When Scottish footballer Derek Currie was made an offer to travel to Hong Kong to play against the one sportsman he had dreamed of meeting on the field, he couldn't say no. From apprentice printer in Glasgow to playing football against Pele in the Far East, singing with Stevie Wonder and shadow-boxing with Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Currie enjoyed a magical life as one of the first three European professional footballers in Asia. He was quickly nicknamed 'Jesus' by Hong Kong football fans. Here he traces the early development of professional football in the then-British colony through his own career: the games, the places and the characters he met along the way. Given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he didn't think twice ? traveling 6,000 miles across the world to pursue his dream of professional football. In the years that followed, he met international stars from music, showbusiness, boxing and horse racing. Here in words and pictures is his amazing story ? if not for the photographic proof you could be forgiven for thinking it might be a fairy tale! It isn't.

Derek Currie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1949. At the age of 21 he traveled to the then-British colony of Hong Kong to become one of the first three European professionals to play soccer in Asia. Over a 12-year career he played against greats such as Pele and Eusebio, but also met celebrities from a range of fields, including Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Marvin Hagler. During a spell playing for the San Antonio Thunder in the NASL, Currie scored the official first goal in the Bicentennial League against the St. Louis All-Stars.