{"id":532404,"date":"2026-03-12T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/532404\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:59:08","slug":"i-knew-i-had-some-responsibility-clyde-best-on-being-english-footballs-first-black-superstar-west-ham-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/532404\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I knew I had some responsibility\u2019: Clyde Best on being English football\u2019s first black superstar | West Ham United"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018I did what I had to do,\u201d Clyde Best says as he recalls leaving Bermuda<\/a> at the age of 17 and travelling to England for a trial at West Ham. There was no fear, no thought of homesickness. Best saw opportunity. It was 1968 and, before setting off on his journey, the boy who would go on to be hailed as English football\u2019s first black superstar received some unforgettable advice from his father, a naval officer who later worked as a deputy commissioner in Bermuda\u2019s prison service.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad told me: \u2018When you go to England, you\u2019re not playing for yourself, you\u2019re playing for those coming after you,\u2019\u201d Best says. \u201cI always knew that I had some responsibility, and I had to carry myself in a certain way and behave myself in a certain way. I\u2019m not going to do anything stupid and mess it up. If you listen to what your parents tell you, nine times out of 10 you\u2019re not going to have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best, now 75, became an inspirational figure. He lives in Bermuda but is back in London to promote a new film, Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story. It is tenderly put together by Dan Egan, an old friend of Best, and features interviews with black footballers who marvelled at the former West Ham forward\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Clyde Best scores a header in West Ham\u2019s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in 1969. Photograph: Jimmy James\/ANL\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

It is striking to hear Ian Wright say he wore the No 8 shirt at Arsenal as a tribute to Best. Viv Anderson, the former England defender, remembers growing up and being blown away when he saw the Bermudan on television.<\/p>\n

Best takes the praise in his stride. Did he know he was good when he was playing youth football back in Bermuda? \u201cI\u2019m not a person that would go out and boast,\u201d Best says. He let his football do the talking. He dreamed of playing for West Ham after watching them beat Preston in the 1964 FA Cup final, and quickly rose through the ranks in Bermuda. He cut his teeth at Ireland Rangers and Somerset Trojans, playing tough, bruising games against British sailors and often winning.<\/p>\n

By 15 he was a Bermuda international. He was part of the team that finished second at the Pan American Games in 1967 and was on his way to east London after the Bermuda coach, Graham Adams, recommended him to a friend \u2013 the West Ham manager, Ron Greenwood.<\/p>\n

A trial agreed, Best left home. His mother was inconsolable but his father, a firm but fair figure, backed his son\u2019s wishes. The only problem was that no one was around to meet Best when he landed in London. Unsure of where to go, he got on the tube and went to West Ham station, mistakenly thinking it was near his new club\u2019s ground, Upton Park.<\/p>\n

Clyde Best gets in a shot against Leicester in August 1972. Photograph: Mirrorpix\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

By chance a stranger spotted Best and took him to a nearby family whose two sons were playing for West Ham. They were John Charles, the first black footballer to represent England at youth level, and his brother Clive, who became one of Best\u2019s closest friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just settled in,\u201d Best says. \u201cWith Clive and John, that made a big difference because their mum was there to guide us all and make sure we were able to cope with what we had to cope with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racism was rife in English football grounds. Best knew it would be a challenge but he handled it his own way. \u201cOne of the things we always stressed was: \u2018Carry yourself in a certain way.\u2019 If someone says something to you, don\u2019t retaliate. To cause more trouble, it\u2019s not worth it. If I acted up all those years ago, how many black kids do you think would be playing football today?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always conscious of the responsibility. It never bothered me. I didn\u2019t mind carrying the weight. But I had a job to do. What pleases me today is you get people saying: \u2018I remember you from the 60s, the 70s.\u2019 So I had to have done something that made people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best passed the trial and made his West Ham debut aged 18. He played up front with Geoff Hurst. He was teammates with Bobby Moore and Martin Peters. \u201cAt West Ham, we had good role models,\u201d Best says. \u201cA person like Bobby Moore, if you didn\u2019t know him, you would have never known he was captain of England. The Lord gave us one of the best human beings that could be on Earth because he would do anything for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clyde Best played with, among others, Geoff Hurst (right), Harry Redknapp (second right) and Trevor Brooking (fourth right).
Photograph: PA Images\/Alamy<\/p>\n

There is praise for Greenwood\u2019s coaching, his focus on passing football. Best quickly established himself in West Ham\u2019s first team. He was quick, powerful and skilful. He had a hammer of a shot and was the first black footballer to score more than 50 goals for West Ham. Michail Antonio, the former West Ham striker, has said Best \u201claid the ground for every black player in the Premier League today\u201d. In 1972 West Ham became the first English club to field three black players in the same starting XI, with Best accompanied by Ade Coker and Clive Charles.<\/p>\n

Yet there were chilling moments. The film features footage from a game against Tottenham and shows the White Hart Lane crowd directing monkey chants at Best. There were no racism protocols for football\u2019s authorities to implement in those days. In the 1972-73 season, the only way for Best to respond to the racial abuse during a game against Everton was to silence the Goodison Park crowd with a virtuoso solo goal.<\/p>\n

But it was wearying. There is the shocking tale of an anonymous letter being sent to Best and warning him that acid would be thrown in his face at the following day\u2019s home game. \u201cIt was another level,\u201d Best says. He took the letter to Greenwood and a decision was made. Moore, West Ham\u2019s captain, had the team protect Best by surrounding him as they ran out of the tunnel before kick-off. \u201cThey were brave,\u201d Best says. \u201cTo want to take the acid for me \u2026 that\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clyde Best credits his parents with giving him the beliefs that carried him through his career. Photograph: Andy Hall\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Thankfully nothing happened. Best continued to star for West Ham but gradually he drifted out of the team and was not involved when they won the FA Cup in 1975. It was time for a new challenge. In the film, it is said that Best often called home to talk about the racism he faced. Friends suggest he was happy when he left England in 1975 and joined Tampa Bay Rowdies in the North American Soccer League.<\/p>\n

Another adventure began. Best helped the Rowdies win the 1975 Soccer Bowl and he was a star at Portland Timbers. He was Pel\u00e9\u2019s strike partner in exhibition matches and became friends with the Brazilian. Their first encounter had come when West Ham faced Pel\u00e9\u2019s Santos in a friendly in 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe scored two that night,\u201d Best says. \u201cAnd I scored two. He came up to me after the game and said: \u2018Clyde, I\u2019m the king, you\u2019re the prince.\u2019 What better person to get it\u00a0from? I was walking on air for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story is showing for a week at Sadler\u2019s Wells East from 25 March<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018I did what I had to do,\u201d Clyde Best says as he recalls leaving Bermuda at the age…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-532404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}