Three West Bromwich Albion footballers credited with inspiring a generation of black professional players in the UK are to be honoured with a statue. Laurie Cunningham, Brendon Batson and Cyrille Regis played for the club in the late 1970s and were dubbed the Three Degrees by boss Ron Atkinson.
When they played together in 1978 it was the first time a top-flight club had regularly fielded three black players. They endured racist abuse from fans when starring for West Brom during the 1978-79 season, in which the club finished third and beat Manchester United 5-3 at Old Trafford. Their success has been hailed as helping other aspiring young black players become professionals in the 1980s.
These role models would have been proud of last nights performance of West Brom who fielded 10 black outfield players and played great to watch brand of exciting football, although loosing 1-0 away at Leeds, and made me a bit proud of this country tbh that we have come so far in such a short space of time.
When they played together in 1978 it was the first time a top-flight club had regularly fielded three black players. They endured racist abuse from fans when starring for West Brom during the 1978-79 season, in which the club finished third and beat Manchester United 5-3 at Old Trafford. Their success has been hailed as helping other aspiring young black players become professionals in the 1980s.
These role models would have been proud of last nights performance of West Brom who fielded 10 black outfield players and played great to watch brand of exciting football, although loosing 1-0 away at Leeds, and made me a bit proud of this country tbh that we have come so far in such a short space of time.
