1979 Kirin Cup

Kirin Cup 1979

(Japan, Spurs, Fiorentina, Dundee United, San Lorenzo, Indonesia, Burma)

The second Kirin Cup (Japan Cup) tournament was held in Japan from 27 May to 4 June 1979 and featured Japan, Tottenham Hotspur (England), Dundee United (Scotland), Indonesia, Fiorentina (Italy), San Lorenzo (Argentina), Burma and a Japan League XI. The teams were again divided into two groups of four teams, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. Tottenham Hotspur and Dundee United finished top of Groups A and B respectively. In the semi-finals Dundee United defeated Fiorentina 4-2 in a penalty kick shoot-out after the game finished 2-2, and Tottenham Hotspur defeated San Lorenzo 5-3 in a penalty kick shoot-out after the game finished 3-3. In the final Tottenham Hotspur defeated Dundee United 2-0 with goals from Gordon Smith and Osvaldo Ardiles to win the 1979 Kirin Cup.

The official 1979 Kirin Cup programme has 42 x A4 pages and is all in Japanese. The programme includes details of the competing teams and small photos of each of their players. Two extra inserts are included with pen pictures of the Indonesia and Burma players, which were not available at the time the programme was printed. The programme also includes a couple of photos from the 1978 Kirin Cup and a page on referee Brian McGinlay from Scotland. The programme in my collection has the autographs of some of the Tottenham Hotspur FC players inside including Terry Naylor, Colin Lee and Osvaldo Ardiles.