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The Three Degrees

Andrew Detheridge

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 No doubt, it wouldn’t be politically correct these days-
to label a trio of black players as ‘The Three Degrees’.
But, you’ve got to remember, we loved those guys-
we’d have moved mountains, crossed oceans, felled great oak trees,
to watch Batson, Cunningham and Big Cyrille
don the blue and white stripes and take to the pitch.
I wanted to be Laurie Cunningham- bloodaxe-fast and silky smooth
and I didn’t care if he was white or black, poor or rich.
They were taunted at other grounds-
bananas were actually thrown at their feet!
But, to us, there was no-one like them,
a marauding Regis in full flow.. no better treat!
Of course, it set the scene for many others to follow suit-
they cast off the chains of ignorance and set a whole generation free!
But, to The Hawthorns faithful, it wasn’t about the colour of their skin-
they were heroes, role models… they were part of our family.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/the-three-degrees/