Playing career When he was 12 years old, Charles began playing with the
West Ham United youth teams and signed with the club as an apprentice when he turned 15. He would sign with West Ham as a full professional when he turned 17 and joined the first team in 1970 as a
defender. However, West Ham was stocked with talent and Charles had difficulty finding playing time. In 1971 and 1972, he played two seasons on loan from West Ham with the
Montreal Olympique of the now defunct
North American Soccer League (NASL). While with Montreal, he met his future wife Clarena, then a flight attendant flying between Montreal and England. He was also honoured as a second team NASL
All Star in both of his seasons in Montreal. When playing time continued to elude Charles, West Ham loaned him to
Second Division side
Cardiff City for the last 8 games of the 1974 season. Even though Cardiff City were relegated to the
Third Division, Charles chose to sign with the team and became its captain at the age of 23. Cardiff won promotion back to the Second Division in 1976. Charles finished his career with Cardiff City in 1978, playing over 100 games and scoring 5 goals. In 1978, the NASL
Portland Timbers bought Charles' contract from Cardiff City. He remained with the Timbers through the 1981 outdoor season. However, injuries began to hamper Charles and in 1981, he played only 4 games with the Timbers and did not return to the team the next year. In addition to playing for the Timbers' outdoor team, Charles had played 9 games for the Timbers during the 1980–81 NASL indoor season. His jersey, number 3, was retired by the Timbers after his death in 2003. He was honoured by the Timbers during a game against the
Seattle Sounders FC on 24 June 2012 by a large
tifo held up by the
Timbers Army prior to the start of the game. At the end of the 1981 NASL season, Charles moved to the indoor
Pittsburgh Spirit and then the
Los Angeles Lazers, both of the
Major Indoor Soccer League. He later admitted that "I hated it. But it paid the bills." In 1982, he was playing with the when Jimmy Conway, a former Timbers teammate, called Charles and told him of an opening at the
Reynolds High School boys' team in
Troutdale, Oregon. He immediately retired from playing and moved his family back to Oregon.
Coaching career Charles began his coaching as a young player in England, but he had no idea then the success coaching would bring to him. Charles remained with Reynolds High School for three years before the
University of Portland hired Charles as its men's coach in 1986. In 1989, the university expanded his duties to include both the men's and women's teams. He would continue coaching the UP teams until his death. In his last season (2002), the UP women's team won the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. During his tenure as the men's coach, Charles had a hand in beginning the career of numerous outstanding future players, including American
men's internationals Kasey Keller,
Steve Cherundolo, and
Conor Casey, American
women's internationals Tiffeny Milbrett and
Shannon MacMillan, and
Canadian international Christine Sinclair. Other players include
Yari Allnutt,
Scott Benedetti,
Kelly Gray,
Nate Jaqua and
Wade Webber. In 1986, Charles founded FC Portland, a local youth soccer club. The club fields numerous youth teams in local, state and national competitions. Charles also spent several years as coach of the
United States men's under-23 national team, culminating with the
2000 Summer Olympics. During this period, Charles was battling
prostate cancer, but continued to coach the US and achieved a fourth-place finish in the games, their best finish at the Olympics in almost a century. He retired from coaching the U23 team after the Olympics with a record of 23–11–13 (.628). He also coached the team to a bronze medal at the
1999 Pan American Games and third place at the
1997 World University Games. He also served as an assistant coach of the
United States men's senior national team in the
1998 World Cup. In 1994, he worked as an announcer for
ESPN during the
1994 FIFA World Cup. ==Death==