Australia’s 1974 World Cup midfielder Ray Richards has relived the day he was given the task of marking the great Pele and he reduced the Brazilian legend to a mere mortal.
Richards, who is now 74, was a member of the Socceroos team that won the hearts of the nation by reaching the finals for the first time.
There would have been no prouder footballers on earth than the 11 Australian part-timers who lined up at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg for their historic match against East Germany.
Richards realised then that, by being on the pitch at the game's biggest tournament, he had reached the pinnacle of his career that started at modest London club Croydon FC.
Yet it is a tour match in Sydney between Australia and Santos two years earlier that Richards remembers with a degree of pride and satisfaction that has not abated after almost half a century.
Playing for the glamorous team were a host of international stars, among them Pele and Edu. Socceroos coach Rale Rasic knew there was only one man who could take on 'O Rei'.
“The tour game at the old Sydney Sports Ground drew a big crowd and they were hanging from the rafters for that one,” Richards recalled. “The fans took every vantage point to watch Pele and his star teammates.
“My role basically was to shut him out of the game. My aim was to stop him from getting the ball and I succeeded but in doing so I ruined the day for thousands of fans who had paid to watch him play.
“Pele would later tell a German newspaper that he had played against the world’s top defenders including Franz Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore and the hardest game of his career was against ‘this moustachioed player from Australia who were preparing for the World Cup campaign’. He also said I was too good at what I did and I could have been playing in Germany.
“I am pleased to say that I never fouled him once. I was booked when we both went for a high ball with our feet but that was about it.
“One time he anticipated my move and got before me and, while facing his goal, he let the ball run between his legs and back-heeled it to the right winger. By the time I turned to make the tackle the ball was already 50 metres away!
“I take massive pride in the fact that one of the world’s all-time greatest players would say what he said. And he was not talking about physicality or cynicism on my part, mind you. He admitted I shut him out of the game so, yes, I regard this as a feather in my cap.
"The match ended 2-2 but it nearly did not take place because the Brazilians said they would not play unless they were paid their appearance fee up front. Sir Arthur George somehow came up with the money, which was I think something like $32,000."
Richards was happy to share some of his career experiences with The World Game.
What are you doing now?
“I basically sold my share in a sports company in 2015 and my wife and I have since moved from Sydney to the south coast near Nowra. I have launched a horse racing board game that is going gang busters which is very exciting after it took me many years to develop. I love the country and its people. It’s a breath of fresh air, literally.”
You were called up for Australia for the first time in 1967 while you were playing for low-profile club Hollandia in Queensland’s State League. Were you surprised?
“Gary Wilkins and I were both selected from Queensland, which was the back block of Australian football those days so, yes, we were a bit surprised. And so were many people, I think. But to be honest we were both playing good football and we deserved our chance so in pure technical terms we were not that surprised.”
What was it like to play for Marconi in the 1970s?
“I joined Marconi in 1969 after a brief stint with Sydney Croatia, with whom I had a little run-in. St George wanted me but were not prepared to pay the money. Marconi showed interest too but I was not keen on playing in the second division because I wanted to get back into the national team. In the end they offered me some crazy figures that I simply could not refuse. Australia did not have many international games in 1968 and the first part of 1969 so it would not have mattered a lot anyway.
“Marconi was a fabulous, family-type club and I had nearly 10 lovely years there. It’s just a shame that the club has lost its way. Those heady days are all gone.”
You were lucky to have a legend like Les Scheinflug as a teammate.
“I came to Marconi as a striker but Les brought me back into midfield. He played on the left and I looked after the right side. Les was a great mentor and changed my whole perspective on the game and my approach to it. I gained a much wider appreciation of the midfielder’s role and the team’s structure and I learned how to control the tempo of a game. My move to midfield was without doubt the turning point of my career.”
Many believe that the fighting spirit that would serve the Socceroos so well in their 1974 FIFA World Cup campaign was born in the Vietnam tournament in 1967, which you guys won against all the odds.
“The camaraderie and mastership were really established in that tournament in war-ravaged Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). It was an absolute nightmare … training at hotel roof tops, gunshots being heard across the city, helicopters flying around dropping flares, cannons going off on the horizon, curfews … you’ve got no idea what we went through.”
You were a member of the squad that went on a world tour in 1970. What was your specific role in that team that would end up playing in the World Cup in West Germany?
“I did not have a specific role. I was a defensive midfielder behind the two Jimmys - Rooney and Mackay. You kind of played the game as it came to you. It worked well for us and we went to the World Cup to gain respectability.
“A few days before our first game a big paper in Hamburg ran an article protesting with World Cup organisers about the ‘unfair’ schedule that saw ‘unappealing’ Australia play in its city twice. The paper wanted top football at the Volksparkstadion and felt the city’s fans were badly treated. But after we did well against East Germany in our first game, though we lost 2-0, the paper was forced to reconsider its stance and apologise for its error of judgment. Clearly the German press had underestimated us.”
Did Ray Baartz’s injury from a karate chop in the World Cup preparation match against Uruguay in early 1974 affect the squad’s morale?
“Ray was an integral part of our team so what happened to him was a shock to the system although we did not realise at the time how serious the injury was. It was Ray’s decision not to go to the World Cup as a player. He was warned by doctors not to play again because if he got hit at the same spot in the neck he could get killed. Yes it was a blow for us to lose him but from a psychological point of view Ray’s misfortune spurred us even more to go harder and stronger in Germany.”
What was the highlight of your participation in the World Cup?
“Apart from the actual football, it was basically standing there in the middle of the pitch and listening to our national anthem with billions of people watching on television. It was the first time an Australian national sporting team had ‘Advance Australia Fair’ played before a game. Prior to that Aussie teams were introduced by ‘God Save The Queen’ so those moments were pretty special and emotional. The national team means a lot to me.”
You would have been disappointed to be bizarrely sent off in the third World Cup match against Chile for two yellow cards in what would become your last full international.
“I got booked late in the game because the Iranian referee thought I was wasting time by not taking a free-kick quickly enough but he did not realise that in the first half he had booked me for a minor infringement.
“After getting the second card I played on but after about five minutes the linesman was alerted to the fact that the No.6 had received two yellow cards and should not be on the field. So the referee came up to me and said I had two yellows to which I replied ‘nah, it’s only one’. I pointed to Doug (Utjesenovic) and told the ref that he had got the card not me. By this time the Chileans came up to the referee and, gesturing at me, told him ‘it was him, it was him’.
“To cut a long story short the referee was completely confused and he gave me a third yellow card before sending me off with seven minutes to go. So I must be one of only a few players to get three yellows and a red in one game. I laugh about it now but I was upset at the time because I thought I had let the team down. After the World Cup I withdrew from the national squad. I was 30 then and I did not want to hang around for too long because the Socceroos needed to be restructured.”
How do you rate the current Socceroos?
“It’s early days but I have the utmost faith in coach Graham Arnold and I’m happy with the way he has structured the Socceroos. To be honest I was not a fan of Arnie originally. I thought he was just a good assistant to everybody and I did not see him developing as a head coach. Yet he has proven himself at Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC.
“I am right behind him and I think the Socceroos’ future is in the hands of Celtic’s Daniel Arzani and this young kid Awer Mabil who is playing some top football in Denmark.”
Finally, who were the best players you have played with and against at either club or national level?
“I faced many top players. The West Germany side of Beckenbauer and Wolfgang Overath that went on to win the 1974 World Cup and the star-studded Santos team that came here two years earlier were the best.
“As far as the greatest player I have played with I cannot go past Roberto Vieri at Marconi. He was at the end of his career but his skill and vision were out of this world. I was so fortunate and privileged to play alongside him. To be honest I just wish I was still playing when Alessandro del Piero played for Sydney from 2012 to 2014 because the team failed miserably to reap the benefits of having such a top player in their ranks.”
RAY RICHARDS FACTFILE
Club career
1969: Sydney Croatia
1969: Sydney Croatia
1969-1978: Marconi
1979: APIA Leichhardt
International career
1967-1974: Australia (31 matches)
1967-1974: Australia (31 matches)
