Bermuda football bade farewell to one of its pioneering players last week.

Former Southampton Rangers' captain Ray (Castro) Todd died in hospital and was yesterday laid to rest following a home-going service at St.Paul AME Church.

The footballer, a friend of golfer Tiger Woods, was 72.

During his heyday Todd also boxed and later became a well-respected football referee and lifeguard. He also played football professionally in South America and represented his country at the national level.

Todd is best remembered, however, for captaining Rangers in the inaugural FA Cup final in 1956 that took place during a period of segregation in Bermuda.

Rangers lost the match 3-1 to BAA at Prospect.

Decades after that heart-breaking loss, Todd told The Royal Gazette: "Everything seemed to be based on race and years after that match I still felt as though I had let the black community down. I took a lot of criticism for that loss.

"We went into that match thinking we could beat BAA even though they had international players (including German striker Chris Triantopolous) and our ultimate goal was to help break the colour barrier. For us, that was victory in itself regardless who won the game."

In 1957 PHC Zebras defeated Pembroke Juniors 4-3 to become the first black club to lift the FA Cup, while Rangers' first success in the competition arrived in 1984 courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Devonshire Colts in a replay.