INTERVIEW: Alan Whittle – the first Englishman to play in Iran

I knew it was time to get out when tanks were on the streets! Alan Whittle, the first Englishman to play in Iran, opens up on bullets flying around and having a gun pointed at him in Tehran amid the revolution of 1978

• Alan Whittle relives his final days in the Iranian capital that he had come to love
• Violent scenes unfolding in Iran now echo the uprising that forced his departure
• Everton title winner is speaking from the comparative safety of his Wirral home

When turning a corner and coming face-to-barrel with a tank’s armament, Alan Whittle knew it was time to flee Iran. The first Englishman ever to play in the country, the Everton title winner had resisted long enough amid the bloodshed of the Iranian Revolution of 1978. Tehran was no longer safe for him, his wife and young son.

The 72-year-old has watched the news with sadness in recent weeks as violent scenes unfold with gun-sounding echoes of the uprising that forced his own departure. 

Speaking to Sportsmail from the comparative safety of his Wirral home, Whittle is reliving his final days in a city he had come to love, the maverick forward having spent 17 months with Persepolis FC.

Everton title winner, Alan Whittle, was the first Englishman to play football in Iran 

 The 72-year-old has watched the news unfolding in Iran with sadness in recent weeks

‘Everything was suspended, we had no games, and we were under curfew from 6pm until 6am,’ he begins, recalling the measures imposed as the ruling Shah dynasty clung to power. ‘I went out a couple of times. There were a few bullets flying around. I had a gun pointed at me once. I was outside when maybe I shouldn’t have been. I was like, “Woah, hang on a sec, keep your mouth shut, Al”.

‘But it was when you drove around the corner with your wife and son and a tank was coming towards you that you’d go, ‘Oh, bloody hell’. One of my team-mates had to go into the gutter with a gun, just to protect his house. The club’s owner, Abdul, had already fled. He was a Shah man, he had to go. I was owed a few quid, but there was nothing I could do about that. I realised our lives could be in danger. We had to get out.’

It was not that easy. With banks closed and cash points a convenience of the future, Whittle had to arrange for money to be sent from England for his family’s air tickets. His wife, Jeanne, also did not have the necessary paperwork, and a frantic day was spent dashing around Tehran with the help of a team-mate to finalise their escape.

‘It was a relief,’ says Whittle. ‘I didn’t want to go, but it wasn’t a hard decision. We got out at the right time. I haven’t been back since, but I often think about my team, the boys. I would go back tomorrow to see them, if it was possible.’

Whittle, aged 20, had won the First Division with Everton in 1970 and equalled Dixie Dean’s club record of scoring in six straight matches. His hair today may have thinned and faded to grey, but watch his goals on YouTube and his blonde thatch is unmistakable. The likeness with his nephew, Everton midfielder Tom Davies – with whom he remains close – is uncanny. In Iran, it was a look that stood out.

Whittle’s likeness to nephew, Everton’s Tom Davies – with whom he remains close – is uncanny

‘Everyone knew who I was,’ says Whittle, instantly afforded superstar status in the capital. ‘But you had to be very careful what you were talking about, because you never knew who was listening. If I was to criticise someone, there could be a tap on the shoulder. You never knew who the spies were.

‘There has always been tension in Iran. I was in the apartment of the owner and his coat flicked open. He was only carrying a gun! I said, ‘What the hell is that?’. He said, ‘Alan, this is my protection’. I thought, ‘I’ve got to be on my guard here’.

‘But I do not want to portray them as bad people, they were beautiful people. They were kind to me and my family. They had a real passion for football, too. And they could play.’

Whittle, to the surprise of many, left Second Division Leyton Orient to join Persepolis in 1977. He was doubling his money but was also enticed by adventure. Forty-five years on, there are no regrets.

‘I gave them respect, they gave me respect,’ he says. ‘We got to the final of their FA Cup. When there are 200,000 people in a stadium, you have to be able to play. We were the Manchester United of Iran, but we lost that day, 1-0 to the army team. We battered them.

‘I remember the heat we used to play in. I turned around one day and said to myself, ‘There’s a stand there, and it’s making a nice shade right up the left-hand side’. I said to the lads, ‘Look, you see that shade, I’m not moving from there – you hit me, I’ll knock them in!’.’

Whittle scored 16 goals from 34 games and, each time, was rewarded with a Pahlavi gold coin. But he was also keen to share the wealth. His former Crystal Palace team-mate Don Rodgers soon profited.

Whittle  has relived his final days in the Iranian capital of Tehran, that he had come to love

The maverick forward spent 17 months with Persepolis FC and says he loved his time there

‘I said to the owner, “Give me a few quid and I’ll get us some decent gear”,’ recalls Whittle. ‘Don had a sports shop in Swindon. I gave him two grand to supply the kit, he was on a right winner. It all had to go through the Iranian embassy but, because it was me, it was waved through no problem.’

Whittle wanted for nothing in Tehran – ‘a nice apartment, good food, booze and cars’ as he puts it. But there were also some customs he had to accept.

‘Myself and Jeanne were in a taxi and a woman jumped in carrying her sheep. That was just their way. Another time we’d bought some baby furniture for our son and arranged delivery. We were walking through town and noticed a cart being pushed up the hill with what looked like our wardrobe and drawers. Turns out, it was our wardrobe and drawers!

‘But we loved our time there. We could go skiing in the mountains or sunbathing at the Caspian Sea. It was paradise.’

It is tomorrow’s first ever meeting between England and Iran in their World Cup opener that has brought us to Whittle’s home and allowed him to journey down memory lane. But one recollection should serve as a warning for Gareth Southgate.

‘The Iranians were good players 40 years ago, and that was when they stayed in the country,’ he says. ‘Now, they play all over Europe. They will have some serious talent, I know that. If England are expecting an easy game, they’ll get caught cold. I’m torn, I’ll settle for a draw.’

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