Hundreds Gather for Best Signature in Autobiography
Carlton & Clyde Best
IslandStats.com
Bermudian football legend Clyde Best thanks the hundreds that showed up at Brown & Co to receive a signed copy of his autobiography, titled ‘The Acid Test.’
The book’s description says, “On a rainy Sunday in August 1968, Clyde Best, arrived in London for the first time. Not long out of school, he had come for a week long trial with West Ham United, the club with which he had fallen in love while watching the FA Cup final four years previously.
“It was the 17-year-old’s first time away from the Caribbean. Alone, lost and depressed had he possessed the return fare he would have flown straight back home again.”
“He describes the culture shock of swapping the Caribbean for London; how West Ham and future England manager Ron Greenwood took him under his wing, how, as a willing listener, the teenager from Bermuda ended up playing in the same team with players – including Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore – who had led England to World Cup glory and how he developed a special bond with the fans over an eight-year love affair.
“The Acid Test also follows Clyde to the United States where he joined the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Rodney Marsh as one of the first pioneers of the professional game across the Atlantic. It concludes, four decades after boarding that BOAC flight to London as a skinny wannabe, back home in Bermuda where he briefly coached his national team.
People shared stories of how Best was an inspiration or they had seen him play when over in England, former Professional and current Speaker of the House Randy Horton made an appearance as well as members of the North Village Rams football team who clearly had been training but stop the session to attend the book signing.
