West Brom’s adventure in the East
In 1978 Albion departed on their now legendary tour of China
There was a particular liquor they used to give us. Maotai it was called. It was like liquid paraffin John Wile
THE late 1970s was something of a golden age for West Bromwich Albion, when they played scintillating football, challenging for honours at the top of the league and enjoying long runs in the FA Cup. The highlight of the period was their ground breaking tour of China – now chiefly remembered for John Trewick’s tongue-in-cheek quip when visiting that country’s most famous landmark: “When you’ve seen one wall, you’ve seen ’em all, haven’t you?”
Ron Atkinson had taken over as Albion boss in January 1978 and by the end of the season the club had finished in sixth place in Division One, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and had reached the semifinals of the FA Cup. The Baggies had some bright stars in their ranks, with the likes of Bryan Robson, Laurie Cunningham, Brendon Batson and Cyrille Regis, playing alongside stalwarts Tony Brown and John Wile.
The tour came about when England manager Ron Greenwood turned down the opportunity for the national team to visit China. Bert Millichip, Albion’s chairman and a senior figure at the FA, then offered the Baggies as an alternative.
The team flew to China, via Rome,
Bahrain and Calcutta, on Saturday, May 12, 1978. They spent a night in Hong Kong before crossing the border into China the following day, arriving in Beijing on May 15. They were followed by a TV crew, led by journalist Julian Pettifer as they visited the tourist attractions. In 2018 Albion legend John Wile recalled the tour when talking with the Sunday Mercury’s Paul Suart. John said: “When we were taken out we were on our best behaviour because we were representing not just our club, but our country. “A lot of us were looking forward to the food, but it was nothing like the Chinese food we were used to from takeaways in the West! We were served not just chicken, but the whole chicken — head, feet, the lot. It took some getting used to. “There was a particular liquor they used to give us. Maotai it was called. It was like liquid paraffin. We used to take a sip for the toast and then pass it to the guys we were playing the next day! They seemed to love it. “One day we asked if we could have something else for breakfast because we were getting Chinese food for every meal. They came back with lamb chops and roast potatoes, more or less a roast dinner.
“That wasn’t exactly the ideal meal before a day of training, but it summed up how they were as hosts. They could not have been more helpful.”
The first game was against a Beijing XI in front of 80,000 spectators in the People’s Stadium. The game was like nothing the Albion players had experienced before – it was played in almost near silence, as the Chinese considered it impolite to cheer, shout or clap.
The Albion squad knew they were in for a different style of game when almost as soon as the whistle blew for kick-off, Derek Statham was felled by a chest-high challenge. Undeterred, Albion won 3–1, with two goals from Alistair Brown and one from Cyrille Regis.
The next game was against China’s national team in front of an even bigger crowd in the same stadium. Albion had a comfortable 2–0 win, Regis and Tony Brown scoring.
Albion then travelled to Shanghai, where they won 2–0. The Baggies then thumped Guangdong (formerly Kwantung) Province 6–0.
The team then returned to Hong Kong, where they faced a Select XI and beat them 3–0.
The Albion ambassadors returned with five wins out of five, 16 goals scored and only 1 conceded, and Cyrille Regis scored in every game.