funeral.

In attendance
At midday Charles's hearse graced the Elland Road turf. International forwards Alan Smith and Mark Viduka were among the current generation of Leeds players in attendance, while former goalkeeper John Lukic and midfield player Gordon Strachan represented the Leeds side that won the league championship in 1992.

Toshack speech
Other famous figures from the football world at the service were Sir Alex Ferguson, Mark Hughes and Jack Charlton. One of the speakers was former Liverpool FC and Wales forward John Toshack, now coach of Real Murcia CF, who read a poem he had written about Charles. A memorial service at Leeds's Elland Road stadium followed the funeral.

'Tremendous gesture'
"It's a tremendous gesture to the memory of big John, who was a wonderful man and a great footballer," said the Leeds caretaker manager, Eddie Gray, himself a former player at Elland Road.

Il buon gigante
Charles joined Leeds at the age of 17. Initially a defender he was converted into a forward and went on to score 154 goals for the Yorkshire club before signing for Juventus in 1957. Much-loved in Turin, where he was dubbed 'Il buon gigante' - the gentle giant - he also won 38 caps for Wales and was never booked or sent off in his entire career.