Remembering Arsenal's first trip to Asia in 1968

Arsenal line up ahead of one of their games in Asia in 1968These days, clubs heading to the Far East on a pre-season tour are commonplace. But in May 1968 when we flew out for a triple-header against the Japanese national team as well as a fixture in Malaysia, we were breaking very new ground for a Western professional club.

We headed across the world as part of a push to help promote the game in Japan, as well as prepare the national team for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, where Japan went on to claim the bronze medal, and our arrival generated a huge buzz of expectation.

Just a month earlier, Japanese TV audiences had been given their first regular dose of English football, thanks to a…