Cyrille Regis

Cyrille Regis (born 9 February 1958) is a former English footballer.

Career

Born in Maripasoula, French Guyana and moving to England in his youth, Regis started work as an electrician, playing for amateur team Hayes in his spare time. Spotted by Ronnie Allen, he joined First Division club West Bromwich Albion in 1977 where, under manager Johnny Giles, he teamed up with another black player, Laurie Cunningham, and the following year (under Ron Atkinson) with Brendon Batson. It was very unusual for an English club to simultaneously field three black players. The Three Degrees, as they became known, in reference to the contemporary vocal trio of the same name^[1], challenged the established racism^[2][3] of English football and marked a watershed that allowed a generation of footballers to enter the game who would previously have been excluded by their ethnic background. There was still enough residual racism, however, that Regis, Cunningham and Batson (and Luton's Ricky Hill) were selected for far fewer internationals than many felt their talents warranted.) Interestingly, after Atkinson's famous on-air use of the word "nigger"^[4], Regis defended his mentor, suggesting that the word is less significantly offensive to people of that age. A strong and fast traditional centre-forward, Regis was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1978 and went on to win five England caps. He earned the Goal of the Season award in 1981-82, for his powerful long-range shot against Norwich City in the FA Cup. Regis was also an FA Cup winner in 1987 with Coventry City, where he 'scored' a fine header before it was disallowed. His final international appearance for England was in 1987 against Turkey at Wembley, which ended in an 8-0 win for the home side, where he came on for the last 20 minutes. After leaving Coventry in 1991, he was transferred to their arch-rivals Aston Villa and partnered Dalian Atkinson in the 1991-92 season. But he left at the end of the following season after being forced-out of the side by new signing Dean Saunders, and signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He had little success at Molineux, with first-team opportunities restricted by the strength of the Steve Bull - David Kelly strike partnership. His stay at Wolves lasted a single season before he joined Wycombe Wanderers. After one season with The Chairboys, he was on the move again, this time to Chester City. After again striking up an excellent rapport with the fans of his latest club, Regis played his last game in March 1996 in a 2-1 win at Doncaster Rovers, aged 38. He retired from professional football in October 1996, having never made a full recovery from his ongoing injury problems. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made an impressive 610 league appearances and scored 159 league goals.

Off the pitch

Since retiring from playing, Regis has worked in a variety of coaching roles before becoming an accredited football agent with The Stellar Group Ltd. Cyrille is uncle of footballer Jason Roberts, for whom he has acted as an agent, and cousin of sprinter John Regis. In 2004 Regis was voted as West Bromwich Albion's all time Cult Hero in a BBC Sport poll, gaining 65% of the vote.^[5]

References

Bibliography

• Matthews, T (2002) Smokin' Joe: Cyrille Regis - 25 Years in Football ISBN 1-904103-09-X
• Bowler, D & Bains, J (2000) Samba in the Smethwick End: Regis, Cunningham, Batson and the Football Revolution ISBN 1-84018-188-5

External links

• Official website
• Cyrille Regis in the Hayes F.C. Hall of Fame
• Cyrille Regis in the A-Z of Hayes F.C. 1909-
• Cyrille Regis in West Bromwich Albion 125th anniversary greatest XVI
• Entry at The Black Presence in Britain site