World of Soccer Cup

The World of Soccer Cup, an association football friendly tournament, took place in the summer of 1977, hosted by Singapore and Australia.

Overview

The tournament was the idea of English entrepreneur Reg Lambourne, Strata Travel owner Tom Lawrence and Red Star Belgrade FC Secretary General Dr Miroljub Stojkovic and consisted of two competitions. The first (also known as Metro 20th Anniversary Tournament) was a straight knock-out tournament in Singapore, and the second was a mini-league in which the top two teams would play in the final. The first trophy was won by Red Star Belgrade (FK Crvena zvezda) and the second by Celtic, and was the last ever trophy Jock Stein would ever lift for Celtic.

Teams that participated

  • Celtic FC Latchford, McGrain, Burns, Stanton, McDonald, Aitken, Wilson, Conn, Glavin, Edvaldsson, Lennox, Doyl, Kay (Manager Jock Stein)
  • Red Star Belgrade Stojanović, Jelikić, Jovanović, Muslin, Bogićević, Novković, Nikolić, Petrović, Savić, Sušić, Filipović, Šestić, Lukić (Manager Gojko Zec)
  • Arsenal Rimmer, Rice, Nelson, Powling, O'Leary, Young, Brady, Hudson, Macdonald, Stapleton, Armstrong, Rix, Mathews (Manager Terry Neill)
  • A select XI from the host nation
  • Reilly, Harris, Wilson, Bennett, Williams, Harding, Barnes, Rooney, Kosmina, Ollerton, Sharne, Nyskohus, Maher, Abonyi (Manager Jimmy Shoulder)
Team Notes
Scotland Celtic Scottish Premier Division champions
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade Yugoslav First League champions
England Arsenal
Singapore Singapore XI Host nation (1st tournament)
Australia Australia Host nation (2nd tournament)

Results

In Singapore

Semi-finals
England Arsenal1–3Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
Macdonald Filipović, Šestić, Savić
National Stadium
Attendance: 55,000
Scotland Celtic5–0Singapore Singapore XI
Conn (2), Burns, Lennox, Edvaldsson
National Stadium
Attendance: 45,000
Third place playoff
England Arsenal5–1Singapore Singapore XI
Macdonald (3), Stapleton, Brady
National Stadium
Attendance: 45,000
Final
Scotland Celtic1–3Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
Lennox pen Petrović, Filipović (2)
National Stadium
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Jack Taylor

In Australia

Group stage
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Scotland Celtic 3 2 1 0 7 5 +2 7
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
Australia Australia XI 3 1 0 2 7 7 0 3
England Arsenal 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3


England Arsenal1–3Australia Australia XI
Armstrong Kosmina, Harding, Ollerton
Scotland Celtic1–1Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
McDonald Savić
Attendance: 21,000
Referee: Jack Taylor
England Arsenal2–3Scotland Celtic
Rice, Macdonald Wilson (2), Glavin pen
Attendance: 21,460
England Arsenal1–0Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
Brady
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Attendance: 12,000
Australia Australia XI2–3Scotland Celtic
Barnes, Ollerton Glavin, Edvaldsson (2)
Attendance: 12,742
Referee: Richard Lorenc
Australia Australia XI2–3Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
Kosmina, Harding Savić, Šestić, Filipović
Attendance: 10,100
Referee: Stewart Mellings
Final
Scotland Celtic2–0Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
McDonald, Edvaldsson
Attendance: 23,000
Referee: Jack Taylor

References

  1. ^ Official Program and was there