Eric Liddell was a Scottish Olympic champion but a group of diehard Chinese football fans is determined that the legendary runner is not forgotten there, 75 years after his death.
The 400m gold medallist from the 1924 Paris Olympics, immortalised in Oscar-winning film "Chariots of Fire", was a Christian missionary and athlete who was born, worked and died in China.
He was 43 when he succumbed to a brain tumour at a Japanese internment camp in 1945. He is said to have refused a ticket out from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, instead giving it to a pregnant woman.
Now, three-quarters of a century later, fanatical supporters of Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda want to ensure that the memory of Liddell's contribution to the city of his birth does not fade away.
"Eric was a great man. He was not a Chinese national but we consider him a Tianjiner," said Sam Wang, 25, co-founder of ultras group "Tiger Wings".
"He sacrificed his life in China."
- Stamford Bridge link -
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"I think he deserves to be remembered -- he was a selfless devotee to Chinese sports and laid the groundwork for modern sports in China."
"He's their Olympic hero. He didn't leave the Chinese people when the going got tough."
- 'We won't forget him' -
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