Black armbands and a minute’s applause at all Premier League grounds this weekend to honour the great Cyrille Regis, who died this week, aged just 59. Cyrille was plucked from obscurity in 1977 and suddenly found himself, alongside Laurie Cunningham and Brendan Batson at West Brom. Affectionately nicknamed The Three Degrees, they were three of only four black footballers playing in the top flight, and the racist abuse they suffered was unimaginable. But instead of getting angry, Cyrille responded in the best possible way – by sticking the ball in the back of their net, time and time again. I saw him play many times at Loftus Road, where he was welcomed rather than abused. Maybe because the ground is in Shepherds Bush, between Notting Hill and Harlesden, home to big black communities. Or because Cyrille himself was brought up in Notting Hill, then Harlesden and we all knew he was a secret QPR fan.
Nice one, Cyrille.

- We really tho...8th Aug 2015
- RIP George Co...6th Aug 2015
- How come Bara...4th Aug 2015
- The tributes ...3rd Aug 2015
- A blue moon a...2nd Aug 2015
- The Radio 1 I...31st Jul 2015
- The Lion slee...29th Jul 2015
- What's the bi...28th Jul 2015
- I'm going to ...27th Jul 2015
- I can't kill ...25th Jul 2015
- Noel Gallaghe...24th Jul 2015
- Melvyn Bragg....22nd Jul 2015
- Happy Birthda...21st Jul 2015
- Jailbreak.19th Jul 2015
- For years I w...18th Jul 2015 prev next