They Called Him Big Cyrille

Few players are ever afforded the honour of being universally known by their first name. But mention the name Cyrille and everyone knew who you meant. A man who united all, whether you supported his club or not, you admired him for his strength, desire, determination and courage.

These were the late seventies and early eighties when football fans could still relate to the players they watched every Saturday. These weren’t too far from the days when Tom Finney used to travel with supporters on the bus to matches. These were the days when you could’ve played against a player as a kid, who then made it as a professional footballer. We lived through our heroes then, they were us. We dreamed about being them, we pretended to be them in our kick-a-bouts in the street. We mimicked their posture, their peculiarities, their mannerisms, their celebrations.

This was when players were all different, there were tall ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones, bald ones, ginger ones, lazy ones and those faster than the proverbial off a shovel. Players could be plucked from non-league or just the lower leagues and turn out for the big boys and we it helped fuel the belief the dream was possible for all of us.

They were us. We were them, and we loved them for it.

Sure we had clubs we hated, our rivals, those we despised. But more often we admired other clubs and other players. Down the years some have transcended rivalry, have fought through bigotry to be roared on by fans from all sides.

Cyrille did that.

Born in French Guiana, a French territory on the South American mainland, in February 1958, Cyrille came to England in 1963. Cousin of John Regis, the 200 metre record holder, he trained as an electrician when he left school and then at the age of eighteen he joined Molesey in Surrey. A year later he moved to Hayes and this was where he was spotted by former West Bromwich Albion legend and now Chief Scout, Ronnie Allen. He encouraged the club to take a punt on the youngster, although they baulked at the four figure sum being suggested. Allen was so certain Regis would make it that he offered money from his own pocket to get the deal done. In May 1977 Regis joined West Brom for the princely sum of £5,000. By way of comparison, a couple of months later Liverpool broke the British transfer record when they signed Kenny Dalglish to replace Kevin Keegan for £440,000.

Allen then took over as manager at The Hawthorns when Johnny Giles resigned. Regis scored on his debut for the reserves and so Allen threw him into the first team for the League Cup game against Rotherham United in August 1977. He scored twice in a 4-0 win. He earned a starting place against Middlesbrough the following weekend, and scored again.

The goal? Well, it was to become his calling card, his blueprint. If you ever watch highlights of his goals so many are like this.

He picked the ball up near the halfway line, ran towards the penalty area and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Northern Ireland international goalkeeper, Jim Platt.

It was a goal just like this which was voted goal of the season for the 1981-82 season against Norwich. Norwich played the ball forward into the Albion half and centre-back, Ally Robertson, knocks it back into the Norwich half where Cyrille has dropped back to take the ball on his chest. He his almost on the edge of the centre-circle with his back to goal. The ball drops to his feet and he turns tightly to leave one defender floundering. You then have the hilarious sight of another Norwich defender trying desperately to get hold of Cyrille in a manner reminiscent of Lilliput people trying to grab Gulliver. Cyrille is now away and driving towards the Norwich defence, those legs pumping, the crowd roaring him on. Thirty yards out he looks up, sets himself and unleashes a fearsome drive which roars into the top corner of the net.

These days many a player can fire a shot from that far out as the balls and the boots have changed. But back in these days the balls are heavier, the pitch muddier and less chance of a sweet strike. But Cyrille larrups it to such an extent that if this was a park kickabout, you’d need to take a couple of bus rides to fetch it. You can tell from his teammates reaction they’d seen it all before and that was just Big Cyrille.

Cyrille was an imposing figure. Many teams had big strikers, or “the big number nine” as they were known, but few as mobile or as fast as Cyrille. He had huge thighs and he would just run at defenders in a way which left you believing he would need the fans on the terraces behind the goal to move aside just so he had room to slow down to a stop. Defenders would bounce off him, be left in his wake, floundering to reclaim whatever glimmer of self-respect may be left.

But perhaps more importantly for the time, Cyrille broke boundaries. When he signed for West Brom there had never been a black player represent England at full level, although his teammate Laurie Cunningham, was capped by the Under-21 team a month before. Viv Anderson finally broke into the full side in November 1978. Cyrille became the third black player to represent England when he came on as substitute against Northern Ireland in February 1982. He would never complete a full ninety minutes for his country, winning just five caps at a time when there were plenty of strikers to choose from. Maybe this enhanced his cult status. Records are littered with players supporters rated who successive England managers did not.

At West Brom manager Ron Atkinson was building a team which would take on the might of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the First Division. Along with Regis and Cunningham he had a young right-back, Brendon Batson. The three of them would become known as The Three Degrees, a popular black female singing group. They were undoubtedly an inspiration for many young black kids who had believed the world of professional football was not for them, would not welcome them.

December 1978 at Old Trafford they unveiled their own brand of champagne football, or samba football as they embarrassed their hosts in a 5-3 win. Cunningham graced either wing, Tony Brown buzzed, harassed all day in midfield and above it all was Big Cyrille. He scored the fifth but shortly before that he lashed a left foot shot first time from outside the area which rattled the post. The fifth was typical of the game. United had resorted to trying to kick lumps out of these young upstarts who should’ve known better than showboat at their manor. The ball is down by the West Brom right corner flag when Ally Robertson nicks it off Steve Coppell. The ball runs to Cunningham who just turns and runs and runs and runs into the United half. He slows down then passes the ball forward to Ally Brown in the inside right position. Brown turns inside then plays a lovely weighted pass for Regis who is now thundering forward like a juggernaut. United captain , Martin Buchan, has given up the chase by now and Regis meets the ball first time eight yards out and without breaking stride he fires it into the roof of the net.

I can remember listening to Sports Report on Radio Two sometime in late 1979 when West Brom had won and they announced that the club had gone to the top of the First Division for the first time in their history. Atkinson had built a wonderfully attractive young side with the likes of Regis, Cunningham, Robson, Statham, Batson, Owen along with more mature and wily knowledge of Wile, Robertson and the two Browns. They never won anything, with an FA Cup Semi-Final in 1978 being the peak. After finishing third in the League in 1979 they also reached the UEFA Cup Quarter-Finals.

Cyrille brushed off racist abuse like he brushed off defenders when he was marauding towards goal. When he was called up for England for the first time he was sent a bullet in the post. Undaunted this just made him more determined to make something of himself and prove the haters wrong, and boy did he. “I kept it as a reminder of the evil some people had inside them. For the rest of my playing days it was a motivation that they weren’t going to stop me”.

After seven years, two hundred and thirty three appearance and eighty two goals, Cyrille moved to Coventry City where he played almost as many games. His crowning glory was the FA Cup win in 1987. Twelve goals in that season earned him a surprise recall to the England squad as Bobby Robson gave him one last hurrah against Turkey. Unfortunately Cyrille never found the net for his country but this didn’t diminish his legend one bit.

In the summer of 1991 he moved to another Midlands club, Aston Villa where he played two seasons before ending his career at Wolves, Wycombe and finally Chester City. It was a career which spanned almost twenty years, with plenty of memories and many inspirations.

15^th January 2018 it was announced Cyrille had died from a heart attack, a month short of his sixtieth birthday. The tributes have poured in.

Jacqui Oatley, journalist and presenter

There are not many West Brom legends who could walk through the door at Wolves and be idolised from day one. Such was the respect that Cyrille Regis commanded. Revered in the West Midlands and way beyond

Pat Murphy, journalist and broadcaster

In all my decades of covering Midlands football, there has been no figure more admired and loved among we reporters than Cyrille Regis. He scored goals we dreamed of while lying in the bath, routed the racists, respected the fans – and smiled.

Players such as Dion Dublin, Shaka Hislop and Mark Bright were equally reverent in their acknowledgment of the inspiration of the man and how he was the reason they went into football.

In 2008 Cyrille was awarded an MBE for his services to football and charity.

It is very difficult to accurately put into words the mark this man made, but rest assured if you choose to look up his record, his moments, his career, you will not be disappointed.

Football has lost a colossus today.

Taking it on the Chin

If you want to know the effect Jimmy Hill had on English football, try writing its history over the past fifty years and leave him out.

Much of what we now call ‘the product’ of football can be traced back to him.  You could argue he has had more of an effect, made more changes and enhancements than any other individual in world football.

With football being awash with money these days I am often critical of players who move straight into the media after they finish playing rather than putting something back into the game by moving into coaching or management.  Well Jimmy did both.  In every sense of the word he was a pioneer.

Here’s just a list of some of his achievements

• ·         Negotiated abolition of the maximum wage, leading to footballers being paid what   they’re worth.
• ·         Changed Coventry City’s colours to create the brand, Sky Blues.
• ·         Introduced first all-seater stadium at Coventry’s Highfield Road.
• ·         Pressed The FA to increase the prize for a win from two points to three.  An initiative then adopted throughout the world.
• ·         Campaigned for the abolition of the back pass.
• ·         Introduced the concept of a panel of pundits for TV World Cup coverage.
• ·         Was driving force behind Match of the Day, turning it into an institution.

Born in Balham, South London on 22^nd July 1928, his football career began at Brentford where he played under future England manager, Ron Greenwood, before moving to Fulham in 1952.  He played an influential part in the club’s journey to the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1958 when he scored in every round.  He once scored five goals in a game at Doncaster, in 1958. 

In 1957 he became chairman of the PFA and led a campaign to force clubs to abolish the maximum weekly wage

Maximum Wage

Ever since the turn of the twentieth century the Football League set a maximum amount by which players could be paid.  This contributed in clubs being able to treat players exactly as they wanted.  They could determine exactly how much they wanted to pay them and were also in complete control over whether the player stayed at the club or not.  In short, players were treated in a way synonymous with slavery.  Jimmy Hill believed this was wrong, but the clubs were so powerful they didn’t take him seriously to begin with.  Not until he threatened a strike.  This was unheard of in football.

There were those who believed it would be the end of footballers in touch with the public.  It divided the nation.  But Jimmy was adamant players deserved to be paid their worth and some players were making the clubs a lot of money and should be appropriately rewarded.  He also believed they should be free to negotiate their own contracts, much like other professions.

The clubs, and some of the managers, were against the idea but gradually the players voted for industrial action and eventually they got their way.  Many pointed to Jimmy’s influence and determination in being a key factor.  The much predicted wage spiral didn’t happen immediately, although Fulham’s Chairman, Tommy Trinder, hit upon the publicity value in handing his star player, Johnny Haynes a £100-per-week contract.  But it wasn’t until players such as Jimmy Greaves and Dennis Law moved abroad that clubs realised they’d have to concede to pressure and increase the amount they were paying players.

By the end of the 1960’s George Best was earning £1,000-per-week at Manchester United.  When the Premier League was launched the highest paid player was John Barnes who was paid £100,000-per-week, but since then wages have exploded beyond all proportion.

In the week Jimmy died there is something remarkably ironic in players of a club seeming to refuse to play for a manager so the club has little choice to sack him and find a replacement.

In later years Jimmy felt the growth in players’ wages had gone too far.  But then that’s a matter for clubs today rather than something he needed to worry about at the time.  What is plainly obvious is clubs were pocketing all the gate receipts for themselves without rewarding the players for attracting huge crowds.  The players were paid £20-per-week when the average wage in the country was £18-per-week.  You can hardly blame the players for believing the clubs considered them nothing more than bit parts in the performance in the same way they did the audience.  The fans weren’t flocking to football grounds for the buildings themselves, they were there to witness the performance of the players and the clubs needed to understand that.

Back on the pitch he became an instrumental part of the Fulham side which won promotion back to the First Division in 1959 after an absence of seven years.  Unfortunately, he was only able to enjoy another couple of seasons as a player and at the age of 32 he had to retire due to a long-term knee injury.  He’d played 276 games in nine seasons at Craven Cottage.

He published his first book called “Striking for Soccer” and in it he revealed many suggestions he had for revolutionising the game, which today have become and part and part of football, but back then were seen as something from another planet.

He advocated the introduction of a super league, a winter break and regular midweek evening games played under floodlights.  He also saw television playing more of a role in broadening the popularity of the game.  He argued one game each weekend should be played live in front of cameras, perhaps on a Friday night.

Coventry City

In 1961 he took up the manager’s job at Coventry City, who were languishing in Division Three (League One, today).  They had spent time in Division Two either side of the war but then they fell back and even spent a season in Division Four in 1958.

Backed by his chairman, Derrick Robbins, he set about implementing many of his other ideas such as providing better facilities and more entertainment for supporters.  He was the first man in football to really consider the spectators as customers of the club and therefore he set about improving the match day experience, something every club does these days.  He introduced the first electronic scoreboard, launched the first glossy match magazine, brought in the first pre-match entertainment any ground had seen in England, and provided free soft drinks and snacks for children.  He continued the change of image for the club by launching what was known as, the “Sky Blue Revolution”.  He changed their home kit from navy and white back to colours they used to use fifty or so years before, sky blue.  He gave them their nickname and a club song, as well as organising the club’s own rail service for fans to get to away games.

For the players he lifted a ten year club ban on them talking to the press and demanded they call him “JH” rather than sir, boss or gaffer.  He did not sign anybody above the age of 25 and brought in a more analytical approach to training.

In 1965 he set up the first ‘beam-back’ broadcast when City’s midweek game at Cardiff City was watched by over 10,000 supporters back at Highfield Road.

It wasn’t long before improvements were seen on the pitch too, and in 1964 they won the Division Three title and then three years later, won Division Two to move into English football’s top division for the first time in their history.  Their first two seasons were tough as they narrowly avoided relegation by a point each time but in 1970 they finished sixth, their best ever top flight finish.  But by this time Jimmy had stepped down as manager to take up a role at London Weekend Television as head of sport.

Television

He didn’t wait long before making changes there too.  These were pioneering days for football on television and the 1970 World Cup in Mexico was going to be the first one where football showed a whole host of live games.  In preparation, Jimmy hit upon the idea of a panel of pundits to debate what they were about to watch and then chew the fat over what they had just seen.  Ever the visionary, Jimmy soon understood the effect having some big personalities and egos in the studio together, would have on the viewing experience for those at home.  The arguments between Derek Dougan, Malcolm Allison, Paddy Crerand and Bob McNab became compulsory viewing and the format has been retained ever since.

Jimmy was one of those visionaries who could see the impact television was likely to have on the game and this was where he concentrated his energy.  In 1972 he moved back to the BBC to present Match of the Day.  The programme had begun in 1964 but spent much of the sixties convincing the clubs it was not going to steal their audience.  Jimmy again brought his creative juices to the concept and encouraged slow-motion replays, using them as a way of showing goals as well as illustrating certain key moments in a game which may garner discussion for the watching public.  Jimmy would often criticise refereeing decisions and was able to use television to prove his theories.

In a time when live broadcasts of matches were still confined to the FA Cup Final, England v Scotland and the odd international match, Jimmy was one of the first to be used as a summariser during a match.  But not in a way where people today talk almost as much as the commentator, but during the cup final he would be asked his views on how the game was going about every fifteen minutes.

The 1983-84 season saw the advent of another of Jimmy’s ideas when Match of the Day showed a live league match on the BBC for the first time.  It was two months after ITV had shown theirs but still Manchester United v Tottenham on 16^th December 1983 was historic at any rate.

During his broadcasting career, Jimmy returned to Coventry as managing director and eventually becoming chairman.   In 1981 Jimmy’s proposal to convert Highfield Road to an all-seater stadium was realised.  It was the first ground in England to move to all-seater and given what was suggested by the Taylor report in 1989, it was another example of Jimmy being ahead of his time.

Unfortunately, the all-seater project was abandoned two years later when standing room was re-instated.  What hadn’t helped the plan was Leeds fans ripping out several hundred seats just months after they’d been put in.

When Highfield Road closed its doors for the last time in 2005, Jimmy received a hero’s welcome from the crowd and fans voted for a bar at the new ground, Ricoh Arena, to be named “Jimmy’s” in his honour.

Other Notable Achievements

Unlike today where Match of the Day pundits watch all live matches at the same time from a control room at the studios, when Jimmy was preparing for the programme he had to be at a ground to be able to summarise it that evening.  Often he would get a private plane to fly him back to the studio.  During one match at Highbury in September 1972, the linesman pulled a muscle and couldn’t continue.  As the match couldn’t be continued without a qualified official there was an appeal over the tannoy to see if anyone in the crowd could help.  Step forward Mr Hill, who confirmed himself to be a qualified referee and so he donned a sky blue tracksuit and ran the line.

At the beginning of the 1980’s there were discussions around how to improve football and raise the attendances at league grounds.  One of Jimmy’s ideas was the change the points awarded for a win from two to three.  He argued many matches can end up turgid, dour affairs with neither side wanting to make a mistake and risk losing the point they were on course for.  Jimmy’s suggestion promised to offer a greater prize for the side willing to give it everything right up to the final whistle, turning one point into three.  In 1981 the FA formerly adopted the new system for league matches.  Few major nations followed, until Italy brought it in, in 1993 and then UEFA used it for the Euro ’96 qualifying campaign.  Nowadays it is used globally around all leagues.

 When Coventry City won the FA Cup, their only major honour ever, joint managers George Curtis and John Still were keen to point out the excellent ground work Jimmy put in which they believed had gone a long way to contributing to the club’s success.  Having never ever been in Division One until promotion in 1967 under Jimmy’s management, Coventry then spent thirty-four seasons in England’s top division.  By the time they eventually succumbed to relegation, in 2001, only Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool had spent a longer unbroken spell there.

He returned to Fulham as chairman in 1987 where he staved off the threat of bankruptcy and a merger with Queen’s Park Rangers before setting the club up for a more successful period under new owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.

He was awarded the OBE for services to football in 1994.  In 1999 Jimmy moved from the BBC to Sky Sports and fronted a new programme, Jimmy Hill’s Sunday Supplement, a weekly discussion between Jimmy and three football journalists conducted over breakfast.  He chaired the programme for six seasons before his co-presenter, Brian Woolnough took over and Jimmy was no longer a regular on our screens.

Some may have viewed Jimmy by then as a man of the past, a dinosaur, stuck in the past.  In fact, during his broadcasting career he was continually criticised for his outspoken views.  Yet this is what attracted the viewers and after all what is the point of a television programme if you cannot get anyone to watch it?

Above all, Jimmy was ridiculed for his chin which protruded somewhat.  In fact when I was at school there was a fashion to rub your chin when you were being told something you didn’t quite believe, saying ‘Jimmy’ in a rather sarcastic voice just to confirm the disbelief.

Des Lynam recalled, “we were at a ground and all 30,000 people started chanting at him, but not quite in his favour.  I asked him how he put up with it and he simply said ‘that’s fame for you’.  He was not going to be beaten by a chanting crowd”.

For a man who achieved so much in football it must have appeared odd why he would be subject to such ridicule but Jimmy clearly loved the game and seem to revel in any debate about it.

Shortly after his final appearance for Sky Sports he was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  This seems a particularly cruel disease for a man with so much to be proud to remember.  His last public appearance came in 2011 when he unveiled a statue of himself at the Ricoh Arena.  In 2012 he was moved to a nursing home where he spent his last three years.

Jimmy Hill died on 19^th December 2015 aged 87.  He can honestly be considered to have lived a full life and much of it in the service of others.  His love of football was obvious and whether you agreed with him or not, you cannot deny he had the game’s best interests at heart.

All footballers these days owe a debt of gratitude to Jimmy every time they negotiate a new contract and look at their bank balance.  Every supporter who enjoys the comfort of a matchday experience can largely tip their hat to Jimmy for having the foresight to consider them when other clubs were just content to pack as many people in for the match itself.  When you watch coverage of football from the comfort of your home, you can thank Jimmy for pioneering many ideas to improve the viewing experience.  There are many other things for football to be thankful to Jimmy for and we will never know what might have been had he not been around.  Given the events at FIFA recently, one feels certain the organisation would not have got into such a mess had he been involved.  His sense of fair play and concern for the paying spectator would have given the international game a completely different look.

As it is we can be thankful for being around when Jimmy was and thankful there are people who can relay his story.  In a time when football and footballers have never been richer, football is a poorer for his loss.