Laurie Cunningham

The 10th Feb, 1980 marked a truly exceptional occasion in the history of the clásicos. Time and again that evening, a thrilled Camp Nou awarded rapturous ovations to a footballer donning a Real Madrid shirt. The final score: 0-2. The player: Laurie Cunningham.

Cunningham was the first English player ever to pull on the Real Madrid shirt, who at the time paid a club record 950,000 pounds for his services. His star shone as brightly as it did briefly. After scoring twice on his Madrid debut, he went on to play a vital role in the club's league and cup double that season. He started the next season equally well, but surgery on a broken toe marked the start of the long, injury-plagued years that followed. Despite recovering in time for the 1981 European Cup final and playing the full 90 minutes, he was clearly not match fit and failed to make the impact madridistas were hoping for.

A recurrent thigh injury kept Cunningham out most of the 1981-82 season, where he managed just 3 league appearances. He did however put in another memorable performance in the first leg of Madrid's UEFA Cup quarter final meeting against Kaiserslautern, and also featured in the Spanish Cup final won by Real Madrid. This was to be one of Cunningham's last appearances for the club. Personal tragedy struck in July 1982. While his brother was visiting him in Madrid, an intruder broke into his brother's London home, murdering Cunningham's sister-in-law and two nieces. The events plunged him into a deep depression.

What followed was a series of injury-aplgued seasons in Spain, France and England, but Cunningham's love affair with the city of Madrid was not over.

In 1988, Cunningham returned with his Spanish wife and their son to Madrid, to rejoin the city's working-class club Rayo Vallecano - which he had already played for a year earlier, in Spain's second division.

It was a triumphant season in which a Lawrie Cunningham goal sealed promotion to La Liga for only the second time in Rayo's history.

It would prove to be his last-ever goal. On 15th, July 1989, Lawrie Cunningham was killed in a tragic car accident on the outskirts of Madrid.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of his passing. Rather than go unnoticed, this morning Radio Marca dedicated a special tribute programme to a player who is still remembered today as one of the most exciting footballers ever to wear the famous all-white strip - no mean feat for a club whose shirt has been worn my some of the bigest legends in the game. The programme included interviews with many former teammates who, without exception, highlighted not only his footballing abilities, but perhaps more noticeably and touchingly, also his human stature as a truly lovable, kind, cheerful and warm individual.

Dear Laurie, wherever you are, may you rest in peace. You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten.