(These days, top clubs battle it out for the right to be big in Japan and tap into the football boom in the Far East. But when Arsenal flew out for a triple-header against the Japanese national team in May 1968 they were breaking very new ground for a Western professional club.) In those days, long haul really was long haul. We flew to Tokyo via New York, so we were severely jet-lagged by the time we arrived and ended up sleeping for the best part of 24 hours. Some of the traditions were very different – for example the way they gave more importance to age than to seniority … Continue reading David Court