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Football

17th Jan 2018

Dion Dublin moves plenty of viewers to tears with pre-match tribute to Cyrille Regis

This is very, very special

Darragh Murphy

Hats off to Dion Dublin.

Dublin has paid a simply stunning tribute to Cyrille Regis, the former West Brom and England striker who tragically passed away on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Regis, who would have turned 60 next month, leaves behind a lasting legacy.

Regis famously won the FA Cup with Coventry in 1987 but he was more than just a football player.

He not only paved the way for black footballers to play at the highest level but he inspired so many to believe that it was possible to make it in a period in which racism and bigotry were much more prevalent.

Regis was Dion Dublin’s favourite player and he based his game on the French Guiana-born forward who was blessed with incredible pace, strength and ability to hit a ball cleanly.

Tributes have been paid to Regis up and down the country in the days since his untimely passing but the most moving came on Wednesday night, when tears filled Dublin’s eyes as he spoke about how much Regis meant to him.

He said: “There was something about Cyrille and Deano mentioned it there. Myself, Wrighty, Les Ferdinand, Brighty…

“We were the players that looked at those kinds of players and said ‘We want to be like you.’

“Me, particularly, as a centre-forward, Cyrille Regis was my hero.

“All I wanted to do was play like him. I wanted to back in and hold it up and score goals.

“I used to watch him all the time and, if it wasn’t for him, I would never have been a professional footballer.

“He’s going to be missed.”

Dublin wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes.

https://twitter.com/AntMack76/status/953717270160789505