24 February 1951

CLYDE BEST (1969-1975) Somerset, Bermuda

The 17-year-old Best arrived from his native Bermuda in 1968. The burly centre-forward who picked up a silver medal in the Pan-American games the previous year in Winnipeg, Canada with a performance that alerted the Boleyn Ground scouts. A great striker and a firm favourite of Hammers fans at a time when few black players performed at the highest level. Deceptively fast for his size, he possessed a lethal shot and fearsome heading ability. Best signed professional forms on 18 April 1969 and made his League bow against Arsenal at Upton Park in a 1-1 draw on 25 August of the same year. Scored the first of 58 goals in the League cup 4-2 win over Halifax Town the following month. Over the next seven seasons he made 221 appearances in claret and blue. A full Bermudan international, he later played in the North American Soccer League for Tampa Bay Rowdies and Portland Timbers after transferring from the Hammers to the Florida - based club in February 1976. Best also had a spell in the Dutch Eredivisie for Feyenoord during 1977-78 before returning to North America and the ‘indoor game’ first with Cleveland Force then Portland Timbers, Toronto Blizzard and finally Los Angeles Lazers. After his playing days were over he decided to stay and live in America, where he became a successful businessman running his own cleaning company. For a brief period in the early 1990s he was an assistant coach for the San Diego Sockers before coaching the Bermuda national team from 1997 to 1999.