Friday was marked during the game by Mark Lawrenson, who so frustrated the Cardiff forward with his close attention that Friday waited for Lawrenson to attempt a slide tackle and then kicked him in the face. After receiving a red card, Friday left the ground with the game still going on; according to legend, before leaving he broke into the Brighton dressing room and defecated in Lawrenson's kit bag. Cardiff eventually lost 4–0. "I am sick and tired of it", Andrews told the "South Wales Echo" on 1 November. "To be sent off in his first game back is as much as a man can stand". Friday was transfer-listed and served a three-match suspension before making his final appearance on 10 December in Cardiff's 6–3 away defeat against Bolton. Liza was by now the mother of Friday's second daughter, Arabella, but around this time began divorce proceedings. Friday claimed that he had had enough of people telling him what to do, and walked into Andrews's office on 20 December 1977 to announce that he was retiring from professional football. The club promptly released him and cancelled his contract.