THESE days it's rare enough for a British footballer to be named as the best in the world in his chosen position.

But a player who could play in two different roles, centre-forward and centre-half - and be named the best on the planet in both - would be beyond price in today's market.

So, taking his remarkable record into account, it's hardly a surprise that ex-Hereford United player-manager John Charles is the central character in two books currently available, more of note is that it's taken this long - now the former Welsh international is into his 70s - for even one to appear.

Charles, who is suffering from Alzheimer's and has had an ongoing battle with cancer, was in Hereford recently to sign copies of his autobiography King John, written in collaboration with Bob Harris.

His book tells of a rise from humble origins in Swansea through a great career at the highest level with Leeds, Juventus and Roma to later financial problems brought on by bad investments and a general lack of business acumen.

An image of a man who simply loved playing football shines through. A gentleman who ultimately wasn't cut out to continue his success as a player in a managerial career: "I wanted to be mates with everyone and...found it difficult to be the hard man and end players' careers," he writes.

His career as Hereford United player-manager, which saw him sign virtually all of the side which featured in the great FA Cup run of 1971-2 and progress into the Football League, is, of course, covered in the autobiography.

A rather better treatment, however, is to be found in Mario Risoli's biography John Charles - Gentle Giant.

Journalist and writer Risoli has sought out and interviewed many of those involved at Edgar Street during the Charles era, including Frank Miles, Jim Finney, Ricky George, Alan Scarrott, Peter Isaac, Peter Timms, Dudley Tyler, Ron Radford, Ken Mallender and Roger Griffiths.

The players seemed to have universally enjoyed playing alongside Charles and Potter talks about his 'fantastic' training sessions while being less complimentary about his man-management and organisation.

Despite one or two errors - John English rather than John Inglis, Charles signing for United in the Red, not the Spread, Eagle, and Ricky George, who wasn't to join the club for a further three months, crossing for a Charles headed goal in an FA Cup tie with Brighton - Risoli's is the more informative and, unsurprisingly, analytical of the two books.

Both, however, tell the story of a player whose like will probably never be seen again.

*King John by John Charles is published by Headline at £18.99; John Charles - Gentle Giant by Mario Risoli is published by Mainstream Publishing at £14.99.