from DENNIS TUEART – MY FOOTBALL JOURNEY By Dennis Tueart – … End of season tours are curious beasts because if the games aren’t truly competitive the whole thing can sometimes feel like a waste of time. The ’76 close season tour was memorable for the good, the bad and the ugly of foreign jaunts…. It took forever to get there, travelling through numerous time zones, first we flew to Anchorage to refuel, before jetting off to the Far East. We were due to play a South Korea National team three times and a Japan national team four times. three games in Korea and four in Japan. Those mini tournaments are often tricky affairs, because grudges can often build between the sides. And that was certainly the case on this particular tour. In our first game in Seoul, we stood around before the game, frying in the mid afternoon sun, and waited around for a presentation and the national anthems. The game was a bad tempered affair. and one of the South Korean players went in with studs up on my knee, I’ve still got the scar today. We both fell to the ground, and when I saw three holes in my knee spurting blood I lost it and kicked him in the head and fell to the ground in agony.

There was uproar around us as the crowd exploded with rage. I was still prostrate on the ground as the referee showed him the red card, but I had to be stretchered off. My mood wasn’t helped when Asa Hartford, who helped take me off the pitch, proceeded to drop me off the stretcher. There really did seem to be the threat of a riot in the stadium, and eventually two American GIs, who were there to keep order, came and escorted us to hospital in their jeep. The wound, although deep and bleeding badly, actually only required two stitches, so I was fit and ready for the next match.

I was delighted to see my old foe was in the South Korean lineup for the re-match, and within a few minutes there was a 50-50 ball, and I went over the top on him. As he rolled around in agony, their bench emptied onto the pitch and the Korean coaches urged the referee to dismiss me. I stayed on’ but it demonstrated to me one of the perils of close season tours. You’ll often come up against a player who will do anything to get his name in lights, for good or bad reasons.