One of HK football’s seemingly forgotten stories and one worth telling and retelling (Hence the extract) with a little more added in.
The time when Ralph Milne, one of British football’s greatest talents in the 80s and 90s, came to play for Sing Tao for one brief season in the old HK first division.
A mercurial genius and a flawed human being though who isn’t.
A legend forever at Dundee United for inspiring the Tangerines to the 1982-83 Scottish League championship. Milne’s contributions, broke up the ‘Old Firm’s’ grip on Scottish football, very similar to Aberdeen. The talented winger then moved onto Manchester United, Charlton and Bristol City before arriving in Hong Kong.
An injury had diminished Milne’s love for the game and his last game for Sing Tao ultimately was the end of his playing days.
Mong Kok Stadium may not have been the ideal end of this talented maverick’s career though legends live forever.
Milne’s goal for Dundee United against rivals, Dundee, to help win the title for the Terrors has been immortalised for generations to come in video, photo and paintings.
The story of Ralph Milne in Hong Kong.
Ralph Milne – Dundee United. Photo: Twitter
Originally published and extracted from: “I took Charlie to the match. She’s a fan of Ruud Gullit” – Fallen Angels, Sampdoria, Sing Tao FC, Ralph Milne, Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and the Endless Rain
Extract:
Tellingly, Sing Tao also pulled off a remarkable feat as they signed the late Ralph Milne; the Dundee United, Charlton and Manchester United player.
Ralph Milne playing for Charlton – Photo – Twitter
At Dundee United, Milne remains a legend for his immense contribution in their 1982-1983 season team when they broke the ‘Old Firm’ domination and won the Scottish league championship for their first and only time.
Milne’s chipped goal against fierce rivals Dundee set the Terrors on the path for their league title.
Throw in two League Cup and two Scottish Cup finals as well as being Dundee United’s record holder for their goals in Europe; Milne also had stints with Charlton and Manchester United.
In hindsight, Sing Tao secured an incredible signing in seemingly bizarre circumstances.
A FOOTBALL IN THE FACE AND A DEAL IS DONE
The talented yet flawed maverick is alleged to have signed for Sing Tao by meeting a club agent at Saint James park in London and firing a football into his face!
Milne is quoted about the incident in this retrospective on his life.
“The guy (agent) says, ‘You kick long ball’ so I hit one like a rocket and he took it clean in the face and decked it. When he went down I was absolutely pishing myself and Gerry’s saying ‘dinnae laugh, dinnae laugh’. Then the bloke says, ‘OK, me and you, one on one’ so I nutmegged him and Gerry says ‘Fuck’s sake Ralph, dinnae take the piss’. We ended up in some underground place where I signed the contract.”
The Hong Kong agent was impressed with Milne’s accuracy despite the ball to the face; Milne was signed for the ‘Tigers’ for the 1991-1992 season.
Video: Sing Tao VS South China with Ralph Milne (Number 10) and South China’s Billy Whitehurst (on bench), probably one of the toughest players in the history of English football.
Milne played well in his brief stint and helped Sing Tao finish fourth in the league.
In an interview with the SCMP, Milne reflected on Manchester United’s first premier league title in 1993, his time under Alex Ferguson and how he ended up signing for Sing Tao.
Extracts below:
”It was an honour and a privilege to be there and I have to thank Alex Ferguson and the chairman for that.
There is nobody more pleased than me in as much as I was part of the club when Fergie was trying to do exactly what he has just done.
I was there when they won the FA Cup in 1990 and it was a carnival atmosphere then. Now they’ve finally won the league it will be hard to relate to, although I’m sure the club will be booming for a long time.’’
Ralph Milne playing for Manchester United – Photo: Sporting Heroes Website
Fergie took me there because I was a bargain and he was getting rid of the big-money earners. My transfer fee wouldn’t have paid the VAT on some of the others.
Old Trafford can be quite a stage and I feel I did okay without really doing myself justice.
The pressure of playing was not that great; the biggest obstacle was that Fergie had brought in a load of new players and it was a relatively new team with no real blend. The season I played fizzled out a bit and we struggled to finish in the top half; it was a relief to get the season finished. When Fergie signed more new players, that was when I knew I was only a stop-gap player.
I was contemplating chucking it in and then last summer I got an offer to come to Hong Kong. As for me just being part of Fergie’s regime was a great experience.”
Ralph Milne Playing for Sing Tao – Photo: Pinterest / Youtube
Milne turned down the chance to sign a new contract and Hong Kong was deprived of his distinctive skills.
Retrospectively, if Milne had stayed on, maybe the trajectory of the rest of his life would have been different.
The late Jim McLean, Milne’s manager at Dundee United during their glory days, poignantly mentioned in his book, how Milne should have been a superstar on the global stage.
Photo: Twitter
“If I had an outstanding failure then it was Ralph Milne. He should have been playing in World Cups. He should have won a bundle of Scotland international honours. It was a tragedy that that boy was not playing for his country all the time. He had tremendous talent – and I failed with him. He did not have the right attitude to the game and I could not instil that into him.”
A once in a lifetime talent, Milne’s rollercoaster playing career effectively ended in Hong Kong on the bumpy fields of Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po……..
