Former Liverpool player Tim Bredbury on being a Hongkonger in English football’s top flight
- Striker swapped Hong Kong for Anfield as a schoolboy but never made a first team appearance under Bob Paisley
- Hopes more local players will follow his and new Wolves signing to the English Premier League
When Dai Wai-tsun, known as Tsun Dai in England, signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month he became the first Hongkonger to join an English Premier League side. He is not the first from the city to be at a club in the English top flight, though.
After Cheung Chi-doy at Blackpool in the 1960s, the most recent was former Hong Kong international Tim Bredbury, who was an apprentice at Liverpool for two years before spending a year as a pro at Anfield in the early 1980s.
“I was born here,” Bredbury said of the circumstances that saw him move from Hong Kong to Liverpool. “My parents are from Liverpool originally. I was at KGV and had just done O Levels.
“It was my dad and the headmaster of the school, Alec Reeve, whose son is cricketer Dermot Reeve. They both wrote a letter to Liverpool and Everton basically asking if it be possible to come and have a look.
“Both clubs replied saying no problem but you have to choose one or the other.” There was no contest: “I was a Liverpool fan at the time,” he said.
“I turned up to stay with my uncle for two weeks of training. They asked me to stay another week and then they turned round and said, ‘Yes, we will give you a contract’.”