How good was he?

Laurie Cunningham burst on to the scene after moving from Orient to West Bromwich Albion and was part of one of the most exciting and successful sides in the club’s history. A £1million move to Real Madrid followed in 1979 – the first Englishman to play for the club – and he stayed with the Spanish side for four years. He was the first black player to wear an England shirt – in an Under-21 match against Scotland in 1977 - and only the second black player to be capped by England – in a 0-0 draw against Wales at Wembley in May 1979, a year after Viv Anderson became the first. In total, Cunningham won six caps for his country, the last of which was against Spain in October 1980.

Tragedy in Spain

Sadly, Laurie Cunningham was killed in a car crash on July 15, 1989 at the age of just 33. He had returned to Spain and Rayo Vallecano after spells back in England with Manchester United, Leicester City and Wimbledon – making a substitute appearance in their famous 1988 FA Cup win over Liverpool - but the crash in Madrid cut short his life.

And another thing…

Along with Cyrille Regis and Brendan Batson, Cunninghame blazed a trail for black footballers in England. In a sign of the times, the trio were crassly nicknamed ‘The Three Degrees’, apparently by West Brom manager at the time, Ron Atkinson, and some of the 1970s TV commentary was certainly offensive in its content. Indeed, Cunningham and his team-mates did endure a very tough time from the terracing, with the National Front leafleting outside football grounds, but their courage and ability provided strong role models for future generations of black footballers.

EUSEBIO

ALFREDO DI STEFANO

DINO ZOFF

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They Played At Paradise: Laurie Cunningham