Cyrille my inspiration, says Moore

HEAD coach Darren Moore has hailed Albion legend Cyrille Regis a true inspiration and a driving force in his ascent to the West Brom summit

Moore took up football when he first watched Regis, as part of Albion’s trailblazing Three Degrees, in action on TV in the 1970s.

The pair forged a close friendship which centred around their love of all things West Brom.

So Moore, a devout Christian much like Cyrille, was hit harder than most when Regis died suddenly in January, aged just 59.

Moore’s appointment last week received the full blessing of Cyrille’s widow Julia, who said her late husband would have been “so very proud”.

And, in his first press conference since landing the top job, Moore celebrated the role Regis played in shaping his development as a player, coach and person.

“Myself and the Regis family have a close bond,” Moore said.

“I’ve had messages from all the family since the role was announced.

“I’ve had love and support, I’ve sent messages back and I’m truly grateful.

“When you talk about Cyrille it goes way back to when I first saw him.”

Moore continued: “I was playing cricket outside and my dad called me in, I was about nine or 10.

“He said ‘I want to show you something here son’.

“There was a game on TV. It was West Bromwich Albion and they had three black players at the time.

“So West Brom then was a pioneer for black players. My dad wanted to show me that because we were in the West Indian community and he was really proud.

“I thought the pitch was a stage and there were 22 players on it who were being worshipped by the supporters. I said to my dad ‘I want to do that’.

“I was playing cricket outside and I put the bat down. And that was it.”

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