Clyde Cyril Best (born 24 February 1951) is a Bermudian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He was one of the first

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

players in First Division football in England, scoring 47 goals as a striker for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

between 1968 and 1976.

Early and personal life

Best moved from Bermuda to England at the age of 17, to play for

. Upon his arrival he was looked after by club captain

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

. He has credited Moore and fellow West Ham players

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

and

Billy Bonds William Arthur Bonds (born 17 September 1946) is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a ...

with helping him deal with racist abuse.

Playing career

As one of England's first black footballers, Best was regularly targeted with

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

chanting from the terraces, but eventually became a fan favourite at Upton Park. He was a strong, powerful player with the skills of the traditional English centre forward, tough to dispossess when he had the ball and good in the air. He made his debut for West Ham United in a 1–1

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

draw against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 25 August 1969 at the age of 18. His first goal for the Hammers came during League Cup competition, in a 4–2 win against Halifax Town, on 3 September 1969. In 1973 Best deputised for an injured Bobby Ferguson in goal against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. Best played 218 games and registered 58 goals for West Ham over 7 seasons between August 1969 and January 1976. Best also played in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

where he was generally viewed as a failure, scoring only 3 goals in 23 matches, and in the United States and Canada for

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

and

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. While playing for Tampa Bay in Soccer Bowl '75, he scored an 88th-minute goal to secure the Rowdies' first NASL championship in a 2–0 victory over Portland Timbers. The following spring he led the Rowdies to the 1976 indoor title and was named tournament MVP. He was the Rowdies leading scorer for the brief 1976 indoor season with 11 goals, 5 assists for 27 points.

Managerial career

Best was an assistant coach for the San Diego Sockers for a brief period in the early 1990s. Best coached the Bermuda national team from 1997 to 1999.

Later life

After his coaching career finished he retired back to Bermuda.

Honours

Best was inducted into the Bermuda National Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He was awarded an MBE in the

2006 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to c ...

list for services to football and the community in Bermuda.United Kingdom:

References

External links

*
NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Clyde 1951 births Living people People from Sandys Parish Men's association football forwards Bermudian men's footballers Bermuda men's international footballers West Ham United F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Feyenoord players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Los Angeles Lazers players Bermudian expatriate men's footballers Bermudian expatriate sportspeople in England Bermudian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Bermudian expatriates in the Netherlands Bermudian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English Football League players Eredivisie players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Pan American Games silver medalists for Bermuda Bermudian football managers Bermuda national football team managers Members of the Order of the British Empire Pan American Games silver medalists in football Footballers at the 1967 Pan American Games Race-related controversies in the United Kingdom Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Bermudian people of Barbadian descent Association football coaches Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire