Ex-West Bromwich Albion and England Cyrille Regis has passed away at just 59 years old, following a suspected heart attack.
Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination organisation, released this statement this morning: “Kick It Out is shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of former West Bromwich Albion forward Cyrille Regis at the age of 59. Cyrille was a pioneer of English football, becoming one of the first iconic black players of the professional game, alongside former Albion team-mates Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson.”
The French-Guinean born striker played 297 times for the Baggies and netted 112 goals across his seven years at the club. He also had spells at Coventry City, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Cyrille always said, and I remember having this conversation with him myself, the best way to shut people up was to go and put the ball in the net.
Regis was a prominent figure in changing the face of football for black players in the 70’s and 80’s. In 2008, he was appointed an MBE for his services to charity and football, and later returned to West Brom as coach before going on to become a football agent.
We spoke to experienced journalist and lifelong West Brom fan Duncan Jones, who remembers the aura and excitement that he brought to the Hawthornes:
“John Motson famously said that all this talk about Cyrille Regis isn’t just talk, and I think at that time we knew at that time that this player was very special.
“I remember the team listing being read out before a game and when Regis’ name was read out there’d be a hum going around the whole ground because there was just this buzz of excitement that he was playing.
“Regis played in an era rife with racial hate and discrimination, and suffered sickening abuse on a weekly basis; though it was the courage of Regis and few others that laid the foundations for change in the sport.
“In the previous season we had a guy called Laurie Cunningham come into the team who was the first black player in the division at that time and he had undergone some dreadful racist abuse that I can remember hearing when attending. When Cyrille came into the team it kind of made it a little easier for Laurie, but the abuse was just as vile.
“He was an icon on the field because he was larger than life, a gentleman on the field and he was a role model for so many black kids who suffered these kinds of discrimination’s. If you talk to people like Andy Cole and Les Ferdinand they will most probably tell you that Cyrille Regis was the reason they became professional footballers.”
“When there are so many big names in the premier league and it’s hyped to such a degree, it’s hard to believe the impact that someone like Cyrille Regis had. It was a different era and you can’t imagine just how big of a figure he was – he changed a lot of closed minded people’s opinions.”
