Bermuda's Clyde Best (pictured) is still being heralded as a sports "trailblazer" nearly 40 years after his retirement from professional football.

The former West Ham United striker, now a Mid-Ocean News columnist, received a glowing tribute in Britain's Sunday Telegraph where it was said his "outstanding" talent and "elegant" method of play "helped to pave the way for generations of black players".

"Much has changed about England since Best first arrived from Bermuda nearly 40 years ago ¿ and not all for the worse," the SundayTelegraph reported.

"Best is entitled to take a bit of pride in that because, although he came not as a campaigner but an outstanding 17-year-old footballer with a dream of making it in what is now called the Barclays Premier League, his success helped to pave the way for generations of black players.

"It seems strange now, but as late as 1968 the game was almost entirely white and myths dogged the exceptions ¿ apparently they could not stand the winter cold and mud, or being kicked all afternoon.

"For seven seasons, Best ploughed an elegant furrow through the West Ham quagmire, shrugging off the attentions of the roughest defenders of those harsh days, and it was only a couple of years after he had left England that Viv Anderson became the first of many black men to play for that country."

Best first played for Bermuda's national team at the age of 14. Three years later, the manager at that time, Graham Adams, arranged for Best to have a trial at West Ham, and shortly after he turned 18 he debuted as a player.

"Adjusting to the physical demands of the English game was no problem because he had always been a boy among men, enjoying vigorous exchanges with, among others, the Royal Navy teams based in Bermuda," stated the Sunday Telegraph.

"He played with Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, making 186 appearances in the League alone and scoring 47 goals.

"Shortly after being left out of the 1975 FA Cup final team by (Ron) Greenwood's successor, John Lyall, he decided to go to America, but he has nothing but fond memories of the club."

Such memories remain despite that glaring omission and the racism he faced, Best told the Sunday Telegraph.

"I was treated like a son," he said of his time with West Ham.

However, he admitted it wasn't all roses: "Some grounds were worse than others, but you had to put (the racism) out of your mind. You also had to be careful not to react to provocation from opponents. You had to think of the people watching, the children. You had to think of your team-mates too.

"You couldn't be selfish and retaliate because the people provoking you were only trying to get you sent off. I was never sent off. Although I didn't set out to blaze a trail for other black players to follow, it was always at the back of my mind that I was representing the guy driving the train, the guy cleaning the toilets.

"Even at 18 I felt a responsibility to act in a certain way. When you're playing next to people of the stature of Bobby Moore, you have no difficulty with respect. I was privileged to play with and against some of the greatest names ever to grace the game.

"If John Terry's worth £130,000 (about $260,000) a week, what would Bobby be worth? And George Best ¿ you couldn't even put a figure on it!"

Best played and coached in the United States before returning to the island nearly a decade ago with the hopes of sharing his experience with talented youngsters.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, he was "disillusioned" with what he found: "They are great with their Nintendos," he said of the island's youth, "but when you get them on the pitch, they don't even know how to move. It's not just Bermuda. It's a worldwide thing."