Tweet
From magic to tragic: Cunningham, the unfulfilled talent who lit up both Old Trafford and the Bernabeu
By Janine Self
PUBLISHED:22:30, 3 March 2013| UPDATED:01:54, 4 March 2013
The left trouser leg is rolled up to display a six-inch scar, surrounded by a cluster of bumps and lumps, indelible reminders that the hatchet men, even his Real Madrid team-mates, loved to kick Laurie Cunningham.
‘This one was a broken ligament in a training session when one of the players came into me and took my leg in the other direction.
‘The other scars — that was the reaction of the other players after I got the injury. Everyone was coming for my leg to put me out again.’
Talented: Cunningham was one of Real Madrid's first Galacticos
Cunningham’s voice is deadpan. Looking at the footage from the early 1980s, best friend Bobby Fisher thinks the eyes are dead as well. Years of fighting overt racism, overblown expectations and a catalogue of injuries had taken their toll.
Ask a football fan which Englishmen played for Real Madrid, and the answers, probably in this order, would be David Beckham, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate.
Not many would mention Cunningham, nicknamed El Negro de Los Blancos as well as the Black Pearl, and the first black footballer to represent England when he was called up for the Under 21s in 1977.
He will be forever associated with West Bromwich Albion, playing alongside Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson under Ron Atkinson.
But Atkinson brought him briefly to Manchester United too, which makes tomorrow night’s Champions League head-to-head particularly poignant.
Red Devil: Cunningham also played for Manchester United
Laurie Cunningham, the forgotten man. Killed in a Madrid car crash in 1989 at the age of 33, he may well have been a talent unfulfilled but his legacy inspired a generation of black footballers.
After the funeral, Fisher made a promise to Cunningham’s mother, Mavis, that he would tell the world the story of her son. On Wednesday night, 24 years later, ITV will screen the documentary Laurie Cunningham: First Among Equals.
‘It’s taken a long time,’ said Fisher, friends with Cunningham since they were 16 and Orient team-mates. ‘I watched the documentary on Friday. That interview when he was just coming back for Real and he showed his scars; his eyes were dead. There were racial undertones, too. His team-mates were trying to destroy his career. There was almost a shout of “help me”.’
By then, there was no one around to hear the cry. Cunningham was a millionaire crock, living in a goldfish bowl and struggling to cope with Madrid’s discipline.
England international: Cunningham was highly rated by Kevin Keegan
Regis, his best friend at West Brom, reveals in his autobiography: ‘Laurie lived in a beautiful home but he only used three rooms — the bedroom, kitchen and lounge. There was a swimming pool but the rest of the house was empty. He was my best mate, but you would never know which Laurie you would get, from week to week.’
After Real Madrid paid £950,000 for Cunningham in 1979, it was a fairytale move and everything seemed to go well as he helped Madrid win the league. In the first leg of the 1980 European Cup semi-final against Hamburg, he was described as the best player on the pitch by European footballer of the year Kevin Keegan. ‘He had the potential to be the best,’ said Vicente del Bosque. ‘Perhaps he wasn’t as he lacked that competitive spirit required at Real Madrid.’
Here was a boy from north London, who loved fashion and dancing, taught Peter Reid how to eat garlic king prawns, and spoke fluent Spanish, but who was also painfully shy as well as an appalling timekeeper.
He was also alone, long-term girlfriend Nicky Brown unable to cope with the racist jibes — she was white and they were unmarried. She recalled: ‘Spain was coming out of the Franco era so I can see why we were so offensive but we didn’t realise we became quite controversial.’
West Brom boy: It was alongside Cyrille Regis at WBA that Cunningham came to prominence
It was all a million miles away from Orient. Manager George Petchey stepped in when Cunningham was released at 16 by Arsenal. ‘He signed up on the Monday and he didn’t turn up on the Tuesday,’ said Petchey. ‘I sent someone to his house and he was asleep. I said to him, “If you’re going to be like that every day and we have to fetch you, we’ll fine you £1”.
‘I put him in the first team at 16 and he played a blinder. I’d speak to him on a Friday because of the abuse he’d be facing. One game, I told him to pick up all the bananas and give them to the linesman to see what he did. The linesman just put them to the side as if it was nothing.’
To pay the fines, Cunningham entered dance competitions, and won. He showed Fisher a letter offering him a place at a ballet school.
‘That was Laurie,’ recalled Fisher. ‘He didn’t turn up at the club for a whole week once. We were in a relegation fight and every day I kept telling the manager, “He’ll be here for the match”. He didn’t turn up for that either. On the Monday, he strolled in as bold as brass and said he was resting as he felt tired. The manager asked him why he hadn’t answered the phone. “Because I was upstairs and the phone was downstairs”, was the reply.
Tragic: Cunningham died at the age of 33
‘The manager said to him, “You’re going to have to score two goals in the next game and help us win”. And he did. It was incredible.
‘The first time I visited him in Madrid, I arrived at the airport. Laurie was always late, so I was waiting and it was pretty crowded. Suddenly, I heard people clapping and everyone was parting in the distance. I thought it was a film star, but it was Laurie. My friend stopped Madrid airport.’
Cunningham got his move to Madrid from West Brom on the back of a scintillating performance in the UEFA Cup against Valencia.
He was also outstanding in the 5-3 win over Manchester United on December 30, 1978. He dropped his shoulder, beat David McCreery then Stewart Houston before passing to Cyrille Regis, who backheeled it to Len Cantello, who scored.
The commentator said: ‘The unsavoury barracking of the black players from certain sections of the crowd is doing nothing for their sportsmanship at all . . . a superb game of football and the magic that black players are bringing to the league completely in evidence.’
That could be the Cunningham epithet: from magic to tragic.
l Laurie Cunningham: First Among Equals is on ITV1 on Wednesday at 10.35pm.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2Mah9vXFR
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
By Janine Self
PUBLISHED:22:30, 3 March 2013| UPDATED:01:54, 4 March 2013
The left trouser leg is rolled up to display a six-inch scar, surrounded by a cluster of bumps and lumps, indelible reminders that the hatchet men, even his Real Madrid team-mates, loved to kick Laurie Cunningham.
‘This one was a broken ligament in a training session when one of the players came into me and took my leg in the other direction.
‘The other scars — that was the reaction of the other players after I got the injury. Everyone was coming for my leg to put me out again.’
Talented: Cunningham was one of Real Madrid's first GalacticosCunningham’s voice is deadpan. Looking at the footage from the early 1980s, best friend Bobby Fisher thinks the eyes are dead as well. Years of fighting overt racism, overblown expectations and a catalogue of injuries had taken their toll.
Ask a football fan which Englishmen played for Real Madrid, and the answers, probably in this order, would be David Beckham, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate.
Not many would mention Cunningham, nicknamed El Negro de Los Blancos as well as the Black Pearl, and the first black footballer to represent England when he was called up for the Under 21s in 1977.
He will be forever associated with West Bromwich Albion, playing alongside Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson under Ron Atkinson.
But Atkinson brought him briefly to Manchester United too, which makes tomorrow night’s Champions League head-to-head particularly poignant.
Red Devil: Cunningham also played for Manchester UnitedLaurie Cunningham, the forgotten man. Killed in a Madrid car crash in 1989 at the age of 33, he may well have been a talent unfulfilled but his legacy inspired a generation of black footballers.
After the funeral, Fisher made a promise to Cunningham’s mother, Mavis, that he would tell the world the story of her son. On Wednesday night, 24 years later, ITV will screen the documentary Laurie Cunningham: First Among Equals.
‘It’s taken a long time,’ said Fisher, friends with Cunningham since they were 16 and Orient team-mates. ‘I watched the documentary on Friday. That interview when he was just coming back for Real and he showed his scars; his eyes were dead. There were racial undertones, too. His team-mates were trying to destroy his career. There was almost a shout of “help me”.’
By then, there was no one around to hear the cry. Cunningham was a millionaire crock, living in a goldfish bowl and struggling to cope with Madrid’s discipline.
England international: Cunningham was highly rated by Kevin KeeganRegis, his best friend at West Brom, reveals in his autobiography: ‘Laurie lived in a beautiful home but he only used three rooms — the bedroom, kitchen and lounge. There was a swimming pool but the rest of the house was empty. He was my best mate, but you would never know which Laurie you would get, from week to week.’
After Real Madrid paid £950,000 for Cunningham in 1979, it was a fairytale move and everything seemed to go well as he helped Madrid win the league. In the first leg of the 1980 European Cup semi-final against Hamburg, he was described as the best player on the pitch by European footballer of the year Kevin Keegan. ‘He had the potential to be the best,’ said Vicente del Bosque. ‘Perhaps he wasn’t as he lacked that competitive spirit required at Real Madrid.’
Here was a boy from north London, who loved fashion and dancing, taught Peter Reid how to eat garlic king prawns, and spoke fluent Spanish, but who was also painfully shy as well as an appalling timekeeper.
He was also alone, long-term girlfriend Nicky Brown unable to cope with the racist jibes — she was white and they were unmarried. She recalled: ‘Spain was coming out of the Franco era so I can see why we were so offensive but we didn’t realise we became quite controversial.’
West Brom boy: It was alongside Cyrille Regis at WBA that Cunningham came to prominenceIt was all a million miles away from Orient. Manager George Petchey stepped in when Cunningham was released at 16 by Arsenal. ‘He signed up on the Monday and he didn’t turn up on the Tuesday,’ said Petchey. ‘I sent someone to his house and he was asleep. I said to him, “If you’re going to be like that every day and we have to fetch you, we’ll fine you £1”.
‘I put him in the first team at 16 and he played a blinder. I’d speak to him on a Friday because of the abuse he’d be facing. One game, I told him to pick up all the bananas and give them to the linesman to see what he did. The linesman just put them to the side as if it was nothing.’
To pay the fines, Cunningham entered dance competitions, and won. He showed Fisher a letter offering him a place at a ballet school.
‘That was Laurie,’ recalled Fisher. ‘He didn’t turn up at the club for a whole week once. We were in a relegation fight and every day I kept telling the manager, “He’ll be here for the match”. He didn’t turn up for that either. On the Monday, he strolled in as bold as brass and said he was resting as he felt tired. The manager asked him why he hadn’t answered the phone. “Because I was upstairs and the phone was downstairs”, was the reply.
Tragic: Cunningham died at the age of 33‘The manager said to him, “You’re going to have to score two goals in the next game and help us win”. And he did. It was incredible.
‘The first time I visited him in Madrid, I arrived at the airport. Laurie was always late, so I was waiting and it was pretty crowded. Suddenly, I heard people clapping and everyone was parting in the distance. I thought it was a film star, but it was Laurie. My friend stopped Madrid airport.’
Cunningham got his move to Madrid from West Brom on the back of a scintillating performance in the UEFA Cup against Valencia.
He was also outstanding in the 5-3 win over Manchester United on December 30, 1978. He dropped his shoulder, beat David McCreery then Stewart Houston before passing to Cyrille Regis, who backheeled it to Len Cantello, who scored.
The commentator said: ‘The unsavoury barracking of the black players from certain sections of the crowd is doing nothing for their sportsmanship at all . . . a superb game of football and the magic that black players are bringing to the league completely in evidence.’
That could be the Cunningham epithet: from magic to tragic.
l Laurie Cunningham: First Among Equals is on ITV1 on Wednesday at 10.35pm.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2Mah9vXFR
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Comment