The Three Degrees

When Cyrille Regis became one of the first black players to be selected for the full England team, he was sent a package in the mail. Inside it was a silver bullet and a note that read: You ll get one of these through your knees if you step on our Wembley turf.

In the 1978/79 football season Regis' club West Bromwich Albion, an unglamorous and little publicised club from the West Midlands, became the first British football team to field three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson. They did so against the backdrop of the most divisive and poisonous racial tension in the UK s history a time when the National Front movement was at its most virulent.

This book will tell the story of a defining and groundbreaking chapter in the history of British football and the country as a whole. The story is one about sport but also as much one about social change.

Long-listed for William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2014 (UK)

Paul Rees was Editor In Chief of Q, the UK s biggest selling music magazine, for over ten years. His work has been published in a variety of publications including the Sunday Times and Independent.

[quotes to come] When Cyrille Regis became one of the first black players to be selected for the full England team, he was mailed a silver bullet and a note that read: 'You'll get one of these through your knees if you step on our Wembley turf.' In the 1978/9 football season, Regis' club, West Bromich Albion, had become the first British football team to field three black players, at a time when Britain was experiencing the greatest racial tensions in her history. Under the maverick management of Ron Atkinson, Regis and his teammates Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson, were christened The Three Degrees and soon became symbols of the revolutionary social change sweeping across the country. Set against the backdrop of Margaret Thatcher's Britain, The Three Degrees is a captivating account of three footballers, their manager, and the sport and country they changed forever.

When Cyrille Regis became one of the first black players to be selected for the full England team, he was sent a package in the mail. Inside it was a silver bullet and a note that read: You ll get one of these through your knees if you step on our Wembley turf. In the 1978/79 football season Regis' club West Bromwich Albion, an unglamorous and little publicised club from the West Midlands, became the first British football team to field three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson. They did so against the backdrop of the most divisive and poisonous racial tension in the UK s history a time when the National Front movement was at its most virulent. This book will tell the story of a defining and groundbreaking chapter in the history of British football and the country as a whole. The story is one about sport but also as much one about social change.

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