Dear Sir,

It would be greatly appreciated if you would print this letter so that the people of Bermuda might get an understanding of the contribution made by one of its favourite sporting sons, namely Clyde (Bunny) Best.

At the age of 16 his remarkable talent was noticed by our then national soccer coach Graham Adams who went on to coach one of our best ever football teams.

Chelsea toured the Island and played two games against our national squad that same season and Best made his international debut.

During the second match, Best scored two great goals, catching the eyes of professional scouts who were in attendance. Best played for his country, before playing a first team match for his club Somerset Trojans and later that season he was included in the national side which represented Bermuda in the Pan Am Games. In that tournament Bermuda finished second to Mexico.

It was during that tournament, still at the age of 16, that Best's talent was noticed again, this time by the legendary Puskus, one of the key players in the great Real Madrid side that won the first five European Cups, today known as the Champions League.

Puskus was the coach of one of the pro teams in the US and along with a few other teams wanted to sign Bermuda's wonder kid. Also interested in signing Best was Leeds United.

In 1968, just two years after England had won the World Cup, Bermuda's greatest player would sign for West Ham United, making him one of the first, if not THE first, black footballer to play in the big league. Included in the Hammers team was the incomparable and legendary Sir Bobby Moore who was the captain of the team that won the World Cup in 1966.

There was also Geoff Hurst, scorer of a hat-trick in the cup final, and Martin Peters the other goalscorer in the final.

Best made his debut in the sixth game of the season against Arsenal and before ending a glorious seven years at Upton Park he became a legend, he would be featured in football magazines and on the sports pages of all of the big newspapers.

In one of the many articles written about him, Gordon Banks who was England's greatest goalkeeper, described the Bermudian's goal scored against him as one of the greatest he had let in or ever seen.

The goal came from a corner taken by Billy Bonds which found Best just outside the penalty box and Best coolly controlled the ball with his right foot before sending a fierce volley past a bewildered Banks.

In another article, Bobby Moore described Best as one of the great young talented and gifted players at the club alongside players such as Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds.

West Ham's legendary coach Ron Greenwood in another article called Best one of the greatest 17-year-olds he had ever seen. During training sessions players would sit and watch Best demonstrate his shooting technique, promoting the coach's comments that Best's accuracy from outside the box was simply amazing.

Greenwood was full of praise for his young sensation, refusing offers from two of England's greatest managers, Sir Matt Busby and Bill Shankly.

While at West Ham Best would score 58 goals in 218 matches. In the 1971-72 season the “hit man” scored 27 goals, helping West Ham finish third in the league.

After his career ended in England, Best played two seasons in the US pro league before going to Feyenoord in the Dutch First Divsion.

Best's most memorable game came in 1971. In front of 40,000 fans he scored two goals in a 2-2 draw against the great Santos of Brazil. Pele, football's greatest ever player, would also score twice in the game.

Also included in the match were at least four players from Brazil's greatest ever team, the team of 1970, who most people consider to be the greatest team ever.

In closing in an article written by Don Burgess, a writer for one of the Island's newspapers, tells us that Best was one of 30 black national heroes for Great Briton.

Some of the names considered but not making the list are ex-footballer Ian Wright, ex-boxer Frank Bruno and super model Naomi Campbell.

Also recognising Best's achievements are the Jamaica Association of Birmingham, England.

My question to Bermuda is this, when will we honour this great man?

Maybe one day our young people will walk into the National Sports Centre and see a statute of the great man. It's time to honour our own hero.

FOOTBALL FAN