On Feb. 24 this year, Clyde Cyril Best MBE celebrated his 68th birthday.

“Clyde who?” I hear you cry.

Back in the 1970s in an era when the only Best of note was supposedly George, the hulking Bermudian was thrilling football crowds in East London.

Playing for West Ham United at 18, and looked after by the legendary Bobby Moore, Best made his name as one of the first black players in England’s top division.

He’d moved from Somerset, Bermuda, and was one of the trailblazers for future generations of black players, routinely having to deal with such vile racist abuse that it makes similar episodes today look tame by comparison.

And yet, he dealt with it the only way he knew how. With dignity, and by sticking the ball in the onion bag. He was good at it too. Fifty-eight goals in 218 games for the Hammers was a decent return.

Easter Saturday 1972 saw three black players line up for the same team for the first time in English football league history.

Best was joined by Ade Coker and Clive Charles as West Ham registered a 2-0 win over their local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

“It turned out to be one of my most memorable games for West Ham—the latest of many battles with Tottenham Hotspur. In terms of career milestones, 1 April 1972 has to go down as a special landmark when Ron Greenwood became the first manager to select not one, not two, but three black players in the same league game,” Best wrote in his autobiography The Acid Test.

“It was April Fools’ Day and the cynics no doubt questioned whether we were really playing or had just been sent out to warm up. Ron was a pioneer in every sense of the word and later selected Viv Anderson as the first black player ever to appear for England.”

Best’s emergence at that time shouldn’t be downplayed as it gave others following in his footsteps opportunities that they perhaps otherwise might not have had, and it’s not just in England where his legacy endures.

United States football still remembers him fondly, too. 

Periods in the NASL at the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Portland Timbers, Cleveland Force, Toronto Blizzard and Los Angeles Lazers were also full of goals, and really put Bermuda on the world footballing map.

As a coach, an assistant role at the San Diego Sockers was a precursor to a successful period coaching the Bermuda national team, but if that weren’t enough, Best has kept his legacy alive by opening The Clyde Best Foundation.

This grassroots academy provides a platform for the best Bermudian youngsters to further their education and footballing career, which, for a country with a population of just 65,000 total inhabitants, is a godsend

To acknowledge his standing in the country, Clyde Best Lane was opened in 2014, but he preferred to dedicate it to his community and the young footballers aiming to make it big just as their mentor did half a century before.

Current Queen’s Park Rangers player Nahki Wells, described as “Bermuda’s best player,” is a relatively recent graduate of the Best academy, with other high-quality players expected to come through to the elite level in due course. 

It proves that the now 68-year-old Clyde remains as influential in the game he served with aplomb today as he was 50 years ago.

Jason Pettigrove is an experienced freelance football journalist, editor, and published author who specializes in La Liga and the major European leagues. Find him on Twitter @jasonpettigrove.