Cyrille Regis, MBE (9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018) was an English international footballer who played as a forward. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made 614 league appearances and scored 158 league goals, most prolifically at West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City. Regis also won five caps with the England national team.
Personal life
His younger brother is former player Dave Regis, and his nephew is Jason Roberts.
Regis became an evangelical Christian after a car crash claimed the life of his friend and former teammate Laurie Cunningham in 1989. He and Cunningham had been involved in a similar crash two years earlier. After retiring from playing, Regis worked in a variety of coaching roles before becoming an accredited football agent with the Stellar Group Ltd. He was the uncle of footballer Jason Roberts, for whom he acted as an agent, and cousin of sprinter John Regis.
He was awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of Wolverhampton in 2001. In 2004, Regis was voted as West Bromwich Albion's all time Cult Hero in a BBC Sport poll, gaining 65% of the vote. In the same year he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations. Regis and his wife Julia visited water-related projects in Ethiopia in 2007, as part of their continued support for WaterAid.
Regis won the Coventry City London Supporters' Club Player of the Year in 1986/87 and regularly comes in high in any legend polls for the club. In 2007/08 a Coventry City Hall of Fame picture gallery was erected at the Ricoh Arena, containing thirty Coventry greats from the club's entire history, whom he was among.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
Death and legacy
Regis's death was announced on 14 January 2018; he was 59 and is survived by his second wife, Julia. Regis died from a heart attack.
On 28 July 2018, two of his former clubs (West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City) played in a friendly match dubbed the 'Regis Shield'; West Bromwich won 5–2.
English FA Cup 1986-1987 Coventry | English PFA Young Players Player of the Year 1978-1979 West Brom |
1977-1984 |
1982-1987 |
1984-1991 |
1991-1993 |
1993-1994 |
1994-1995 |
1995-1996 |
1999-1999 Caretaker Manager |
2000-2000 Caretaker Manager |