Quick Facts
Biography
Clyde Cyril Best MBE (born 24 February 1951 in Somerset) is a Bermudian former football player. He was one of the first black players in First Division football in Great Britain, scoring 47 goals as a striker for West Ham United.
Playing career
As one of Britain's first black footballers, Best was regularly targeted with racist chanting from the terraces,but eventually became a fan favourite at Upton Park. He was a strong, powerful player with the skills of the traditional English centre forward, tough to dispossess when he had the ball and good in the air. He made his debut for West Ham in a 1–1 home draw against Arsenal on 25 August 1969 at the age of 18. His first goal for the Hammers came during League Cup competition, in a 4–2 win against Halifax Town, on 3 September 1969. Best played 218 games and registered 58 goals for West Ham over 7 seasons between August 1969 and January 1976.
Best also played in the Dutch Eredivisie for Feyenoord where he was generally viewed as a failure, scoring only 3 goals in 23 matches, and in the United States for Tampa Bay Rowdies, Toronto Blizzard and Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League. While playing for Tampa Bay in Soccer Bowl '75, he scored an 88th minute insurance goal to secure the Rowdies' first NASL championship in a 2-0 victory over Portland Timbers. The following spring he led the Rowdies to the 1976 indoor title and was named tournament MVP. He was the Rowdies leading scorer for the brief 1976 indoor season with 11 goals, 5 assists for 27 points.
Managerial career
Best was an assistant coach for the San Diego Sockers for a brief period in the early 1990s. Best coached the Bermuda national team from 1997 to 1999.
Best was also instrumental in the origins of football at Irvine Valley College in Southern California, as a founding member of the coaching staff along with Head Coach Martin McGrogan in 1993.
Honours
Best was inducted into the Bermuda National Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He was awarded an MBE in the January 2006 New Year's Honours list for services to football and the community in Bermuda.