Footballer and pioneer for black players

Born: February 9, 1958;

Died: January 14, 2018

CYRILLE Regis, who has died aged 59, was a footballer who became a pioneer for black players in the 1970s. Like other black players at the time, he was subjected to persistent racist abuse but helped to blaze a trail for those who were to follow.

At West Brom, Regis scored 112 goals in 297 appearances for Albion between 1977 and 1984 before moving on to Coventry, winning the FA Cup with the Sky Blues in 1987. He also won five caps for England between 1982 and 1987

Born in the rural town of Maripasoula in French Guiana in February 1958, Regis moved with his family to west London at the age of five to a city where families seeking housing would often be greeted by signs which read: "No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs."

It was a tough upbringing and dreams of a career in football appeared to have eluded him when the trials he craved failed to materialise.

Urged by his father Robert, a labourer, to get a trade under his belt and give himself the best chance in life, he left school after completing his exams to become an apprentice electrician.

Football, however, remained part of his life and would belatedly earn him fame, relative fortune and much more besides.

It was John Sullivan, chairman of non-league Molesey, who spotted his potential as a 17-year-old one Sunday morning in Regent's Park, and then top-flight West Brom who took a chance on him after his impressive displays for the Surrey side.

A bull of an old-fashioned centre-forward, Regis took to the professional game in impressive style, scoring twice on his debut in a League Cup tie against Rotherham and then claiming his first league goal against Middlesbrough three days later.

In all, he would make 297 appearances for the Baggies and score 112 goals, but his time at the Hawthorns was far more significant, and not just for the midlands club.

Named the PFA's Young Player of the Year for 1978, Regis went on to become just the third black England international as he followed in the footsteps of Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham - the first black player to represent England at under-21 level - winning the first of five senior caps against Northern Ireland in February 1982.

However, his elevation did not meet with universal approval, as he later revealed in his autobiography, My Story.

He wrote: "Clearly someone didn't approve of my selection because they had cut out individual letters from a newspaper and stuck them on a sheet of paper to spell out a message that read, 'If you put your foot on our Wembley turf, you'll get one of these through your knees'.

"I looked back into the envelope and there was a cotton wool pad wrapped round something.

"I took it out, opened it up and there it was. A bullet staring up at me."

In that same 1981-82 campaign his FA Cup strike against Norwich - a thunderous shot after a characteristic turn and powerful run - was named goal of the season.

He left the Hawthorns for Coventry in a £250,000 switch in 1984 and scored 62 times in 274 appearances.

He had spells at Aston Villa, Wolves, Wycombe and Chester as his playing career drew to a close and following his retirement, spent four years on the coaching staff at the Hawthorns before becoming an agent, a job he carried out until his death.

Regis will be remembered for what he did on the football pitch, but perhaps more so because of the climate in which he did it, but he was more than just a footballer.

Born into a Christian family, he turned to his faith once again as an adult after the death of close friend Cunningham in a car crash in July 1989, two years after the pair had walked away from a similar accident.

"I have learned that money cannot buy peace of mind so I simply tell people how I found hope and peace in God," he said.

He was a trustee for Christians in Sport, and of his nephew Jason Roberts' Foundation, and worked as an ambassador for international charity Wateraid and was the honorary president of the Midlands Junior Premier League.

Regis was made an MBE in 2008 for his contribution to football and his services to the voluntary sector.

He is survived by his wife Julia, whom he married in 2006, and his children from his first marriage, Robert and Michelle, as well as grandchildren Jayda, Renee and Riley.