No night games in 1974
　Japanese Soccer League will have no night games next season because of the petroleum crisis. The season in 1974 will be divided into two halves again; in the same way as the season before 1972. The first half of the season will begin on April 4 and last till June 2. The second half will start on Oct. 13 and end on Dec, 8. Matches in summer will be avoided to save the electric power.

　A young star promoted
　A high school striker has been promoted to the national B team to compete against the visiting Brazilian club Juventus and the Rumanian FC Constanta in January, Eighteen years old Kazuyoshi Nakamura of Fujieda Higashi High School team is the player who become the first high school boy in Japanese football to play against visiting foreign clubs.

　Ryuichi Sugiyama retires
　Ryuichi Sugiyama, one of the most famous international stars in Asian football, has announced his retirement from Mitsubishi F. C. of Tokyo, and the Japanese Soccer League after the end of the season in 1973. The reason given for his retirement is that his family business forces him to return to his home in Shimizu city 100 miles away from Tokyo.
　Sugiyama, who is 32 years old, is known as "Golden Legs" in Asia because of his fast and accurate footwork. He competed in Asian Youth Tournaments in 1959, 1960 and 1961, the Asian Games in 1962, 1966 and 1970, and the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968.
　His appearances in national teams total 196 games (including the friendly matches against foreign club teams) and his league appearances number 115 games in 8 years.
　Sugiyama has been the long-time rival of another star Kunishige Kamamoto in Japanese soccer. In their university days, Sugiyama played for the Meiji University team and Kamamoto was the ace of Waseda University. The Meiji versus Waseda match attracted a sell-out crowd to see the two young stars in the 20,000 capacity Komazawa Olympic stadium.
　 Sugiyama entered Mitsubishi F.C. in 1966 and Kamamoto went to Yanmar team of Osaka in the following year. Since then, the matches between the teams of the two big rival cities became the most attractive card in Japanese Soccer League, The S-K (Sugiyama and Kamamoto) rivalry had been the main factor of the so-called "Japan soccer boom" in 60s.
　In international matches, many football specialists often reckoned Sugiyama's contribution to the national team more than that of Kamamoto's, When Japan defeated Argentina in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, it was reported that Sugiyama was offered a transfer fee of 200,000 U.S. dollars by an Argentine club, but he did not turn professional.
　In the Mexico Olympics in 1968, Sugiyama's fast dribbling with the ball and Kamamoto's strong striking brought the bronze medals to Japan. In every international match, the S-K combination had always been the main tactic of Japanese offence.
　Sugiyama had already retired from the national team in May 1972 and has been playing only for Mitsubishi thereafter.
　Sugiyama will go in to his family business of a Sake (Japanese wine) retailing shop in Shimizu city hereafter and, if circumstances permit, he hopes to play and coach for a local club in the prefectural league.

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