.jpg) Statue of the Three Degrees showing Regis (right) alongsideBatson (centre) andCunningham (left) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1958-02-09)9 February 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Maripasoula,French Guiana | ||
| Date of death | 14 January 2018(2018-01-14) (aged 59) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham, England[1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1975–1976 | Molesey | ||
| 1976–1977 | Hayes | ||
| 1977–1984 | West Bromwich Albion | 237 | (82) |
| 1984–1991 | Coventry City | 238 | (46) |
| 1991–1993 | Aston Villa | 52 | (12) |
| 1993–1994 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 19 | (2) |
| 1994–1995 | Wycombe Wanderers | 35 | (9) |
| 1995–1996 | Chester City | 29 | (7) |
| Total | 610 | (158) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978–1982 | England U21[3] | 6 | (3) |
| 1978–1980 | England B[4] | 3 | (0) |
| 1982–1987 | England | 5 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1999 | West Bromwich Albion (caretaker) | ||
| 2000 | West Bromwich Albion (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Cyrille RegisMBE (9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018) was a professionalfootballer who played as aforward. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made 614 league appearances and scored 158 league goals, most prolifically atWest Bromwich Albion andCoventry City. Born in French Guiana, Regis also won fivecaps with theEngland national team.
Regis was born on 9 February 1958 inMaripasoula,French Guiana, the son of Robert Regis, a labourer fromSaint Lucia and Mathilde Regis, a seamstress.[5][6] His father moved to England in 1962, with the rest of the family, including Cyrille, following a year later.[7] Cyrille grew up inHarlesden, located in the Borough ofBrent, and attendedCardinal Hinsley High School.[citation needed] At primary school, Regis said that he was a much better cricketer than footballer. "I was an outdoor child. So I just wanted to play cricket outside, and I played much more cricket back then because football was just another sport I did without any real passion."[8]
After leaving school, Regis trained as anelectrician, earning aCity and Guilds diploma; he continued to practise the trade until his move into professional football.[9]
The 1975–76 season saw Regis move toAthenian League clubMolesey, for whom he scored around 25 goals during his one campaign for the club. He was then approached byBoreham Wood, but did not join them. Instead, he went on to join semi-professionalHayes of theIsthmian League, signing on 7 July 1976.[10]
Regis was spotted byWest Bromwich Albion's chief scoutRonnie Allen, who recommended that theFirst Division club should sign him.[11] With the Albion directors unsure of paying a four-figure fee for such a young, unproven player, Allen offered to fund any initial payment from his own pocket, so sure was he that Regis would make it in the top tier of English football. Thetransfer took place in May 1977, for an up-front fee of £5,000, plus another £5,000 after 20 appearances.[12]
Shortly after bringing Regis to Albion, Allen took over as team manager, following the resignation of his predecessorJohnny Giles. Regis made his first team debut in aLeague Cup match againstRotherham United on 31 August 1977, scoring twice in a 4–0 win.[13] Three days later, Regis made his league debut in a 2–1 victory overMiddlesbrough.[14] Again he found the net, taking the ball from the halfway line to the penalty area before scoring with a right-foot drive. Middlesbrough'sDavid Mills, who later became a teammate of Regis at Albion, described it as "a goal of sheer brilliance".[13]
Regis also scored in his firstFA Cup match in January 1978, helping Albion to beatBlackpool 4–1.[13] A few days later, Albion appointed a new manager,Ron Atkinson. Ronnie Allen had departed in late December to manage theSaudi Arabia national team andJohn Wile, the club'scaptain, had acted ascaretaker manager in the interim.[15]
Whilst a West Bromwich Albion player, he played in abenefit match forLen Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.[16]
In 1984, Regis joinedCoventry City for a fee of £250,000.[17] With Coventry, Regis won the only major trophy in his career, the1987 FA Cup.[17]Johan Cruyff wanted to sign Regis forAjax as a replacement forAC Milan-boundMarco van Basten, but he accused his own club's directors of delaying the deal until Regis' FA Cup exploits took him out of the Dutch club's price range.[18] Regis later became the first Coventry player to score a winning goal atAnfield, in their first ever league victory there, a 1–0 win overLiverpool in November 1989.[19] This came a season after he had also scored in City's first ever top flight victory, a 2–1 win overAston Villa atHighfield Road.[20]
Regis won the Coventry City London Supporters' Club Player of the Year for the 1986–87 season, and regularly comes in high in any legend polls for the club.
Before the 1991–92 season, Regis joinedAston Villa on a free transfer, reuniting him with his former manager at West Brom, Ron Atkinson.[21] 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 toSheffield Wednesday.[21] Regis made over 40 appearances in his first season for Villa, and finished as the club's leading league goalscorer, joint withDwight Yorke.[21]
Following the end of 1992–93, Regis moved to West Midlands rivals,Wolverhampton Wanderers.[21] His stay with Wolves only lasted for one season, during which time he made 22 appearances, scoring twice.[22]
Regis joinedWycombe Wanderers in August 1994.[22] Forming a striking partnership withSimon Garner, he scored ten goals in his only season at the Buckinghamshire club.[23]
Regis ended his professional career by playing in the Third Division withChester City. He scored seven times in 29 league appearances, helping Chester finish 8th, before retiring due to injury in October 1996.[24]
Regis'dual French and British nationality made him eligible to play for either theEnglish orFrench national sides, but it was England that he chose to represent.[25] He made hisEngland under-21 debut on 19 September 1978, in a 2–1 victory over theDenmark under-21s inHvidovre.[3][26] His firstEngland B game was a 1–0 win against Czechoslovakia B inPrague on 28 November 1978.[4] He played in two further matches for the B team in 1980.[4][27] He scored his first goal for the England under-21s on 5 June 1979, in a 3–1 away win againstBulgaria.[3] The result helped England reach the latter stages of the1980 European Championship, although it was the only one out of six qualifying matches in which Regis participated. He played in the awaylegs of both the quarter-final and semi-final, where England lost toEast Germany.[3] In all he played six times for the under-21s, scoring three goals.[3][26]
Despite winning fivecaps for the full England side, Regis never played the full 90 minutes for his country at senior level; he played as a substitute three times and was himself substituted twice.[28] He made his international debut on 23 February 1982 in a 4–0 win overNorthern Ireland in theHome International Championship atWembley. Regis came on as a substitute forTrevor Francis in the 65th minute.[29] His final international appearance for England was in 1987 against Turkey at Wembley, which ended in an 8–0 win for the home side, where he came on for the last 20 minutes.[11]
He was the third black player to be capped by England at the highest level afterViv Anderson andLaurie Cunningham.[30]
In 2004, Regis was voted asWest Bromwich Albion's all time Cult Hero in aBBC Sport poll, gaining 65% of the vote.[31] In the same year, he was named as one of Albion's 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.[32] In the 2007–08 season, aCoventry City Hall of Fame picture gallery was erected at theRicoh Arena, containing thirty Coventry greats from the club's entire history, whom he was among.[33]
Two months after Regis' death, the under-21 match betweenEngland andRomania atMolineux on 24 March 2018 was designated the Cyrille Regis International in tribute. England won the match, 2–1.[34] On 28 July 2018, two of Regis' former clubs (West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City) played in a friendly match dubbed the "Regis Shield"; West Bromwich won 5–2.[35][36][37]
His younger brother is former playerDave Regis,[38] and his nephew isJason Roberts, for whom he acted as an agent.[39] He was also the cousin ofsprinterJohn Regis.[40]
Regis became an evangelical Christian after a car crash claimed the life of his friend and former teammateLaurie Cunningham in 1989.[41] He and Cunningham had been involved in a similar crash two years earlier.[42] After retiring from playing, Regis worked in a variety of coaching roles before becoming an accreditedfootball agent with the Stellar Group Ltd.
He was awarded an honoraryfellowship by theUniversity of Wolverhampton in 2001. Regis and his wife Julia visited water-related projects inEthiopia in 2007, as part of their continued support forWaterAid.[43]
He was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2008 Birthday Honours.[44][45]
Regis died of a heart attack on 14 January 2018. He was 59 years old.[46][47][48]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 1977–78 | First Division | 34 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 42 | 18 | ||
| 1978–79 | First Division | 39 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | — | 56 | 17 | ||
| 1979–80 | First Division | 26 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 30 | 9 | ||
| 1980–81 | First Division | 38 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | — | — | 47 | 17 | |||
| 1981–82 | First Division | 37 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | 53 | 25 | ||
| 1982–83 | First Division | 26 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 29 | 11 | |||
| 1983–84 | First Division | 30 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 36 | 13 | |||
| 1984–85 | First Division | 7 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 237 | 82 | 25 | 10 | 28 | 16 | 10 | 3 | — | 300 | 111 | |||
| Coventry City | 1984–85 | First Division | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 5 | |||
| 1985–86 | First Division | 34 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 37 | 10 | ||
| 1986–87 | First Division | 40 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 51 | 16 | ||
| 1987–88 | First Division | 31 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 37 | 12 | ||
| 1988–89 | First Division | 34 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 38 | 6 | ||
| 1989–90 | First Division | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 43 | 5 | ||
| 1990–91 | First Division | 34 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 44 | 7 | ||
| Total | 238 | 46 | 16 | 3 | 24 | 12 | — | 4 | 0 | 282 | 61 | |||
| Aston Villa | 1991–92 | First Division | 39 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 46 | 11 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| Total | 52 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 63 | 12 | |||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1993–94 | Division One | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 1994–95 | Division Two | 35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 38 | 10 | |
| Chester City | 1995–96 | Division Three | 29 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 33 | 7 | |
| Career total | 610 | 158 | 53 | 13 | 61 | 29 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 739 | 203 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1982 | 4 | 0 |
| 1987 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 5 | 0 | |
Hayes
Coventry City
Individual
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