One of our all-time greats, standing 15th in our all-time appearance list on 398 in all competitions, 1979-1990, Chris gave us 25 years of service as player, coach and assistant manager, joining our coaching staff in 1993 and staying until 2007.
He later enjoyed managerial roles at Newcastle, Birmingham, Norwich, Brighton, Forest and Ghana's national team. He led Newcastle and Brighton to promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.
Born in Forest Gate, Chris famously finished his apprenticeship as a lift engineer before joining us full-time aged 21 in 1979.
He soon made his first team debut and was a key member of the glory, glory years under Keith Burkinshaw in the early 1980s.
Between 1981-1984, Chris was one of a number of home-grown players (alongside fellow Hall of Famers Steve Perryman, Paul Miller and Glenn Hoddle) to play in seven cup finals - including replays and two-legged finals - as we won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984. He also started the FA Cup Final against Coventry City in 1987.
One of football's great pioneers - and one of the first black players to represent the Republic Of Ireland - Chris earned 53 caps for his country and was part of their squads at Euro 88 and the 1990 World Cup. He was awarded a testimonial at Lansdowne Road in 1995.
More recently, away from football, Chris announced in April that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a year earlier, in April 2025. He gave us an update last month. “I'm a year, three, four months post-operation, and all's going well. I keep busy. I’ve still got a lot of energy. So, yes, I'm really good, excellent, great to be here.”
Congratulations, Chris, on this hugely deserved honour.