Laurie Cunningham
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Laurence Paul Cunningham | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
Laurie Cunningham (8 March 1956 - 15 July 1989) was an England international association footballer, and was the first black player to represent England in a competitive match.
Born in St. Mary's Archway, London, Cunningham joined Leyton Orient after a start in schoolboy football. He joined West Bromwich Albion in 1977, where, under manager Johnny Giles, he teamed up with another black player, Cyrille Regis, and the following year (under Ron Atkinson) with Brendon Batson. Never before had an English team simultaneously fielded three black players. The Three Degrees, as they became known, challenged the established racism of English football and marked a watershed that allowed a generation of footballers to enter the game who would previously have been excluded by their ethnic background.[citation needed]
West Bromwich Albion became one of the most attractive and exciting English sides in the late 1970s and Cunningham soon attracted attention. He became the first black player to wear an England shirt at any level[1]in England under-21s' friendly against Scotland at Bramall Lane on April 27 1977, scoring on his debut. He subsequently earned six full England caps, making his debut against Wales in a Home International on 23 May 1979. Although Viv Anderson had made his England debut in a friendly six months previously and thus was the first black player to play for the senior England team, Cunningham was the first black player to play in a competitive England match.
In 1979, he made a historic move as the first British player to transfer to Real Madrid for £995,000 Though he never recaptured his early brilliance he was adored by the fans being labeled 'Black Flash'. His later career saw him increasingly distracted by off-field interests and, after leaving Real Madrid in 1983, he was loaned to Manchester United as well as having permanent spells with Sporting de Gijón of Spain, Olympique Marseille of France, England's Leicester City and Charleroi of Belgium. He returned to the English game with Wimbledon at the start of the 1987-88 season. Although he had limited first team chances, he made a substitute appearance in the famous 1988 FA Cup final win over Liverpool. Soon after that he was transferred to Rayo Vallecano in Spain.
On the morning of 15 July 1989, Laurie Cunningham was killed in a car crash in Madrid at the age of 33.
Honours
- F.A. Cup winner - 1988
Bibliography
- Bowler, D & Bains, J (2000) Samba in the Smethwick End: Regis, Cunningham, Batson and the Football Revolution ISBN 1-84018-188-5
External links
- 1956 births
- 1989 deaths
- Living people
- Footballers who died before retiring
- English footballers
- England international footballers
- Leicester City F.C. players
- Leyton Orient F.C. players
- Manchester United F.C. players
- La Liga footballers
- Real Madrid footballers
- Sporting de Gijón footballers
- Olympique de Marseille players
- Rayo Vallecano footballers
- Spanish road accident victims
- West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
- Wimbledon F.C. players