Clyde Best Lane became a reality this weekend, as the tribute to Bermuda’s trailblazing footballer was unveiled to applause in the street outside Somerset Cricket Club.

Draped in red and blue, the signpost at the corner of Broome Street with Cricket Lane drew a Saturday morning crowd of fans, MPs from both parties and generations of footballers.

“It’s great to see so many people out here — it speaks to the significance of what Clyde Best means to our community,” Sports Minister Wayne Scott told the gathering after a blessing given by community icon Edward “Ice Water” Smith. “What better way to pay tribute than to recognise his outstanding accomplishment by naming the street after him.”

Mr Scott hailed the footballer as “arguably one of the greatest sportsmen Bermuda ever produced”, noting his rise from Somerset Trojans to the Bermuda national team and finally the world stage as a player for West Ham United in England’s Division One, the precursor to the Premier League.

It proved an emotional occasion for Mr Best, who thanked all those involved in the renaming, including the Ministry of Public Works, represented by Mr Scott.

“It’s a great thing to have done, not only for me but for those that set the stage for me,” he told the crowd, which included his wife Alfreda, brother Carlton and other family, plus Randy Horton, the Speaker of the House and a former team-mate of Best’s at Somerset, and Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden,

“A lot of people don’t really know what the struggle is like,” Mr Best, 63, added in remarks that, for many, recalled the racist chanting he endured when, in 1969, he appeared as West Ham’s only black player.

First spotted at that same Somerset club, Mr Best went on to become a football legend and a beacon for other black athletes around the world.

“It’s never been about me,” he said. “It’s been about the people of Bermuda and the people here in Somerset. I thank you from the bottom of my heart — all the fans, all the people that have supported me all of the years. Let us continue to do the good work.”

At 12.30pm, with Mr Scott and Somerset Cricket Club president Alfred Maybury, Mr Best unfurled the wreath from a new signpost and bequeathed his name to the western stretch of Broome Street that adjoins the club grounds.

Diane Hunt, Somerset’s assistant secretary, joked in her earlier remarks that the ceremony was taking the “Broome”, sweeping the street and renaming it.

Mr Maybury added: “It’s not just a renaming of the road, we are going to make today Clyde Best Day.”

Mr Best joined the National Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and was honoured with an MBE in 2006. Two years later, Mr Maybury said, he was awarded the order of merit from Fifa, the world governing body of football.

“I’m going to thank you for coming in recognition of what we are trying to do and know that this is not the end,” Mr Maybury said to a crowd of more than 100.

“There are people previously that have battled for us, for Somerset and Bermuda, that we need to start recognising and making sure that when the generations come behind, they know the part they played in this community and this country.”

The street was not the only thing named after Mr Best: the club are now taking applicants for the Clyde Best Scholarship, launched earlier this year.