Cyrille Regis: My Story by Cyrille Regis

Author:Cyrille Regis [Regis, Cyrille]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781780122113
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd
Published: 2010-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The Wilderness Years

For the best part of four seasons, I completely lost my way. Not just in football but in life. These were my wilderness years, which nearly cost me my playing career. Also, although Beverley and I had some good times during this period, it was a tricky time in our marriage.

West Brom had made a decent start to the 1982–83 season. I’d recovered from the hamstring strain which had stopped me representing England in the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain and was playing reasonably well. By January I’d scored nine goals including a hat-trick against Norwich City, and we’d continued our impressive home record against Manchester United, now managed by our old boss Ron Atkinson, by beating them 3–1. Albion weren’t pulling up any trees but looked comfortable in the top half of the table.

It all started to go wrong at Upton Park, home of West Ham United, on 25 January 1983. I went for a challenge with Hammers centre-half Joe Gallagher, who was on loan from Birmingham City at the time. I flicked the ball on, and the next thing I remember was waking up in the ambulance.

I had fractured my cheekbone. I was taken to Whitechapel Hospital in East London and operated on immediately. They kept me in overnight as I needed some wire inserted to hold my cheekbone together. And I’ve still got it there more than 25 years on. West Brom beat the Hammers 1–0 at Upton Park, Peter Eastoe scoring our goal, but after that I only played four more league games that season.

That day set a frustrating trend. The next 18 months seemed to be a catalogue of irritating injuries. By this time Ronnie Allen had moved on once again and Ron Wylie was the manager. Every time I got injured I seemed to be coming back too early. Ron was keen to have me in the side, because I was such a key player at the club. Ron felt that my presence lifted both the players and the fans. He always wanted me back as soon as possible – and I was always keen to oblige – but that pattern began to take its toll.

I was never really 100 per cent fit, not that you can ever be in football. But you can never produce your best when you’re not in tip-top shape. Also my role had changed under the new regime. Ronnie Allen hadn’t wanted me crossing the halfway line to come back. Now, instead of being an out-and-out striker, I was expected to have an effect on the game in other ways. I started leading the line, coming short and showing myself more for the ball instead of running on to passes and going straight through on goal.

The main problem was that we didn’t have enough creative players. If you don’t have players with imagination who can lay on chances, you don’t get a shot on goal. That means you have to go looking for the ball

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