JAMAICAN football legend and sports broadcaster Lloyd Lindberg ‘Lindy’ Delapenha has died at the age of 89 years.Widely regarded as a pioneer of the sport, Delapenha was among the first black players to play in the English top division and the first Jamaican to play football in the country’s professional league.
After serving with the British armed forces in the Middle East, Delapenha joined Portsmouth in 1948 and went on to win the league title in the same season.
Limited appearances in a fixed starting line-up saw the player leave the club to join Middlesbrough in 1950.
It was there that the Delapenha really made a mark, forming a notable partnership with Brian Clough. Playing from the inside left position, Delapenha became Boro’s leading scorer in the 1951-52, 1953–54 and 1955–56 seasons. In total he scored 93 league and FA Cup goals in 270 appearances.
Delapenha was also a phenomenal athlete at the schoolboy level where he represented Wolmer’s and then Munro College. He is reputed to have taken part in 16 events over two days at the country’s boys’ athletics championships.
While his exploits as a player were phenomenal, Delapenha became a household name in Jamaica as a sports commentator and broadcaster with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC).
The former broadcaster had recently been in ill health after suffering a series of strokes and passed away on Tuesday at the home of his daughter Marie Claire.
Former Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller was among those who have taken to social media to mourn the loss of Delapenha.
“Sending condolences to the family and friends of Lloyd Lindbergh ‘Lindy’ Delapenha, Legendary Jamaican Footballer and Sportsman; We have lost a quiet giant and a trailblazer in football and sports broadcasting,” Simpson-Miller wrote on Facebook.
Fae Ellington, who co-hosted JBC’s morning programme with Delapenha for many years, said: “So long Lindy. No more risqué jokes … sharing secrets. No more birthday lunches and dinner … but what a catawampus time we had … on and off the air!”