Len Cantello Testimonial Match


The Len Cantello Testimonial Match,, was a testimonial football match that took place in May 1979 to celebrate West Bromwich Albion player Len Cantello, who played for the club over 300 times between 1968 and 1979. The teams were selected based on the colour of the players' skin. The West Bromwich Albion XI was composed of white players while the Cyrille Regis & Laurie Cunningham XI was composed of black players.
The West Brom XI team featured Tony Godden, Paddy Mulligan, Derek Statham, Tony Brown, John Wile, Bryan Robson, Johnny Giles, John Trewick, Alistair Brown, Len Cantello, David Mills, David Stewart, Martyn Bennett and Kevin Summerfield.
The Cyrille Regis & Laurie Cunningham XI featured Ian Benjamin, Vernon Hodgson, Brendon Batson, Derek Richardson, Stewart Phillips, George Berry, Bob Hazell, Garth Crooks, Winston White, Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham, Remi Moses, Valmore Thomas. Benjamin, Phillips, Crooks and White would go on to sign for West Bromwich Albion later during their playing career. Roger Palmer was expected to play but was not available.

Match details

Line up according to the match programme.

Documentary

The match was the basis of a BBC documentary entitled Whites Vs Blacks: How Football Changed A Nation. The documentary was aired on BBC Two on 27 November 2016.