English Premier League (EPL) outfit Leicester City FC has hailed late Jamaican footballing great, Lloyd Lindbergh Delapenha as one of the sport’s greatest players in his prime. 

Leicester, in an ongoing feature on Football’s Pioneers on Sunday (October 31), praised ‘Lindy’ Delapenha’s gutsy athleticism and impressive contribution to the quality of top-flight English football—even in the face of rampant racism.

Delapenha was profiled by Dr Gareth Edwards from Leicester-based De Montfort University’s International Centre for Sports History & Culture.

“Affectionately known as ‘Lindy’, he was the first Jamaican to play top-flight football in England, the first black player to appear in a First Division championship-winning team, and the first black footballer to feature for a number of English clubs, including Portsmouth and Middlesbrough,” Edwards said.

“Looking back at his time in English football, Lindy spoke of the racism he faced from opposition players and fans. While the abuse ‘happened a lot’, he never felt it was as severe as that faced by black players in the 1970s and 1980s. Lindy Delapenha died in 2017 aged 89, rightly remembered as one of the greatest-ever Jamaican footballers,” the profile continued.

The feature caught the attention of daughter Linda Delapenha, who thanked Leicester City FC for painting her father in a positive light.

“Thanks for posting this great article about my dad!” Linda Delapenha tweeted.

In the early 1980s and 90s, Delapenha returned to Jamaica, where he became one of the country’s most beloved sports broadcasters and morning television hosts alongside Fae Ellington.

Born on May 25, 1927 in Jamaica, Delapenha was a proud past student of both Munro College and Wolmer’s High School. 

He excelled in football, cricket and golf and was a top athlete at Boys’ Champs in the 1930s, competing in 13 events, according to media reports announcing his death over four years ago.

Read the feature in full here.