Laurie Cunningham

West Bromwich Albion

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. This was the second time an English top-flight team simultaneously fielded three black players (the first being Clyde Best, Clive Charles and Ade Coker for West Ham United against Tottenham Hotspur in April 1972) and Atkinson collectively referred to Cunningham, Batson and Regis as the Three Degrees after the U.S. soul singing trio. Whilst a West Bromwich Albion player, he played in a benefit match for Len Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.

Real Madrid

In the summer of 1979, he made a historic move as the first English player to transfer to Real Madrid, who paid West Bromwich Albion a fee of £950,000. He scored twice on his debut and helped Madrid win the league and cup double. Cunningham began the 1980–81 season with Madrid well and scored goals in the early rounds of the European Cup, but then succumbed to injury, and required an operation on a broken toe. He recovered just in time for the 1981 European Cup final against Liverpool in Paris, as Madrid lost 1–0. During pre-season training for the 1981–82 season, a thigh injury kept Cunningham out of the majority of the season (only three goalless appearances in the league), his only real noteworthy contribution was in the UEFA Cup quarter-final tie…

On 27 April 1977, Cunningham made his debut for the England under-21's team in a friendly match against Scotland at Bramall Lane, scoring on his debut. At the time, he was considered the first black player to wear an England shirt at any level, but it was later revealed that Benjamin Odeje had played for the England Schoolboys team in 1971. In 1979, he made his debut for the England national football team in a Home International match against Wales. Although Viv Anderson had been England's first black full international when he made his debut in a friendly in November 1978, Cunningham was the first to have appeared at the highest level in a competitive match. Despite playing a key role in the Spanish double with Real Madrid, Cunningham was overlooked by England manager Ron Greenwood for a place in the England squad for UEFA Euro 1980. He was called up by Greenwood for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Norway, only to be an unused sub as England won 4–0. In the next qualifier against Romania, he came off the bench but was unable to help England avoid a 2–1 defeat. This proved to be the last of his six England caps.

Born in Archway, London, he was the son of a former Jamaican race-horse jockey. Cunningham started in schoolboy football and was turned down by Arsenal before joining Leyton Orient in 1974.

Cunningham was killed in a car crash in Madrid on the morning of 15 July 1989, at the age of 33. He was survived by his wife and their son. In November 2004, he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations. The club announced that Cunningham would feature in a mural of the former players to be displayed at The Hawthorns. In October 2013, the Nubian Jak Community Trust unveiled a blue plaque outside Brisbane Road. In September 2015, English Heritage erected a blue plaque on Cunningham's childhood home at 73 Lancaster Road, Stroud Green, London. In November 2017, a statue by Graham Ibbeson was unveiled in Coronation Gardens, Leyton, near Brisbane Road, paying tribute to Cunningham and his time at Leyton Orient. Another statue by Ibbeson was unveiled in West Bromwich town centre in May 2019. The work commemorates Cunningham's time at Albion alongside black teammates Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson, with a spokesperson for the organisers commenting that "the three players opened the gates to allow black players into football at a time when they were locked out". A play based on his life, Getting the Third Degree by Dougie Blaxland, was first performed in 2019.

Tributes