Brendon Batson

Brendon Martin Batson is a retired association football player who was born on February 6, 1953 in St. George’s, Grenada. Batson played right back for as long as he can remember, and he and his family lived in St. George’s until he was nine years old.

Until his family’s transfer to England, Batson had never seen a game of football. After watching his first few efforts playing the sport, Batson was advised by his teacher to perhaps try cricket. However, he proved his teacher wrong when he was signed by Arsenal when he was but a schoolboy. As a result, he was known as the first black player to ever play for the first team of the Gunners.

Overall, Batson played for Arsenal in 10 games before he signed with Cambridge United sometime in 1974. After spending four years with the club, Batson transferred to the Fourth Division Championship from 1976 to 1977 under the management of Ron Atkinson.

When Atkinson transferred to West Bromwich Albion in 1978, Atkinson lured Batson to follow him and soon teamed him up with other black players Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis. During those years, never had an English club previously field 3 black players.

Unfortunately, Batson’s career was cut short when he encountered an injury in 1982. As a result, he became an active administrator of the Professional Footballers Association. In 2000, he was awarded the MBE for his achievement and contributions to football.