Cyrille Regis, MBE ( 9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018 ) was a professional football player who played as a forward. His professional play career spanned 19 years, where he made 614 league appearances and scored 158 league goals, most prolifically at West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City. Born in French Guiana, Regis besides won five caps with the England national team .

early life sentence [edit ]

Regis was born on 9 February 1958 in Maripasoula, french Guiana, the son of Robert Regis, a laborer from Saint Lucia and Mathilde Regis, a dressmaker. [ 4 ] His father moved to England in 1962, with the rest of the family, including Cyrille, following a year former. [ 5 ] Cyrille grew up in Harlesden, located in the Borough of Brent, and attended Cardinal Hinsley Maths & Computing College. [ citation needed ] At basal school, Regis said that he was a much better cricketer than football player. “ I was an outdoor child. So I merely wanted to play cricket outside, and I played a lot more cricket back then because football was just another sport I did without any real love ”. [ 6 ] After leaving school, Regis trained as an electrician, earning a City and Guilds diploma ; he continued to practise the barter until his move into professional football. [ 7 ] He was a cousin of the athlete John Regis. [ 8 ]

Club career [edit ]

The 1975–76 season saw Regis move to Athenian League club Molesey, for whom he scored around 25 goals during his one campaign for the club. He was then approached by Boreham Wood, but did not join them. rather he went on to join semi-professional Hayes of the Isthmian League, signing on 7 July 1976. [ 9 ] Regis was spotted by West Bromwich Albion ‘s chief lookout Ronnie Allen, who recommended that the First Division club should sign him. [ 10 ] With the Albion directors uncertain of paying a four-figure tip for such a young, unproved player, Allen offered to fund any initial payment from his own scoop, so sure was he that Regis would make it in the top tier of English football. The transportation took seat in May 1977, for an up-front tip of £5,000, plus another £5,000 after 20 appearances. [ 11 ]

West Bromwich Albion [edit ]

curtly after bringing Regis to Albion, Allen took over as team coach, following the resignation of his predecessor Johnny Giles. Regis made his inaugural team debut in a League Cup match against Rotherham United on 31 August 1977, scoring doubly in a 4–0 acquire. [ 12 ] Three days late Regis made his league introduction in a 2–1 victory over Middlesbrough. [ 13 ] Again he found the final, taking the ball from the halfway line to the penalty area before scoring with a right-foot drive. Middlesbrough ‘s David Mills, who belated became a teammate of Regis at Albion, described it as “ a goal of sheer brilliance ”. [ 12 ] Regis besides scored in his first FA Cup match in January 1978, helping Albion to beat Blackpool 4–1. [ 12 ] A few days late, Albion appointed a new coach, Ron Atkinson. Ronnie Allen had departed in late December to manage the Saudi Arabia national team and John Wile, the club ‘s captain, had acted as caretaker director in the interim. [ 14 ] Whilst a West Bromwich Albion player he played in a benefit match for Len Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players. [ 15 ]

Coventry City [edit ]

In 1984 Regis joined Coventry City for a fee of £250,000. [ 16 ] With Coventry, Regis won the only major trophy in his career, the 1987 FA Cup. [ 16 ] Johan Cruyff wanted to sign Regis for AFC Ajax as a successor for AC Milan -bound Marco van Basten, but he accused his own club ‘s directors of delaying the deal until Regis ‘s FA Cup exploits took him out of the Dutch club ‘s price stove. [ 17 ] Regis late became the foremost Coventry City player to score a winning finish at Anfield, in their first ever league win there ( 1–0 ) in November 1989. [ 18 ] This came a season after he had besides scored in City ‘s beginning ever crown escape succeed over Aston Villa at Highfield Road ( 2–1 ). [ 19 ]

Aston Villa [edit ]

Before the 1991–92 season, Regis joined Aston Villa on a unblock transfer, reuniting him with his early director at West Brom, Ron Atkinson. [ 20 ] He was one of six Villa players who made their debut for the club on the opening day of the season, scoring in a 3–2 win away to Sheffield Wednesday. [ 20 ] Regis made over 40 appearances in his first base season for Villa, and finished as the club ‘s lead league goalscorer, joint with Dwight Yorke. [ 20 ]

Wolverhampton Wanderers [edit ]

Following the end of 1992–93, Regis moved to West Midlands rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers. [ 20 ] His stay with Wolves only lasted for one season, during which time he made 22 appearances, scoring twice. [ 21 ]

Wycombe Wanderers [edit ]

Regis joined Wycombe Wanderers in August 1994. [ 21 ] Forming a hit partnership with Simon Garner, he scored ten goals in his only temper at the Buckinghamshire cabaret. [ 22 ]

Chester City [edit ]

Regis ended his professional career by playing in the Third Division with Chester City. He scored seven times in 29 league appearances, helping Chester stopping point 8th, before retiring due to injury in October 1996. [ 23 ]

International career [edit ]

Three of Cyrille Regis ‘ international caps Regis ‘s dual french and british nationality made him eligible to play for either the English or french national sides, but it was England that he chose to represent. [ 24 ] He made his England under-21 introduction on 19 September 1978, in a 2–1 victory over the Denmark under-21s in Hvidovre. [ 1 ] [ 25 ] His first England B game was a 1–0 winnings against Czechoslovakia B in Prague on 28 November 1978. [ 2 ] He played in two far matches for the B team in 1980. [ 2 ] [ 26 ] He scored his first finish for the England under-21s on 5 June 1979, in a 3–1 away win against Bulgaria. [ 1 ] The resultant role helped England reach the latter stages of the 1980 european Championship, although it was the only one out of six qualifying matches in which Regis participated. He played in the away leg of both the quarter-final and semi-final, where England lost to East Germany. [ 1 ] In all he played six times for the under-21s, scoring three goals. [ 1 ] [ 25 ] Despite winning five caps for the full England side, Regis never played the full 90 minutes for his state at aged flush ; he played as a utility three times and was himself substitute doubly. [ 27 ] He made his international debut on 23 February 1982 in a 4–0 succeed over Northern Ireland in the Home International Championship at Wembley. Regis came on as a ersatz for Trevor Francis in the sixty-fifth minute. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] His final international appearance for England was in 1987 against Turkey at Wembley, which ended in an 8–0 succeed for the home plate side, where he came on for the last 20 minutes. [ 10 ] He was the third gear black player to be capped by England at the highest level after Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham. [ 30 ]

personal biography [edit ]

His younger buddy is erstwhile actor Dave Regis, [ 31 ] and his nephew is Jason Roberts. [ 32 ]

Regis became an evangelical christian after a car clang claimed the life of his ally and erstwhile teammate Laurie Cunningham in 1989. [ 33 ] He and Cunningham had been involved in a similar crash two years earlier. [ 34 ] After retiring from playing, Regis worked in a variety of coaching roles before becoming an accredit football agent with the Stellar Group Ltd. He was the uncle of football player Jason Roberts, for whom he acted as an agent, and cousin of sprinter John Regis. He was awarded an honorary family by the University of Wolverhampton in 2001. In 2004, Regis was voted as West Bromwich Albion ‘s all time Cult Hero in a BBC Sport poll, gaining 65 % of the vote. [ 35 ] In the lapp class he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion ‘s 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as separate of the club ‘s hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations. [ 36 ] Regis and his wife Julia visited water-related projects in Ethiopia in 2007, as part of their continue support for WaterAid. [ 37 ] Regis won the Coventry City London Supporters ‘ Club Player of the year in 1986/87 and regularly comes in high in any caption polls for the club. In 2007/08 a Coventry City Hall of Fame painting gallery was erected at the Ricoh Arena, containing thirty Coventry greats from the club ‘s entire history, whom he was among. [ 38 ] He was appointed Member of the Order of the british Empire ( MBE ) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. [ 39 ] [ 40 ]

Death and bequest [edit ]

Regis died of a heart attack on 14 January 2018. He was 59 years old. [ 41 ] [ 42 ] [ 43 ] The under-21 match between England and Romania at Molineux on 24 March 2018 was designated the Cyrille Regis International in protection. England won the peer, 2–1. [ 44 ] On 28 July 2018, two of Regis ‘ former clubs ( West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City ) played in a friendly equal dubbed the ‘Regis Shield ‘ ; West Bromwich won 5–2. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] [ 47 ]

career statistics [edit ]

Honours [edit ]

Coventry City
Individual

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]

bibliography [edit ]

  • Matthews, Tony (2002). Smokin’ Joe: Cyrille Regis – 25 Years in Football. Britespot. ISBN 1-904103-09-X.
  • Matthews, Tony (2007). West Bromwich Albion: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-565-4.
  • Bowler, D & Bains, J (2000) Samba in the Smethwick End: Regis, Cunningham, Batson and the Football Revolution ISBN 1-84018-188-5
  • Brown, Jim (2000) Coventry City: An Illustrated History ISBN 978-1-874287-36-0
  • Cashmore, E. (2013). Black Sportsmen (Routledge Revivals) (Illustrated, Reprint ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-41581-223-8.
  • Rees, Paul. (2014). “The Three Degrees The Men Who Changed British Football Forever”. ISBN 978-1-4721-1926-1.
  • Regis, Cyrille (2010) Cyrille Regis: My Story ISBN 978-0-233-00311-5