Brendon Batson: Football Pioneer and Big Ron Betrayal - Part Two
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to It Was What It Was for part two of our interview with Brendan Batson, a trailblazer in English football.
Brendon tells Jonathan and Rob about his impactful time at West Bromwich Albion as part of the iconic 'Three Degrees' with Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.
We discuss his teammates, the tragic losses and his work to combat racism. Brendon also gives us an insight into the personal impact of his former manager Ron Atkinson's notorious comments on live television.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:07 Brendan Batson's Early Career and Challenges
03:00 The China Tour Experience
06:20 The Three Degrees Phenomenon
12:32 Impact and Legacy of Black Players
18:37 Knee Injury and Career Transition
20:10 Coaching Courses and Philosophies
24:24 The Evolution of a Coaching Philosophy
24:42 The One-Size-Fits-All Approach
25:50 Player Welfare and Career Transitions
27:59 Tragic Losses and Their Impact
28:38 The Legacy of Laurie Cunningham
32:33 Racism in Football: A Personal Betrayal
38:20 The Complexity of Racism in Football
41:21 The Fight Against Racism: Past and Present
46:17 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to It Was What It Was with me, Rob Draper and with Jonathan Wilson, |
| 0:11.1 | and very excited to say that we are bringing you part two of what we think is a really fantastic |
| 0:16.2 | and interesting interview with one of the greats of the English game in Brendan Batson, not only a fantastic |
| 0:23.3 | footballer, but socially and culturally, hugely important to this country as part of the |
| 0:29.2 | West Bromwich Albion team, where he was known as one of the three degrees with Searle Regis and |
| 0:35.1 | Lloyd Cunningham. The first time that black players had been acknowledged in a very positive way in the English top flight |
| 0:42.0 | and hence Brenner's importance to the game, not just as a footballer. |
| 0:46.6 | So in the first part, we talked about his background, his emigration to the UK, his starting football. |
| 0:54.3 | We're going to pick it up in this part with this career at West Brom, |
| 0:58.1 | the whole incident with Ron Ackinson, |
| 1:00.5 | the tragedy that really overcomes that West Brom team |
| 1:03.6 | and then his work in anti-racism since the end of his career. |
| 1:07.3 | You go to West Brom and actually it starts pretty badly for it. |
| 1:10.8 | The first few games aren't brilliant, I think. |
| 1:14.3 | And there's another famous occasion. |
| 1:16.5 | There's a famous occasion where Ron says to you, |
| 1:18.7 | well, it's now and ever Batman. |
| 1:20.4 | I think it's a game at Everton. |
| 1:21.8 | Was that your third or fourth game? |
| 1:23.9 | It was now. |
| 1:24.6 | It was quite perverse, really, in that, Oh, my first two games were easily forgettable. Even now, one or two of the lads have ripped me about it. But we got knocked out the cup against Sipswich. I was cup-tied, having played at Cambridge in the cup. So that gave me a bit of a pause. I played in reserves. And I obviously trained by the lads a lot more and had a bit of time to train with them. |
| 1:49.2 | Played in reserves and then Colin Madison was your assistant manager. |
... |
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