After the 1967 season, the USA and NPSL leagues merged into the NASL. The Dallas Tornado sent coach Bob Kap to northern Europe to put together a team of young "All American" looking players. Before the NASL season started this new Dallas Tornado team was sent on an amazing six month tour of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Central America.

This is the story of that trip. A team of 18 young, unknown players who had never been to Dallas went into some of the world's most difficult locations as the "Dallas Tornado" soccer team. This included games in Saigon in the middle of the Vietnam War. Imagine taking a trip to Syria to play a game today. It was an amazing trip that will never be repeated again.

Most of the content has been provided by Bill Crosbie who was a 19 year old with a dream to play professional soccer. This is not meant to be his story. Hopefully someday, a better writer than me will collect the other stories and publish a book. For now, it will be primarily his memories of the trip.





Bob Kap Coach, Lamar Hunt Tornado Owner

July 1967

Photo from http://www.dallasnews.com/





Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/ The article to the left says Bob Kap had already signed 16 players by July 20. There were no players signed at that time. It is unclear if Bob was embellishing or the reporter misunderstood Bob's intent to sign 16 or more players.







Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/





Brian Harvey with posters from the Tornado World Tour.

Photo from http://www.dallasnews.com/

Spain

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Spain

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Spain

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/



The beginning of the tour started with training camp in Spain. The first games were played in Spain and in Morocco.

Date Location Opponent Score Aug. 22 Cordoba, Spain Cordoba CF Lost 0-4 Aug. 29 Madrid, Spain RSD Alcala Won 5-4 Sept. 8 Seville, Spain Coria CF Won 3-2 Sept. 15 Tangier, Morocco UDT Won 3-2 Sept. 20 Oviedo, Spain Real Oviedo Lost 0-4

















Sept.30: Nice, France Bill Crosbie and Bobby Roach join the team.

"I do not know who`s idea the tour was, if it was Lamar Hunt's or Bob Kap's. The idea was to have a very young "All American" style look about us. To this end, we all had to have very short hair and even had to travel the world with Stetsons, jackets, and ties.

I had already been interviewed for the Dallas Club two months earlier and put on the back burner. I got a telegram that said, If I was still interested to meet Mr. Kap in a Liverpool hotel that night. I jumped at the chance and went to the hotel. He said he still wanted to sign me for the club . He then said Bobby Roach and I would have to catch a train the following morning at 8 am from Liverpool to London. We would then find our way to Heathrow to catch a flight to Nice South of France . There we would meet up with the rest of the squad.



Being the sixties, it was all about " The Beatles" and shoulder length hair. I was one of those people. "By the way," said Mr Kap, "If you want to join this football club get a short, back and sides before I see you again." I got home about 10 that night on the bus. I went across the road to a girl I knew was a hairdresser. I got a hair cut, packed a suitcase and wrote a resignation letter to the firm I worked for. Then I got to bed . I was up at six. I said goodbye to my parents . And I got the bus to Lime Street Station in Liverpool for the train. We did not have a phone, so I could not even contact my girlfriend to say goodbye!



Here is where fate comes in. I was a Bus conductor which meant at any one time I could be out on the road with no way of being contacted. We didn`t have cell phones then. If I had been on a late shift or late afternoon shift I would have missed the telegram and not gone on the world tour." Bill Crosbie







Dallas Tornado arrive Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Oct. 6: Istanbul, Turkey Fenerbache Drew 2-2 Crowd 25,000

Oct. 12: Athens, Greece Transit and sightseeing. "The team was scheduled to take a flight from Athens to Nicosia, Cyprus. Because we had been sightseeing too long at the Acropolis, we missed our plane by half an hour. It was the best thing the we ever did. The plane we should have been on was blown up in mid air by a bomb. It was a flight from Athens to Nicosia Cyprus. 63 people died on that planed. They were after the Greek Cypriot leader General George Grivas. He was booked on that flight with us. He also missed the flight and caught the very same flight we were on." Bill Crosbie

Note: Here is a link to an article about the bombing. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0283.shtml



Bill Crosbie at the Acropolis

October 12 1967

Dallas Tornado Team touring the Acropolis

October 12 1967

Dallas Tornado Team touring the Acropolis

October 12 1967

Oct. 13: Cyprus Apollon of Limmasol Lost 2-4 Crowd 6,000

Goals: Apollon-Pelendrides, Constantinou, Georghiou pen, Panayides

Oct. 14: Cyprus Apoel of Nicosia Lost 0-2 95 degrees

Oct. 16: Beirut, Lebanon transit

Oct. 17: Tehran, Iran Iranian Air Force team 1-2 crowd 8,000 The Air Force team had 7 Internationals. Brian Harvey scored.

Oct. 18: Tehran Tehran Select 11 Drew 1-1 This team had 5 Internationals. Chris Tonning scored.

Oct. 20: Shiraz Governors 11 Drew 1-1

Oct. 21: Tehran "We flew back from Shiraz to Tehran. We got a shock at the airport. A new player called Graham Stirland had joined the tour in the south of France. He was a winger. A fantastic player who beside being good going forward was always getting back to help his fullback out. The manager Bob Kap did not think he was mixing with the rest of the squad and kept himself to himself. We arrived in for our next flight and Graham was asked to follow Frank Randorf (an assistant to Bob Kap) to the gents toilets. Ten minutes later, Frank arrived alone. We asked where Graham was. We were told that Mr. Kap did not think he was mixing with the other players and he was sent home to England. We were not even allowed to say goodbye and that was the last we saw of him." Bill Crosbie

Oct. 22: Rasht Team? Lost 0-1 We had a 7 hour coach ride across the mountains to Rasht.

Oct. 23: We stayed at Bablasar on the Caspian sea.

Oct. 24: Shahi Team? Drew 2-2 Took a 7.5 hour coach ride to Shahi. Played the same afternoon. Shahi is 5,000 feet up in the mountains.

Oct. 26: Took a 7 hour coach ride back to Tehran. We stayed the night readying for a flight to Karachi, Pakistan.

Oct. 27: Karachi, Pakistan Before we leave Tehran, Norwegian player Tom Weinholdt goes home to have knee surgery. The team is now down to 16 players.

Oct. 28: Karachi Pakistan National Team Won 2-0 Crowd of 35,000



Dallas Tornado vs. Pakistani National Team

Karachi, Pakistan October 28, 1967

Dallas Tornado vs. Pakistani National Team

Karachi, Pakistan October 28, 1967

Dallas Tornado vs. Pakistani National Team

Karachi, Pakistan October 28, 1967







Lahore, Pakistan



Sightseeing at Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan

























Lahore, Pakistan







Oct. 29: Lahore, Pakistan Pakistan National Team (11 new players) Lost 2-4 Crowd of 25,000

Oct. 31: Dacca, East Pakistan Pakistan U23 team Drew 1-1 Crowd 25,000 This is now Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Nov. 1: Chittagong, East Pakistan Team? Drew 0-0 Don't know the temperature, but it was very hot.

"We were up at 4 am for the flight to Chittagong. We played in the afternoon. And then another 2 hour flight back to Dacca." Bill Crosbie

Nov. 3: "We took a 4 hour ride on a rickety old bus to the border of India. We get to the border. We have to take our suitcases off that bus walk 400 yards to the border. There were local rioters screaming and hurling abuse because the country we were walking to was India. We go through passport control and walk 400 yards with suitcases to our next bus where the people were laying garlands at our feet!

To make matters worse, when we got through those thousands of screaming agitators in East Pakistan, the only people allowed to cross the border into India were British or Commonwealth Nationals. All the English got through as well as Bob Kap who was a naturalized Canadian. The Scandinavians, Dutch and Americans had to stay for two days in a rundown, no star hotel. They told us the only thing they had to eat in those two days was a small chicken." Bill Crosbie

Nov. 3: Calcutta, India



Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Dave Moorcroft

November 5, 1967

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

November 7, 1967

Dallas Tornado and Presidents 11

New Delhi, India

November 7, 1967

Tornado vs. Presidents 11

New Delhi, India

November 7, 1967

Mahatma Gandhi Tomb

Notice the team is wearing jackets and ties. The temperature was 95 degrees.

New Delhi, India November 8, 1967

Mahatma Gandhi Tomb

New Delhi, India November 8, 1967



Date Location Opponent Score Notes Nov. 5 Calcutta, India Indian National Team Draw 0-0 Crowd 30,000 Nov. 7 New Delhi, India President's 11 Lost 0-1 Crowd 35,000, 95 degrees Nov. 8 New Delhi, India Sightseeing at Mahatma Gandhi tomb Nov. 9 Bombay, India President's 11 Lost 0-1 Crowd 25,000, 105 degrees Nov. 15 Bangalore, India Governor's 11 Draw 1-1 Crowd 30,000 Nov. 17 Hydrabad, India Governor's 11 Draw 2-2 Crowd 23,00 Different Governor's 11 team Nov. 19 Madras, India Indian National Team Won 4-1 Crowd 30,000



Dallas Tornado in India







Bangalore November 15, 1967

Dallas Tornado arriving in Madras, India

Nov. 20: Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Nov. 22: Colombo, Ceylon Ceylon National Team Lost 1-2

Goals: Ceylon-Noor, Zainulabdeen Tornado-Chris Tonning Eddie Hall was sent off

Nov. 24: Colombo, Ceylon Ceylon National Team Lost 0-3

Goals: Ceylon-Hassim Deen, Zainulabdeen, Noor

Nov. 25: "On this day, we should have flown from Ceylon to Burma via Madras and Calcutta. When we got to Calcutta there were political riots going on and all flights were cancelled. We had to hide in our hotel for two days and left on the 28th at 4:00 AM to sneak out of India." Bill Crosbie

Nov. 28: Rangoon, Burma Burma U21 Team Lost 0-4 Crowd 45,000 "This was a fantastic team." Bill Crosbie

Nov. 30: Rangoon, Burma Burma National Team Lost 1-3 Crowd 47,000 Played in front of 92,000 people within 48 hours!

Note: Burmese papers indicate this was probably a Youth team or National B team. It is unclear exactly which



Rangoon, Burma

Bob Kap at Schwedagon Pagoda

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Schwedagon Pagoda

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Dallas Tornado at Rangoon's Schwedagon Pagoda

November 30, 1967

November 30, 1967

November 30, 1967

November 30, 1967

November 30, 1967

Bangkok, Thailand December 2

Bangkok, Thailand December 2

Dec 2: Bangkok-Singapore The Tornado stopped over in Bangkok on for a few hours on the way to Singapore

Dec 3: Singapore Singapore Lost 2-4

"On the way to the stadium, there were Chinese militants chanting slogans like "Go Home Yanks" and "Yankee Imperialists." In the stadium things were not much better even the team we played were taking chunks out of us. When one of our players, Per Larsen fouled one of theirs, they started throwing stones and other things onto the pitch. He then incensed them by bowing. We had to be escorted from the pitch and had to stay in the dressing room for 2 hours after the game while the mob outside left!" Bill Crosbie

Dec. 4: "The game against a different Singapore was cancelled for safety (ours !) reasons." Bill Crosbie











From Pittsburgh Gazette

From The Guardian





Dec. 6: Djakarta, Indonesia

Dec 8: Djakarta, Indonesia Persidja Djakarta Lost 0-2 Crowd 22,000

Dec 10: Djakarta, Indonesia Indonesian National Team Lost 1-6 Crowd 20,000

Dec 12: Saigon, Vietnam

Dec 14: Saigon, Vietnam Vietnam U23 Team Drew 1-1 Crowd 15,000

Dec 16: Saigon, Vietnam Club Saigon Drew 2-2 Crowd 20,000

"As an American, my life has been highly influenced by the Vietnam War. It was on the news morning and night. Every teenage boy feared being drafted and sent to Vietnam. There were riots in the streets protesting the war. American soldiers shot and killed American citizens for protesting the war. Everyone had a brother, cousin or neighbor who had been sent to Vietnam. There wasn't a day that you didn't discuss the war.

For this reason, the Vietnam portion of the Tornado tour amazes me the most. They didn't just go to a war zone to play soccer. They went at a critical time in the history of the war. The turning point in the war was the Tet offensive which started just 45 days after the Tornado played their last game in Saigon. During the Tet offensive the North Vietnamese attacked the Presidential Palace in the heart of Saigon. The City of Hue was leveled in the fighting. For Bill and the team, it appears to have been just another stop on the trip." Dave Morrison

Read more about the Tet Offensive: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1862.html

"Vietnam was a surprise to us when we learnt we were going there. Whilst there, we were well protected with a police escort from the airport to hotel, etc. Though we were allowed to walk around Saigon on our own as sightseers!



The one interesting story I have was I was standing with Eddie Hall on the corner of a street in Saigon one afternoon taking in the views when this jeep screams up to us with some M.P.s in. They obviously thought we were G.I. s and asked us: "What the effin hell are you two doing standing there." When we gave an answer they realized we were English and told us not to stand still anywhere for more than two seconds. On enquiring why, they said there was a female as a passenger on a scooter who goes round looking for "Americans." As the scooter drives by at 20 mph, she times it with a hand grenade at your feet so by the time you realize she is 50 yards away and you are in heaven! We never went shopping again!" Bill Crosbie



Dec. 17: Hong Kong In transit overnight

Dec. 18: Taipei, Taiwan

Dec. 20: Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan National Team Won 3-2 Crowd 43,000



Tornado in Taipei, Taiwan

Tornado in Taipei, Taiwan

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Dec. 21: Tokyo, Japan

Dec. 24: Tokyo, Japan Mitsubishi Lost 1-2 Crowd 30,000 Game played at Olympic Stadium.

Dec. 25: Christmas Day in Tokyo "Not much to tell. We decided to pull names out of a hat on the 23rd and that was the person you gave a Xmas gift to. The club had bought each player a Portable Panasonic radio (new tech in those days)

Also while in Tokyo, they have a strange custom. On Xmas eve after our game that day, we were in the hotel bar when I glanced over and caught the eye of a beautiful Japanese girl at the other end of the bar. We swapped notes and arranged to meet up in the hotel lobby in about an hour to go for a meal. I went to my room, showered changed, etc and went down to meet her. 5 minutes later she arrived so she must have lived local. Only problem was she had another girl with her. I greeted her and she me in her broken English. I said wait there and I raced upstairs and told my roommate to tell him he had a date. We then went down stairs. When we got there she laughed and said "No, you wait here." They both left and came back 20 minutes later with a 3rd girl! I asked what was going on and was told that if a girl was going out with a man for the 1st time she must have a chaperone. (extra girl)

So 3 girls and two guys went to a sushi bar where we had raw fish. Yuk! Gave mine to the girls who lapped it up and sake. Near fell through the floor when me and my mate got the bill!



Just as an aside; On the tour, Mr. Kap insisted that we swap roommates on a regular basis so we could mix more. One reason why I can`t remember who split the bill with me that night." Bill Crosbie

Dec. 26: Osaka, Japan West Japan All-Stars Lost 2-3 Crowd 25,000



Olympic Stadium in Tokyo

Japan

Bill Crosbie at Imperial Palace

Tokyo Japan December, 1967



Program for the games on 12/24 and 12/26

Manila, Philippines

January 1, 1968

Philippines National Team January 6, 1968

Dec. 30: Manila, Philippines

Dec. 31: Manila, Philippines New Year's Eve

Jan 1: Manila, Philippines Manila Chinese Select 11 Won 7-0 Goals: David Moorcroft (2), Fons Stoffels (2), Chris Bachofner (2), Chris Tonning Crowd 25,000

Jan 6: Manila, Philippines Philippines National Team Lost 1-2

Jan. 7: Brisbane, Australia Arrive after traveling for 18 hours!



Relaxing in Adelaide, Australia

January 1968















January 17, 1968

Program from the Canterbury game

Program from game in Auckland, New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand

Photo from https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/

Date Location Opponent Score Notes Jan. 9 Brisbane, Australia Queensland State Lost 0-1 Crowd 5,000 Jan. 12 Newcastle, Australia Newcastle Game was called off because the pitch was waterlogged. Jan. 17 Adelaide, Australia South Australia Won 3-2 Crowd 4,000 Jan. 19 Sydney, Australia Newcastle SW Lost 1-2 Jan. 23 Christchurch, New Zealand Governor's 11 Draw 2-2 Jan. 25 Christchurch, New Zealand Canturbury FA Game is listed in a program, but appears to have been canceled. Jan. 27 Auckland, New Zealand Auckland Lost 2-3 Jan 30 New Caledonia, New Zealand New Caledonia Feb. 2 Suva, Fiji

Fiji Southern Division Won 10-2 Crowd 3,000

Played 60 minute game because of 100 degree heat. Feb. 4 Lautoka, Fiji Fiji North-Western XI Won 3-1 Played 60 minute game because of 102 degree heat. Feb. 11 Papeete, Tahiti Tahiti National Team Lost 1-2



Fiji





Fiji

Federation pins given to the Tornado players





Fiji

Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti

Feb. 15: "Left Tahiti to go to Dallas via Acapulco , Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas. When we arrived in Dallas, we had 2 weeks or so to set up our lives. We had to find our apartments, buy pots, pans, dishes, food, and get phone lines. After that the team sent us on another mini-tour to Central America." Bill Crosbie

Date Location Opponent Score Notes March 6 San Jose, Costa Rica Saprissa Lost 1-3 March 8 Puntarenas, Costa Rica Puntarenas Tied 3-3 March 10 Quesada, Costa Rica San Carlos Lost 0-2 March 12 Tegucigalpa, Honduras Olympia Lost 1-2



Dallas Tornado in Costa Rica

March 1967

Costa Rica

"By this time all of the players were completely exhausted both mentally and physically. Not the best way to prepare for the upcoming 1st season." Bill Crosbie

Bill's comment is borne out by the 1968 NASL results. The Tornado had only 2 wins and 4 ties to go with 26 losses. This turned out to be the lowest winning percentage in the history of the league. The Tornado were outscored by an almost 4-1 ratio.

1968 Tornado home attendance was miserable. They only drew at total of 46,832 for the entire 16 game home season. Compare this to the 92,000 they drew in Burma in just 2 days.

"It was a tough season: I went to check the fixture list for that season and there were 32 league games in total. My season ended after six games which was the away game against St Louis when I snapped the ligaments in my ankle. The American pitches were difficult. Many times, we played on baseball fields. That was the case in St. Louis. I was on the shale part of the infield and turned to run back. My ligaments just snapped. So unfortunately (or fortunately!) I missed the rest of that dreadful season.

I enjoyed my time in the United States and would have stayed. However, it was during the Vietnam War. My work Visa allowed me to play soccer. Foreign Nationals who were not using their work visas could be drafted in to the US Army. The Tornado offered to help me get work. However, I would not have access to their lawyers. If I stayed I would risk being drafted while I got new work papers. The risk was too great, so I went back to England." Bill Crosbie

I enjoyed my time in the United States and would have stayed. However, it was during the Vietnam War. My work Visa allowed me to play soccer. Foreign Nationals who were not using their work visas could be drafted in to the US Army. The Tornado offered to help me get work. However, I would not have access to their lawyers. If I stayed I would risk being drafted while I got new work papers. The risk was too great, so I went back to England." Bill Crosbie



Team picture taken in Dallas at the beginning of the 1968 NASL season



Other Resources:Sport magazine publish an article on this trip in their July 1968 edition. You can read it here. The Guardian newspaper in England ran a story on this in January 2014. Here is a link to that story