Nice One Cyrille

A raw talent who thrilled crowds, Cyrille Regis overcame vicious racism to begin changing attitudes and inspire later generations of black players.

- Peter Bateman

The times immediately before the arrival of Cyrille Regis were actually good for West Bromwich Albion. Johnny Giles quit as manager at the end of 1976-77 having transformed the club in his two seasons in charge, promotion to Division One being followed by a seventh place. Giles’s astute signings were a mix of experience and promising youngsters, one of the latter being Laurie Cunningham, bought from Orient in March 1977. The arrival two months later of a 19-year-old striker from Hayes for £5,000 barely registered beyond talk of his exotic background, in French Guyana.

West Brom fans had lacked a genuine terrace hero since “King” Jeff Astle left three years earlier. All this changed in a few days at the end of August and beginning of September 1977. With injuries limiting his options, new manager Ronnie Allen picked Regis for a League Cup tie against Rotherham. He scored twice in a 4-0 win and kept his place for the league game against Middlesbrough. And in the moment that he launched into a run from the halfway line, attacking the heart of allegedly the league’s meanest defence before scoring into the bottom corner, he claimed Astle’s crown. He was inexperienced, a talent whose rawness made him exciting. He played without fear.