Laurie Cunningham had football, riches, massive houses, cars and fame... and boy could he dance! Cyrille Regis pays tribute to best friend on the anniversary of his death

  • Star player Laurie Cunningham died in a car crash in Madrid on July 15, 1989 
  • The midfielder enjoyed a spell at Real after starting his career at Leyton Orient
  • Cunningham's best friend and West Brom team-mate Cyrille Regis paid tribute
  • Appearing in 1981 European Cup final, Cunningham played against Liverpool
  • Cunningham, who died aged 33, also spent time on loan at Manchester United 

Nearly three decades have passed since his death and Cyrille Regis finds Laurie Cunningham is still impossible to read.

One day his memory will provoke a tear. On another day, it will be a smile but Cunningham is never far from his mind.

Always brimming with goodness, youthful potential and energy. Just as he was in life.

Cyrille Regis (right) has paid tribute to Laurie Cunningham on the anniversary of his death

Cyrille Regis (right) has paid tribute to Laurie Cunningham on the anniversary of his death

‘People talk to me about football and Laurie will just pop into my mind,’ said Regis. 


'People ask me about the best player I saw and he pops up. In quiet moments of contemplation, when I’m reading a prayer or reading the Bible, he pops up and I can see him. Sometimes we’ll be having a beer or chatting or he might be speeding down the wing or in training with the ball or dancing. He was a fabulous dancer. You dare not get on the dance floor with Laurie, you went to the bar for a drink.

‘Once, in a bar in Madrid, he was dancing, keeping up an imaginary ball to the beat of the music. He was in the groove, his timing was sublime, all in sync, and I was mesmerised. That stuck in my mind.’

Regis will never forget his best friend and, with the 28th anniversary of Cunningham’s death on Saturday, a new book will help others understand the legacy he created.

Different Class: Football, Fashion & Funk — The Story of Laurie Cunningham, written by Dermot Kavanagh, examines his 33 years from London to Madrid.

His passion for dance and fashion, the trail he blazed through sport at a time when institutionalised racism made it unpleasant and impossible for many others, and the lasting impact of the first black professional footballer to represent England at any level.

Cunningham takes a throw in for Spanish giants Real Madrid - the midfielder died aged 33

Cunningham takes a throw in for Spanish giants Real Madrid - the midfielder died aged 33

Cunnignham stood out for his dress-sense 

Cunnignham stood out for his dress-sense 

For years, Cunningham’s contribution seemed destined to be forgotten. His death in 1989, front-page news in his adopted Spain, was much lower down the agenda in the country of his birth.

Only since the acclaimed documentary First Among Equals was made by ITV in 2013 has there been a broader recognition of his achievements within modern society.

English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque last year outside a former home in Stroud Green, north London, and two statues are in the process of being made. The Celebration is a sculpture destined for West Bromwich as a tribute to Cunningham, Regis and Brendon Batson, Albion’s pioneering trio of black players affectionately dubbed ‘The Three Degrees’ after the American soul group.

This project requires more funding before it is completed but Waltham Forest Council are set to unveil a bronze bust of Cunningham in October, in Coronation Gardens, near Brisbane Road in Leyton. Even 28 years after his death, he is still making an impression.

‘Laurie Cunningham has got bigger over time,’ said Regis. ‘With hindsight we can look back and go, “Wow”. I don’t think he knew the barriers he was breaking down.

‘Only history can tell you that, when footballers like Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole come to you and say, “I watched you and Laurie Cunningham on the box when I was younger”. 

‘At the time you didn’t know you were inspiring others to think, “If he can do it, I can do it”. Laurie was at the forefront because he had the pace and class, doing what all young kids wanted to do.

‘There’s a tinge of sadness because he never reached his full potential. Injuries conspired against that. He was the most watchable footballer I’ve seen. His balance and the way he moved, it was beauty.’

The midfielder

Cunningham's death was reported in Spain but was not top of the agenda in his home country

Regis and Cunningham met at West Brom. Both signed in 1977, Cunningham, in March, for £110,000 from Leyton Orient and Regis four months later, for £5,000 from non-League Hayes. 

They became iconic figures of a golden era at The Hawthorns and struck an instant chemistry on the pitch and a friendship which survived long after Cunningham was sold to Real Madrid for £1million in 1979, where he became the first Englishman to play for Real.

‘There was a commonality,’ said Regis. ‘Two black guys from London, second generation Afro-Caribbean immigrants. His parents were from Jamaica, mine from St Lucia. We were in a different world and were glad to have each other.’

Cunningham dances with American singer Helen Scott (left) in Birmingham in 1979

Cunningham dances with American singer Helen Scott (left) in Birmingham in 1979

In Spain, Cunningham’s adventure started with trademark panache. He dazzled against Barcelona to the extent that he was applauded by the home fans at the Nou Camp.

As he burst on to the scene, he showed an ability to rise to the occasion, whether that be for Albion at Manchester United or against Valencia in the UEFA Cup, where he caught the eye of Real.

When all eyes were trained on him for his England Under 21 debut, he scored the only goal of the game against Scotland, at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. He won La Liga and the Copa del Rey in his debut season at the Bernabeu, picking up a new language to go with a five-year contract worth £1.3m and levels of expectancy to match.

Five years later, he was so brow-beaten by misfortune he said: ‘I believe I have bad luck with me like witchcraft.’

A broken big toe playing for Real at Real Betis in November 1980 was the trigger point, quickly followed by an ill-advised night out with his foot in plaster which enraged the board and fans alike.

It is the watershed moment of a career split in half. Those critics who picked at his inconsistent form turned the focus on to his lifestyle and extended absence. A knee injury suffered in training was mis- diagnosed. 

Cunningham, Brendan Batson and Regis pose with The Three Degrees while at West Brom

Cunningham, Brendan Batson and Regis pose with The Three Degrees while at West Brom

You daren’t get on the dance floor with Laurie... you went to the bar for a drink!

Hurried back for the European Cup final against Liverpool in 1981, the elegant rhythm and explosion of pace were missing and the big-money signing was unable to end Real Madrid’s long wait for the trophy as Alan Kennedy gave Liverpool a 1-0 win.

‘They didn’t give him the right treatment in Madrid,’ said Ron Atkinson, his manager at West Brom, who offered brief respite when signing him on loan for Manchester United in 1983. ‘We never saw the absolute best of Laurie Cunningham. I used to say he could run on snow and leave no footprints.

‘The nearest I’ve seen to him in terms of style is Thierry Henry. He was a super lad and very misunderstood; extrovert in many ways but introverted as a person.’ Cunningham won only six full international caps between a debut against Wales in May 1979 and the broken toe. ‘England never used him the right way,’ said Atkinson.

‘He was flicking balls down the side for other people. I said to him one day, “Why are you doing that? Get on the ball and go at the full back”. That was his game, but he said that’s what the manager wanted.’

Cunningham was rushed back for the European Cup final and beats Phil Thompson in the air

Cunningham was rushed back for the European Cup final and beats Phil Thompson in the air

At United, Cunningham was not the carefree player Atkinson had seen flourish at the Hawthorns. Both body and mind were damaged by the Madrid experience.

‘He was the first person I ever knew who told me he wasn’t fit to play in an FA Cup final,’ said Atkinson. ‘It was always the acid test with an injury. Could you play if it was the FA Cup final? Laurie had a test on the morning of the game and ran 20 sprints. I watched him and thought, “Not a problem . . . You OK, kid?” But he said he wasn’t. He was worried about it going. We only had one substitute then and we couldn’t risk it.’

Off the pitch, Cunningham was financially stricken by the £200,000 estate sold to him by Real team-mate Goyo Benito in the exclusive Las Matas area in the hills above Madrid. Under this strain and the intense scrutiny on his lifestyle and their unmarried, mixed-race relationship, he split from long-term partner Nikki Brown.

Cunningham would later disown a daughter he fathered during a fling while on loan at Sporting Gijon and dared the mother to sell her story to Spanish newspaper Marca — which she did.

The tragic spiral took a terrible twist when a visit from his brother Keith in 1982 was brought to an end by a phone call from police in London who said Keith’s girlfriend Norma Richards and two of their daughters had been murdered in their home.

The case was unsolved for nearly 30 years before being reopened following an enquiry by a football reporter who was researching a book. Wilbert Dyce was convicted of the murders in 2010.

Cunningham, pictured at West Brom

Cunningham shares a joke with Bryan Robson during his United loan and, right, at West Brom

After Real, Cunningham hopped from Marseille to Leicester to Rayo Vallecano to Charleroi to Wimbledon, where he won the FA Cup coming on as a sub in the final, and back to Rayo Vallecano in Madrid.

Along the way, he found love and happiness again with wife Sylvia Sendin-Soria and son Sergio, who was born in 1988 and has a striking resemblance to the father he never knew.

Regis had spoken to his friend on Thursday, July 13, 1989, and Cunningham had been talking about visiting England.

Within 36 hours, he was dead, thrown from his car as he crashed in the early hours of Saturday morning. There were chilling echoes of an accident two years before when he and Regis escaped unhurt.

‘We’d gone out shopping at 12 o’clock,’ said Regis, now 59 years old and a football agent since his playing career ended, describing the 1987 crash. ‘We had a glass of wine and a beer, and another beer, went to a bar and a nightclub, drinking. We were on our way home at one or two in the morning.

‘Laurie had a nippy Renault 5 and on the way back to his house, he nodded off at the wheel. The car hit the barrier, rolled over three or four times and skidded on its roof. The noise and the grating and the sparks never leaves you.  

Cunningham passed away on July 15 1989 in a car crash in Madrid - he was survived by his Spanish wife and son Sergio

Cunningham passed away on July 15 1989 in a car crash in Madrid - he was survived by his Spanish wife and son Sergio

Different Class: Football, Fashion and Funk – The Story of Laurie Cunningham by Dermot Kavanagh is out now

Different Class: Football, Fashion and Funk – The Story of Laurie Cunningham by Dermot Kavanagh is out now

 ‘When I think about it, I can hear the sound of metal on concrete, sparks, glass smashing; upside down. At that moment you think it’s all over. We ended up upside down in the car, dazed, glass everywhere. Unbelievably, we had seatbelts on. We’ve undone our seatbelts, crawled out, pushed the car upright and found a lift home.

‘We came out totally unscathed. I went home the next day and left Laurie to deal with the car. We were lads. You get on with your life, don’t you?’

The next time it happened, Cunningham was not wearing a seatbelt and did not get out alive. He was killed by the impact when his chest hit the steering wheel and was thrown out of the door.

‘It rocked my world,’ said Regis. ‘We had a life in parallel: football, riches, big houses, cars and fame, everything that says to the world you’re successful. He left it all behind. It didn’t make sense. Why did I put value on these things? Where’s Laurie? In heaven? In hell? In space? He was 33. If I had died in that car crash where would I be?

‘I had to get some answers and, to cut a long story short, I became a born-again Christian. It gave me a perspective of earthly values and eternity. I hope I see him in heaven.’

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