Football hero Clyde Best inspires student’s project
Seven-year-old Leroy Lewis Jr impressed former football star Clyde Best by creating a montage based on his remarkable career.Leroy composed the montage, created from photographs and text sourced mostly from the Internet, as part of a Black History Month project at Elliott Primary School.Leroy is the son of Leroy (Nibbs) Lewis, who played alongside Mr Best in the Bermuda national team and the successful Somerset side of the 1960s. So Leroy Jnr had heard a lot about the exploits of Mr Best.The main focus of the montage is how Mr Best, as one of the first black players to excel in the top flight of English football, overcame racist abuse from football crowds to excel as a striker for West Ham United, paving the way for others.“I know he was a great football player when he played for West Ham and when I grow up, I want to be just like him,” said Leroy Jnr, who himself plays up front for Hamilton Parish under-eights. “He was a trailblazer for black players.”He added that his hero among current English Premier League players is Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh.Mr Best met up with Leroy Jnr at The Royal Gazette’s offices to thank him for making the montage. “Leroy eats, sleeps and breathes football and I think he’s done a fantastic job with this,” Mr Best said.