it two Highbury hat-tricks in a row when, already with two goals to his name, he scuffed a penalty into the arms of Everton keeper Jimmy O'Neill. Always struggling with his knees, during the 1960–61 he started to be afflicted by ligament damage. The physios used whatever methods they could to reduce the swellings in his knees, and as he was a big-money signing, Charles would be forced to take to the field week in and week out, despite his injuries. His team were wildly inconsistent, beating Newcastle United 5–0, only to lose 6–0 to West Ham United a few weeks later; meanwhile supporters were anxious at the rise of their North London rivals. Arsenal finished eleventh, some 25 points behind Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur. The 1961–62 season was another difficult one for both Charles and Arsenal. However, he did manage to bag another hat-trick for the club, as he scored all three goals in an FA Cup win over Bradford City. His time in London would be dominated by injuries though, and he underwent three operations in three years. Altogether Charles played 64 matches in three seasons for Arsenal, scoring 28 goals. Cardiff City In February 1962 he returned to his native Wales to sign with Cardiff City, who paid Arsenal £28,500 for his services. Though he would have preferred a move back to Swansea, they were unwilling to spend money in the transfer market, and so he was happy to sign with Cardiff, despite the Cardiff-Swansea rivalry; in turn the Cardiff fans were welcoming to Charles despite his Swansea connection. The "Bluebirds" were in a relegation dogfight, and there was a lot of pressure on Charles to perform, however he missed an easy chance for a goal in his debut, in what ended as a 0–0 draw at home to Manchester City. He helped them to earn 1–1 draws against Burnley and former club Arsenal, however a bad run soon followed and the club lost their First Division status at the end of the season. Cardiff signed renowned goal-getters Ivor Allchurch and Peter Hooper for the upcoming 1962–63 Second Division campaign, and so Charles was moved to a more central role in the pitch. Though signed by Bill Jones, ironically George Swindin, the manager who had sold him at Arsenal, replaced Jones as manager in October 1962. Despite the disruption, Charles scored in both derby games against Swansea, in