Ossie Ardiles: “You fall in love with Japan”

As he lists the clubs and countries that are ‘very important to me’, Ossie Ardiles very quickly arrives at Japan.

“It’s such a wonderful place,” said our legendary former player and manager, who is very much a legend in this part of Asia.

Ossie is part of our touring party alongside Ledley King in their role as Club Ambassadors and, arriving back in Tokyo, the fond memories came pouring back... spells and trophies at Shimizu S-Pulse (1996-98), Yokohama F. Marinos (1999-2001), Tokyo Verdy (2003-05) and Machida Zelvia, one of his last managerial jobs in 2012.

Working alongside former team-mate, his captain as a player and assistant at Spurs, all-time great Steve Perryman, the pair made quite an impact in the early years of the J League with Shimizu S-Pulse, where they won the Nabisco Cup in 1996, and where Ossie was named J League Manager of the Year in 1998. Ossie led Yokohama F. Marinos to the first stage title of the J League in 2000 and lifted the Emperor's Cup with Tokyo Verdy in 2004/05.

Famously FA Cup winner at Spurs in 1981, plus the UEFA Cup in 1984 under Keith Burkinshaw, Ossie made 311 appearances for us between 1978-1988 after joining with Ricky Villa after winning the World Cup for Argentina in 1978. Almost 50 years after joining us, he remains as popular as ever.

Here’s are Ossie’s thoughts on Japan...

“There are a few countries and a few clubs that are very important to me. One is, of course, Tottenham, one is Instituto Cordoba in Argentina, where I spent 10 years as well, like Tottenham, and the other is Japan, where I spent eight years. It didn’t take me long to decide when the opportunity came along to go to Japan, and it was the start of a great adventure. The first club was Shimizu S-Pulse, I was there with Steve Perryman, he was my assistant manager, and we had a great, great time, very successful. I was Manager of the Year in the J League. In fact, we turned the club around from regularly fighting relegation to being one of the top clubs. That was very satisfying."

“At that time, the J League, a professional league, had just started (in 1993). Gary Lineker had been there just before me (Gary joined Grampus Eight from Spurs in 1992), players like Zico, Dunga of Brazil, some others as well (the likes of Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup, Hulk and Park Ji Sung have all played in Japan since).  The J League brought through some important managers, Arsene Wenger, for instance, if I can mention him! Felipe Scolari, myself, of course, Ange Postecoglou much later (Ange won the title at Yokohama F. Marinos in 2019). At that moment, Japan had never played in a World Cup, the Asian Cup, yes, but that hadn’t happened. Since the start of the J League, and this shows you what an extraordinary success it has been, Japan have played in every single World Cup, from their first in France in 1998. They have also won the Asian Cup. Myself and Steve, we were there at the start of that success. After the three years in Shimizu, we had two years in Yokohoma F. Marinos and two years at Tokyo Verdy. As I said, it was a great adventure.

“To live in Japan… you have to experience it. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity. To stay in Japan for some moment in your life is so, so nice. You fall in love with Japan. It’s such a wonderful place. It’s a very respectful culture, very humble, very successful. Nobody shouts, people don’t use the telephone in front of each other, it’s a very special place.”