Terry Yorath: On Wales v Iran and football in the Middle East

On 18th April 1978, Wales took on Iran in the only football outing between the two countries. Wales won the match 1-0 and one of those who featured was Welsh football legend, Terry Yorath. I had the privilege to have an exclusive conversation with him for Cymranian, where we discussed the events surrounding the match itself and his associations with Middle Eastern football after.

The year 1978 saw big change ahead for Iran. Only a few short months after hosting Wales at the 100,000-capacity Azadi Stadium, the national side was to compete in its first World Cup, being grouped with the Netherlands, Peru and Scotland. Months after that, the Shah went into exile during the Iranian revolution which changed the face of the country for good.

Yorath and the Welsh team, however, treated the trip to Iran like any other international tie. The match came about when the son of the Shah - a massive Liverpool fan - wanted to watch a UK team travel to Iran and play a match at Tehran's iconic stadium. Getting there felt a bit surreal, with the team landing in Turkmenistan before heading to Iran's.

On matchday, the Welsh side arrived an-hour-and-a-half before kick-off, but after a quick warmup they were left hanging a little longer. Why? "We couldn't start the match until the Shah's son arrived - he was two hours late," Yorath recalled. This didn't deter the side as Phil Dwyer's strike was enough to defeat Iran, his first international goal.

Yorath and his team were in Iran for four days and during their downtime would soak up a little culture and visited places such as the Grand Bazaar. Yorath was keen to learn more about Iran, as he would do when travelling anywhere as part of international duty. "It's the best part about being a footballer," he'd tell me. He and his team mates were however, perhaps most struck by the huge mountains which they couldn't help but notice. He was also struck by, despite the warm weather and wearing t-shirts and shorts throughout the visit, the locals wearing multiple layers - apparently, they were climatising to the snow they were expecting days after.

This was the only time Yorath visited Iran, though it wasn't the last time he set foot in the Middle East. Between 1995 and 1997, he coached Lebanon's national side where he enjoyed considerable success and returned home with plenty of good memories. He saw a country with tonnes of potential and yet torn by conflict. "They loved their football," Yorath said. "Even when the Lebanese Under 21 played in Beirut, so many school kids took the day off to watch the side play Iran's Under 21. Most of them were screaming for Iran!"

"Coaching in Lebanon was an experience. You saw every social class come together, so many cultures too - at the time we had Syrian and Palestinian refugees entering the country, not knowing anywhere else to go."

Yorath's time in Lebanon had certainly given him a fresh perspective on the Middle Eastern game. Shortly after the Iran game in 1978, he gave a rather blunt assessment on his opponent's future prospects. "I rated the Iranian team no better than our Second Division sides and I feel there is something wrong when teams like that can qualify [for the World Cup] when the likes of England and Wales cannot make it," he wrote in Sports Argus (pictured below right).

The comments may sound harsh, but there's definitely some truth in the stark differences of competitiveness between European competitions and Asian. The debate of who merits a place on football's biggest stages will continue to rage on. Fast forward over 40 years later, he cannot fault the commitment at that part of the world.

"We don't give enough credit to Middle Eastern countries being good at football," he said. "We had great players at Lebanon who had decent jobs, and they would use their income to play football; very different to how it's done at home. Clubs did everything for us."

From left-right, coverage in Shoot Magazine, Aberdeen Press & Journal, Sports Argus

Huge thank you to the History team at the Football Association of Wales (FAW) for providing Cymranian with the amazing archive articles and picture above.