Array of stars retell story of an Albion icon
THE story of one of Albion’s greatest players will be retold in tonight’s (Wednesday, 10.35pm) ITV1 documentary, Laurie Cunningham: First among Equals.
The hour-long programme features interviews with former team-mates Brendon Batson and Cyrille Regis, ex-Baggies boss Ron Atkinson, plus celebrity-fan Adrian Chiles.
Current Spain manager and former Real Madrid colleague, Vincent del Bosque, recalls Cunningham’s career in Spain, with other contributors including, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Mark Bright and Jason Roberts.
The documentary is given exclusive access to Laurie’s mother’s scrapbook and other archive materials to retell the story of an icon.
The first of the 'Three Degrees' to arrive at Albion, he was the first black player to play for England Under-21s and the first Englishman to play at the Bernabéu.
Cunningham joined Albion from Leyton Orient and left for Real Madrid for just under £1million two years later.
After playing at Real, he returned to England and won an FA Cup winner's medal with Wimbledon in 1988. Laurie died in a car crash near Madrid a year later.
Cunningham was named one of Albion’s 16 greatest players of all time following a poll of the club’s supporters in 2004.