England was the big news in the summer of 1978 and the following season was the beginning of a new era. The news was foreign players coming to English clubs. The first to arrive were fresh stars from the 1978 World Cup. The whole affair still baffles and confuses people – many still think that England finally opened its market to foreigners and it was the first time players from outside the British isles arrived in the English league. This was not true – England imported players since the early 20th century, but there were no signings since the 1960s and nobody remembered that the English market was never closed. It was mostly the attitude: the British did not think foreign players, or the ‘continentals’ as foreigners were called disrespectfully, can adapt to the ‘true game’. The other problem – an objective one, but closely linked to attitude – was labour laws. It was very difficult to obtain working permit, so nobody bothered. The third reason was even less known: there was ban on foreign players imposed by the Professional Footballers’ Association – it was in the realm of labour laws and trade unions. It was hardly absolute ban, for English laws are never absolute, but still it was difficult restriction. By 1978 it was in conflict with international regulations – particularly those existing in the early form of the European Union. PFA came under pressure and had to lift the ban – it was related to agreement between UEFA and EEC Commission that outlawed discrimination against the employment of footballers from other EEC countries. Once the door was slightly opened, there was no stopping… the first big imports were not coming from EEC. The whole picture is difficult to paint and perhaps most details are not important. Suffice to say that since technically England had no absolute ban on foreigners – like Italy, for instance – and imported players from outside UK: Irish, Caribians, South Africans, the odd Canadian or Australian, there was sufficient ground to get ‘continentals’ too. Difficult, but not impossible. The real problem was the clubs’ lack of desire.
But Tottenham Hotspur took the risk and signed two fresh world champions. Which was immediately huge news everywhere. Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa arrived in London.
They were introduced to curious and cheering crowd eager to shake hands. Feelings and reactions were mixed: excitement of getting such high profiled players, mixed with curiosity about the ‘exotic’, but also negativity – to a point, the new arrivals were seen as a novelty. Do they speak English? If not – what’s the point of bringing them here? And adapting to English football? The Argentines had different style and they must change it to proper English one – is it possible? And after all, why hiring some people from the other end of the world? Don’t we have good enough guys, who speak the language and know the way to play? Just wait until December and the fancy boys will disappear in the mud! Why, they may not even last until December… if playing at all. Good publicity stunt, but these guys with weird names will stay on the bench for sure. As to prove the conflicting points, Ardiles was regular for Argentina, but Villa was not. Ardiles spoke English, Villa did not. Ardiles was frail, typical weak ‘continental’, but Villa was big and burly looking, like a true British player. No way to judge them clearly… so confusing.
The duo was soon joined by a third world champions – Alberto Tarantini.
He had wonderful world cup tournament, was one of the most talked about players, and clearly the best at his post – full left back. He also appeared British – tall, strong, energetic and tireless. And only 23 years old – young enough to learn and adapt. And he was almost free, for he had no club – true, the reason for this was a bit troublesome: he was without employer because of his disagreement over money with Boca Juniors and refusal to play for the club. After which Boca Juniors imposed a total ban on him in Argentina and he was unable to play for any club. Troublemaker… Luckily, he was in great form at the World Cup, so he was coming to England fit. Birmigham City signed him – another reason for debates and doubts. On one hand, English football was rightly thought the best – world champions were really good only for smallish English clubs, for the bigger ones had superior players already. ‘Continentals’ surely understood their own inferiority ans were glad just to try humbly to adjust and learn. And it was still good argument against foreigners: what they were really good for? If world champions were only good to play for Birmingham City, what was the point of bringing them at all in England? Surely there was a boy or two somewhere in the lower leagues just as capable, if not better. No need to teach him the language and where is the pub. And to a point, international reaction confirmed the English pride: the financial troubles of English clubs were well known and yet they were able to hire easily the top world players. Obviously, money were better than elsewhere. And it was great to see foreigners arriving to the Mecca of football – it was a dream, almost impossible dream, suddenly coming true.
The next to come was a star getting old by now – Kazimierz Deyna, the captain of the excellent Polish team in 1974. He was not so great at the 1978 World Cup and already 31 years old, but still considered a star.
His transfer from Legia (Warszawa) to Manchester City presented different lines of arguments: on one hand it was immediate recognition of the class of the East European football and in terms of money it looked like a snatch. On the other hand – why importing old player seemingly going downhill. Yet, he was one more high-profile player – world stars were moving to England quickly and willingly.
Two other players were hardly noticed at first, dwarfed behind the big transfers.
Arnold Muhren moved from Twente to Ipswich Town. Born in 1951, the younger Muhren was almost forgotten by now – he was known, because he was part of the great Ajax, but his fame was tangential: back in the great days he was reserve and known mostly because of his family name – Gerrie Muhren was indeed the star. When Arnold moved to Twente everybody forgot him instantly and his transfer was hardly noticed.
Same was the case of Partizan (Belgrade) defender Ivan Golac.
Like Arnold Muhren, Golac was not exactly a household name and he was no longer young – born in 1950. He played a little for Yugoslavia, but clearly was second-string player. His moving to Southampton hardly registered.
Few other players eventually went to England, but the number was as whole was small in 1978. The first transfers were highly representative of both negative and positive views about foreigners in England – a 50-50 division. Tarantini had a terrible single season in England. He is remembered allright: as one of the biggest all-time failures. To critics, he was a prime example of how unfit ‘continentals’ were for British football. The fact that Birmigham City had poor team at the time did not help Tarantini at all. Kazimierz Deyna stayed 3 seasons with Manchester City, but appeared in only 38 games, scoring 12 goals. He was plagued by injuries. The fans generally liked him, but saw little of him. Old, constantly injured, rarely playing… ‘continentals’ were clearly just waste of money. Ricardo Villa played for Tottenham Hotspur until 1983 and is considered club legend nowadays. But he adjusted slowly to English football, language was a problem, and was more a novelty than true star. Still,, he played 133 matches, scoring 18 goals for the Spurs. However, he was never called again to play for Argentina after the 1978 World Cup – he was not consistent in London, if not actually something worse.
The other three were clearly a success. Ivan Golac, almost unknown, settled well in Southampton – big, physical, and tough, he not only played 5 years for the Saints, but was a key player. In 1982 he was loaned to Bournemouth, then to Manchester City in 1983. The next season he playd back in Yugoslavia – kind of played: a single appearance for lowly Belasica (Strumica) in 1983-84. Then back to England and Southampton, where he retired in 1986. His English start was difficult and typical: he had problems with obtaining work permit and at first had non-contract status. Arnold Muhren also settled quickly – his adjustment was quick and although his first year was not fantastic, he nevertheless established himself as a key player in Ipswich Town. He was instrumental for the great success of Ipswich in the early 1980s, became one of the top players in the English league, and moved to Manchester United in 1982, where he played three seasons. If Arnold Muhren became a star, Osvaldo Ardiles became a legend. He was the least likely to succeed at first – small, light, technical, fragile looking, he was everything making ‘continentals’ unfit for the true game. But he mesmerized the fans from start, took the reigns of Tottenham, conducting their game and there was just no way to ignore him. Ardiles was the key player of the Spurs for 10 years (save for 1982-83, when Tottenham had to loan him to Paris SG because of the Malvin Islands war between Great Britain and Argentina – despite the war, Ossie returned triumphal and nobody had a grudge against him). Like Golac, Ardiles stayed in England to the end of his career – he retired in 1991, playing his last two years for Swindon Town. Unlike Villa, he was needed for the national team of Argentina and played at the 1982 World Cup finals.
Still, the critics were not satisfied – England was perhaps the toughest country for foreign players. They were placed under constant hostile scrutiny – it was not about expectations of elevating their team or the money they got. Foreign players faced such criticism in other countries, whereas in England the main point was fitting into the game and the culture. The smallest mistake was blown to enormous proportions and the battle cry remained: ‘we don’t need them, they cannot play, they cannot understand our football’. To a point, the initial split shown above determined imports for a long time – South Americans and Southern Europeans were avoided. Yugoslavians and Dutch were the main imported players for a while. It stands to reason: both nations were long time exporters of players, their reputations were good, the Dutch players were especially welcomed in the late 1970s, because they represented leading football. The Dutch had more advantages – traditionally, they respected and knew English football, they had great working ethic, and usually they knew English language well. Eventually, the bulk of foreign players in England consisted largely from Northern Europeans – Dutch and Scandinavians, who were like the Dutch in working ethic and knowledge of language. It was difficult for the ‘continentals’ to survive in the English league and harsh critical voices exist even today, but the gates were opened in 1978 and there was no going back. 1978-79 is remarkable and most important season because of that. The ‘continentals’ have arrived.