Born in St. George's, Grenada, Batson moved with his family to Trinidad at the age of 6 and then migrated from the West Indies to England when he was nine years old in 1962.

He spent four years at Cambridge, captaining the side to the Fourth Division Championship under manager Ron Atkinson in the 1976–77 season.

[2][7] When Atkinson moved to West Bromwich Albion in 1978, he successfully encouraged Batson to follow him and team up with fellow black players Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham, leaving in a deal worth £28,000.

Although not by any means the first black footballers to play professionally in England, the players nicknamed Three Degrees by Atkinson, a reference to contemporary vocal trio of the same name, were pioneering, iconic and extremely popular with West Brom's fans.

[1] Following the end to his playing days, Batson was thereafter appointed as the deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association in 1984.