Pic by Elliot Brown - used under Creative Commons
In another extract from my forthcoming book ‘Where’s The Money Gone; One Fan’s Football Finance Odyssey’ I reflect on the impact of the ‘Three Degrees’.
In the late 1970s, with the racist National Front on the march (both literally and at the ballot box) Albion stood as beacon of progress, becoming the first top level club to field three black footballers – the holy trinity of Brendon Batson, Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.
There would be nothing remarkable about that now, of course, but at the time this was breathtaking progress – not just for football, but for the area around The Hawthorns itself.
In 1964, voters in neighbouring Smethwick elected the repugnant Conservative Peter Griffiths as their MP.
While it’s hard to find evidence that he ever used the phrase with which he is associated (“If you want a N—— for a neighbour, vote Labour) in a newspaper interview he later refused to disown it.
Smethwick, which then had its own Town Council, also operated a segregated housing policy, prompting a visit in from US civil rights activist Malcolm X in February 1965 – just nine days before he was assassinated.
It was in this context that the “Three Degrees” emerged just over a decade later to win hearts, minds and, for a couple of years football matches, as Albion challenged for the league title and competed with the best teams in Europe.
Some of my greatest football memories involve watching this side blowing away some of the best teams around.
I remember Cyrille Regis arriving at the back post to late in extra time to despatch Manchester United 3-2 in the FA Cup 5th round.
Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, in the midst of long unbeaten run and on their way to European Cup glory being defeated 2-0 in the next round of. the tournament.
A very decent Coventry City side wearing their legendary chocolate away strip being destroyed 7-1.
And Spain’s mighty Valencia, featuring Argentinian World Cup hero Mario Kempes falling to a 2-0 defeat at The Hawthorns on a night when Albion also hit the woodwork and had two goals disallowed.
These games all took place in a single calendar year, 1978, and while Ron Atkinson’s team never delivered on the trophies it promised, it won hearts and minds.
Alongside the Three Degrees, there were obviously some other excellent players too – many deserving of their own moment in the spotlight, not merely a mention as supporting cast.
We had midfield goal machine Tony Brown; Derek Statham, a thrilling overlapping left back; Willie Johnston, the hot tempered winger who once got sent off for kicking a ref up the arse; the emerging future England captain Bryan Robson; and steely centre backs John Wile and Ally Robertson. This was a team with fire and flair.
Batson, Regis and Cunningham were special, though, because their collective influence was far greater than anything they individually achieved on the field of play.
Quite simply, they delivered a bloody nose to those who regarded black people as inherently inferior – which, in the 1970’s, seemed to be most of British society.
That they did so with dignity, against a background of racist name calling and banana throwing by rival supporters, made their achievements all the more admirable.
As Albion historian Dave Bowler recalls, “the National Front – the BNP of their day – began to target Albion games as recruiting grounds, simply because we had three such highly visible black men in our team.
“Albion supporters began telling them where to go, and often not that politely.”
When even your hooligans are anti-racist, you know you’re onto something.
It took too long for Hawthorns’ officialdom to recognise that significance of the trio could not be measured by goals and appearances alone.
Previous owner Jeremy Peace even spurned the opportunity to host a ‘Three Degrees’ statue at the stadium, despite plea from many fans.
There is now a bronze likeness of the players, but this graces New Square in the town centre rather than The Hawthorns, although Albion have now adopted the slogan “Breaking Down Barriers since 1978” to promote anti-racism.
For many older supporters, the idea of Albion as a definitively anti racist club has been a central part of our identity from the moment we saw what our three great black players could do.
An example: When Alan Buckley was Albion manager in the mid-1990’s he fielded a series of virtually all white teams.
This was highly unusual in a sport where, thanks in part to the precedent set by the Three Degrees, diversity (at least on the field) had become the norm.
After Buckley was sacked, new boss Ray Harford signed a journeyman pro called Roger Joseph whose career was on the slide after a stint in the top flight with Wimbledon.
There was nothing in Joseph’s record to suggest that he likely to make a significant impact on what was then a struggling second tier team; nor did he.
His Albion career amount to just two subs appearance, but as he came into the pitch for the first of them, he was given a standing ovation by The Hawthorns crowd. And that was primarily because he was black.
As a fanbase, diversity was in our DNA and we wanted to embrace it.