Laurie Cunningham

Laurence Paul Cunningham was born on 8 March 1956 in Archway, north London, to Jamaican parents. His father had been a jockey, and he grew up in one of the poorer parts of the city. Rejected by Arsenal at 16, he joined Leyton Orient in 1974, where his pace, flair and skill soon earned him a national reputation.

In March 1977 he joined West Bromwich Albion, a club in the top division. Together with Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson, he formed the Three Degrees, the nickname given by the manager Ron Atkinson, and the trio, playing exciting football, helped to change attitudes in English football. He scored 21 goals in 86 league games for the club.

On 27 April 1977 he became the first Black footballer to play for an England team organised by the Football Association, when he scored on his debut for the Under-21s against Scotland at Bramall Lane. He won six caps in all for England teams, but faced death threats, and some felt he was unfairly omitted from the England squad for the 1980 European Championship.

In June 1979 Real Madrid signed him for a fee of around £950,000, making him the first Englishman to play for the club. In his first season, 1979–80, Real won La Liga and the Copa del Rey, and Cunningham went on to win a second Copa del Rey in 1981 and reach the 1981 European Cup final, which Real lost to Liverpool. Madrid's fans gave him the nickname the Black Flash.

After leaving Madrid he played for Manchester United on loan, Marseille, Leicester and Rayo Vallecano, before joining Wimbledon, where, as a member of the Crazy Gang, he came on as a substitute in the 1988 FA Cup final win over Liverpool. He was killed in a car crash in Madrid on 15 July 1989, aged 33, leaving a Spanish wife and a son. A statue near Leyton Orient's ground honours him.