Goals, Gulls, Urinals: Harte & Ribeiro Go Mad by The Swedish Sea

Why would George Graham's Leeds United tour of Sweden in July 1998 make headlines around the world? New signing Clyde Wijnhard wasn't even playing, groin strains taking him and Lee Sharpe home early to Leeds, so it wasn't about him.

I doubt even Graham was all that interested, not when there was a bonfire of speculation about the Spurs job for him to stoke and enjoy. Spring-to-autumn '98 was the third phase of Graham's time at Leeds. After the dour defending of his first season, then spending big and getting lucky with Hasselbaink for fun and games in his second, this was the denouement, when only Wijnhard and Danny Granville arrived in summer and Graham got a bit bored and fancied working in London again, where he still lived, with a bigger transfer budget.

The worldwide news was not really about Leeds United anyway, but Harold Kewell, although more interesting things were going on than that. But Australian newspapers were communicating horror to their readers after United's first pre-season game, against Lysekils FF: a bad tackle on the Socceroos' star led to him being stretchered from the pitch, after only 27 minutes, with damaged ankle ligaments. He was given crutches to hobble about on, x-rays at a local hospital to determine the ligaments weren't torn, and a flight back to Leeds for specialist treatment.