Two of England's most famous black footballers have called for Clyde Best to be honoured for his trailblazing career in the game.

Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson, who were two of West Bromwich Albion's Three Degrees along with the late Laurie Cunningham, said yesterday that Best deserved to be knighted for leading the way for black players in England during the 1970s ¿ a time when racism was rife in the game.

"From my point of view he should be honoured and recognised-he was a massive trailblazer in football. He definitely should be honoured," said Regis yesterday while his fellow former team-mate Batson, when asked if Best should be awarded a knighthood, replied: "I don't see why not, Clyde is one of the black pioneers."

On Friday PLP backbencher Randy Horton called for Best to be knighted saying: "I don't think we have had an athlete in Bermuda that's been called a Sir yet but I think, down the road, if there's anyone who deserves that, it's Clyde (Bunny) Best. One day we will have a Sir Clyde (Bunny) Best."

Horton, a former star of the North American Soccer League himself, made the comments in the wake of Best winning the football award at the Annual Caribbean Awards Sports Icons two weeks ago.

Speaking from England yesterday Regis said: "Clyde Best was an inspiration for me. I was inspired by Pele in the 1970s World Cup but other than that there was only one player that stands out head and shoulders above everybody else as a black footballer and that was Clyde Best. Especially in the early and mid-1970s.

"As a young man growing up watching him at West Ham, it was awesome to see a big black man playing football with all the racial abuse he went through - especially back then. In my day the three of us (the Three Degrees at West Brom) helped bring about a sea of change of thinking about black players. But Clyde Best was one of the more notable ones but there were other black players in the lower leagues who didn't get recognised.

"And now when you look at the amount of black players today it is incredible. But Clyde Best helped change the minds of managers and coaches who may have thought black players could not handle the weather, that they had the ability but not the mental strength ¿ all those misconceptions he helped change. Clyde Best broke that and he did it in the early 1970s when racism in the game was rife. He got it from his own fans but they all love him now. When we used to play against West Ham we would get so much (racist) stick.

"It takes a person with a special mentality and character (to deal with it)."

Batson, who played with Regis at West Brom and then at Arsenal and Cambridge United, is now a consultant for the English Football Association

The Grenada-born player said yesterday: "Clyde was one of the first players I played against when I was at Arsenal. We played West Ham who had Clyde and another black player called Ade Coker.

"I don't know too much about Clyde's career post football, but I gather he is still contributing to the development of football in Bermuda. He's had a long career in the game and was a very good ambassador for the black players who followed him.

"You saw he was making it and that gave you a lot of heart to think you could probably make it, bearing in mind there was hardly any black players around at the time. He was one of the breakthrough players and the West Ham supporters absolutely loved him.

"He had to put up with a lot of abuse, as we all did in those long gone days, and he's up there with those who have made contributions to the development of black footballers.

"I think it's a tribute to the black players of my era, and I include Clyde in that, when you compare the changes between now and then. I know a lot of the players appreciate the contributions made by the black players in the late 1960s and 70s.

"We had to put up with a lot of stuff to really progress and make it easy for black players to come to the fore. I know Clyde had to put up with a lot of stuff but he's a big man in every way.

"He was murderous (to play against). He was not just big, he was quick and he was brave. Sometimes you get players who don't punch their weight, but not Clyde. He was the sort of player who could have stepped off the pitch and into a boxing ring, no problem.

"Off the pitch one of the things I remember about Clyde was that he was a real gentleman."

Regis (pictured, right) said that many young players today do not recognised what black players had to endure in the English game decades ago.

Regis, who is now a football agent, said: "I talk to young players now and they don't have a clue on what we did (at West Brom).

"They don't have a clue about Cyrille Regis. They know about Thierry Henry and Ian Wright but they have no idea what we went through never mind what Clyde Best went through. You tell them and they are astounded. He should be honoured without a shadow of a doubt."

Regis, who had one of his proudest moments in the game when he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1978, said he identified with Best. "We were similar in power and technique," said the striker adding, "being awarded the Young Player of the Year was one of my highlights because it was voted on by the players - not newspaper writers, all due respect to them."

Regis said that racism will always be around in some form and that it needs to be addressed in places like Spain and some of the former eastern bloc countries.

"But we also have to take it to the next level," he said. "There is not so much racism against players today - we broke down those barriers. Now we have to break down the barriers in management. The thinking that black people cannot manage, that they are not management material."

Regis said Paul Ince is helping to break down those management barriers. Ince is currently manager of Milton Keynes Dons for the second time after an unsuccessful spell at Premier club Blackburn Rovers.

"I hope Paul gets another chance to manage in the Premiership because he deserves it," said Regis.