For the most part, pre- and post-season tours are instantly forgettable things, but when the Albion visited China in 1978, it was the stuff of international headlines and BBC TV documentaries.   

The first western club to head behind the Bamboo Curtain as it was termed, Albion’s trip was a great success and 12 months, we returned the invitation and hosted a China XI at The Hawthorns as part of our pre-season preparations.  

Writing in ‘Albion News’, Chairman Bert Millichip recorded his thanks for the hospitality Albion received on their visit and ended with, “Today’s result is not so very important, for we know that this match will be played in the right spirit if ‘Friendship first – competition second.’ 

Albion boss Ron Atkinson took a slightly different view: “We will not be taking things easy. Our pre-season programme is geared to bringing the players to full potential for the opening day of the season.” 

Such was the interest in the game that BBC2 screened the second half live, an unusual treat in those days when there were barely a handful of live games on TV each year. It probably explains why the first half was goalless, the Throstles saving up the goals for the audience at home.  

The first was an own goal, Luofeng diverting Tony Brown’s cross into his own net on 52 minutes. That opened the floodgates for two minutes later, Cyrille Regis headed in a corner for Gary Owen, making his Hawthorns debut after his summer move from Manchester City. On the hour, Peter Barnes, who had made the same switch, set up Alistair Brown to make it 3-0. Barnes himself finished the scoring, a spectacular effort from 30 yards.  

But live football on telly, that’ll never catch on.