RIP Cyrille Regis

[Spoons]

Died age 59 suspected heart attack.

Very sad and so young.

[The Gasbuster]

Wow !

Top player back in the late 70's and 80's.

Very sad. R.I.P.

[Port Said Red]

A real shame, one of those players that the phrase "on his day" could have been invented, but boy what a player when those days came around.

[sglosbcfc]

RIP Big man

[cidered abroad]

Very sad to hear this. He was a member of the Baggies team that played at high tempo, attacked for fun and according to Albion fans that I worked with, was a good role model for any aspiring young player.

[shelts]

Wow what a player and what a lovely barnet he had back in the day . So sad 

[forbespm]

Rip cyrille

[Ska Junkie]

Blimey, that's sad.

In the mid / late 70's when we were fighting with the Baggies for promotion, he was some player, all pace, power and strength. He took some stopping. What a good side they had in those days.

R.I.P.

[Super]

Proper player, remember him when I first started watching footy and match of the day he was awesome. RIP Big Man.

[poland_exile]

sad to hear, was one of those players that always seemed to have such a big appetite and enthusiasm for both football and life. In a game filled with snakes, he stood out as one of the good guys.

RIP

[exAtyeoMax]

So sad! and so young…

[bpexile]

Cyrille & Laurie Cunningham, what a handfull that pair proved to be, both gone to soon.

[italian dave]

RIP. 

Great man, great heart, great talent and a great example. Football needs players like him. 

[wendyredredrobin]

Sad to hear of another one lost so young. RIP Cyrille.

Probably had to wait 6 hours for an ambulance.

[Super]

2 minutes ago, wendyredredrobin said:

Sad to hear of another one lost so young. RIP Cyrille.

Probably had to wait 6 hours for an ambulance.

unnecessary comment.

[wendyredredrobin]

1 minute ago, Super said:

unnecessary comment.

Just telling it as it is.

[Hellfire Corner]

5 minutes ago, wendyredredrobin said:

 

Probably had to wait 6 hours for an ambulance.

Not worthy of this forum! Have a long and hard think.

[1bristolcity]

Just now, wendyredredrobin said:

Just telling it as it is.

Telling what as it is? You don't know the circumstances, not the time. 

[1bristolcity]

2 minutes ago, Hellfire Corner said:

Not worthy of this forum! Have a long and hard think.

'She' had two bites at it too, and still persists.

[LondonBristolian]

He was coming to the end of his career when I got into football but I still remember him as being a fantastic player. Massive impact on the culture of the game too and a key part of a generation that had to put up with a lot of unpleasantness in order to make things better for future generations of black players coming through. RIP. 

[Offside]

Sad news. RIP Cyrille - an iconic player.

[BanburyRed]

Memories of Cyrille on the Big Match, top striker, full of power n pace, scored different types of goals, and probably had to put up with some pretty intolerable terrace behaviour too.

Condolences to his family, friends and those @ WBA too.

RIP Cyrille Regis

[GrahamC]

Brilliant player, remember seeing him at AG for the first time & being surprised that he was only about 5ft 10, his physique made you assume he was much taller.

Great centre forward and a trailblazer for the many top black players who followed in his path.

RIP.

[Major Isewater]

I can only concur with all the good things said about the man and the player.

He must have been a big role model for so many young black players and helped rubbish the racist comments of the time .

RIP. Big man and thank you .

[Septic Peg]

Andy Cole said Big Cyrille was the reason he got into football.

When you think of the times when Cyrille, Laurie Cunningham and Brendan Batson played, they suffered mindless and derogratory abuse from fans in that era, every weekend, just for being black. Yet, they still performed and continuously played, showing control and perseverance regardless at what was being shouted at them.

Three young men that literally helped change football.

Thankfully, the levels of racism are minimal nowadays compared to the 70s/80s. 

 

Sleep well Cyrille. Thoughts are with his family.

[Davefevs]

RIP Big Cyrille 

Can picture three things: 

1. That goal that won MOTD goal of the season when he ran from the halfway line with such power and pace and hit a shot so hard into the net the keeper was glad he didn’t get a hand on it

2. Changing his game when he went to Coventry to lead the line and getting an England cap when he perhaps should have deserved more earlier in his career. 

3. The look on his face when I almost ran him over in the Coventry Training Ground car park in the late 80s. He appeared from behind another car and I almost hit him. The look he gave me!  Jeez, I sh1t myself 

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

No one should underestimate the impact Regis (and Cunningham, Batson and Anderson) had on the game of football in the UK.  They didn’t eradicate the racism overnight but they played with pride and inspired a generation of black kids to play the game.  The best thing about football in my lifetime is the way it has overcome racism.  Regis was a great man and deserves to be right up there with other groundbreaking minority icons.

[pillred]

nobody  much under 40 can possibly know what abuse players like Cyril played under, banana's thrown onto the pitch monkey chants etc, it's because players like him showed class and ignored it and showed up the people that did it by remaining above it that it helped eradicate racism and make the game today what it is largely free from the things that black players in the 70s had to endure, rip Cyril you were a credit to your profession.   

[Norn Iron]

I had the pleasure of interviewing Cyrille in my radio presenting career. 

He was a gentleman. Off air we talked about books and of a video made about him which he had never seen! I lent it to him and got it back.

The first time I saw him was at Ninian Park when England played Wales in the home internationals. We were standing on the terrace by the corner flag. Cyrille had just come on a sub and duly wandered over to take the corner. The size of the man was frightening. I wouldn't have wanted to have tackled him. He made Norman Hunter look like a wimp!

A genuine, lovely man.

[Lanterne Rouge]

So sad. Another iconic player for us fans of a certain age gone far too soon. As others have said, today`s black players have so much to thank him for (along with notable others) - it must have been hell sometimes back then and huge credit to him for fighting through it when at times it must have seemed easier to just jack it in.

RIP Cyrille, you won`t be forgotten in a hurry.