Trailblazing West Ham striker Clyde (Bunny) Best was nominated for a knighthood and not an MBE, has learned.

To this day Best ? the Jackie Robinson of English football ? is well respected in international circles for his role in desegregating the game in the UK in the late 1960s and early 70s.

Yet there are those who believe the local Hall of Fame inductee and FIFA Order of Merit Award recipient has not received the recognition he deserves locally for helping to pave the way in the UK for the likes of Cyrille Regis, John Barnes and Ian Wright to follow in his footsteps. understands that Best was recommended for a knighthood by a number of influential local residents with the support of a number of his former West Ham colleagues and that the recommendation was backed by Sports Minister Dale Butler who won Cabinet approval for the nomination.

Butler refused to confirm or deny which award Best was nominated for, but said a nomination was made.

?As the Minister I recommended him based on his accomplishments and letters from players,? he said. ?I personally saw Clyde play many times and heard the cheers and jeering and history will record that he was a Trojan Horse and a great sportsman.?

Now that the Jamaican Ambassadors and others have questioned why Best did not receive a higher honour, Butler said: ?Now I think the people will take matters into their own hands and call him Sir Clyde or name streets and various other things in his honour.?understands that the final recommendations on awards is made by the Governor, and Government was told that because Best?s major contribution to football came in England, only an English citizen or organisation can nominate him for his accomplishments there.

Yet according to reliable sources, Best had received ringing endorsements from former England national football coach Ron Greenwood and current West Ham chairman Terrence Brown in addition to support among the local football fraternity and approval from members of the Bermuda Cabinet.

Butler predicted that Best would be nominated for higher awards in the future.

Between 1969 and 1976 Best made 186 appearances for West Ham, scoring 47 goals playing alongside England?s 1966 World Cup stars Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. The trio have since been knighted.

In 1967 Best was a member of Bermuda?s Pan American Games silver medal winning squad. He also represented Tampa Bay Rowdies, Portland Timbers and the Toronto Blizzards in the North American Soccer League and Holland?s Feyenoord.

When contacted at his Somerset residence yesterday, Best told : ?It?s really not up to me. It?s the powers that be who make the decision. I?m on the outside looking in.

?However, I do applaud those people who have supported me and I think we need more people like them who are prepared to stand up for what they think is right.?

Best, who played with the likes of Brazilian great Pele, Holland?s Johann Cruyff and Germany?s Franz Beckenbauer, help guide local side Somerset Trojans to the 1967 triple crown championship of Premier Division, FA Cup and Friendship Trophy titles under coach Conrad Simons before heading off in pursuit of a pro career in the UK in 1969 as a 17-year-old.

?Clyde may not have been the greatest black player. But he was the pioneer for all black players in the Caribbean, South and North America, Europe and Africa,? Jamaican Ambassadors president and former Jamaica national team midfielder Leonard (Chicken) Mason told

Mason?s organisation also lobbied to have Clyde honoured.

The 57-year-old accountant now plans to purchase 100 West Ham jerseys with Sir Clyde printed on the back of them to give away free on his next trip to Bermuda.

?You can look at any league around the world and I can tell you that player might not have been there had it not been for Clyde (Bunny) Best. The little man from Somerset, Bermuda,? he added.