West Bromwich Albion Football Club (/ˈbrɒmɪdʒ, -ɪtʃ/) is a professional football club in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has played at its home ground, The Hawthorns, since 1900. The club is commonly known as West Bromwich or just West Brom.
Albion were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888, the first professional football league in the world, and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20, and have been runners-up twice. Albion have reached ten FA Cup finals, winning the Cup on five occasions. The first win came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest continuous period in the top division spanned 24 years between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever spell out of the top division.
The team has played in navy blue and white stripes for most of the club's history; and the club badge features a throstle perched on a hawthorn branch. Albion have a number of long-standing rivalries with other West Midlands clubs; their traditional rivals being Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Albion contest the Black Country Derby with the latter.
Early years (1878–1950)
The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich, in Staffordshire.[A][2] They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880, becoming the first team to adopt the Albion suffix; Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked, close to what is today Greets Green.[2] The club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition, the Birmingham Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, beating several longer-established clubs on the way. In 1883, Albion won their first trophy, the Staffordshire Cup. Albion joined the Football Association in the same year; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season.[3] In 1885 the club turned professional,[4] and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2–0 to Blackburn Rovers in a replay. They reached the final again in 1887, but lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites Preston North End 2–1 in the final.[5] As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a Football World Championship game against Scottish Cup winners Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat
In March 1888, William McGregor wrote to what he considered to be the top five English teams, including Albion, informing them of his intention to form an association of clubs that would play each other home and away each season. Thus when the Football League started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members.[7] Albion's second FA Cup success came in 1892, beating Aston Villa 3–0. They met Villa again in the 1895 final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at The Hawthorns.[8] They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04.[9] The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the following season reached another FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Second Division Barnsley in a replay.[10]
Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the only time in their history following the end of World War I, their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records.[11] The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to Huddersfield Town, but were relegated in 1926–27.[12] In 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the FA Cup, beating Birmingham 2–1 in the final.[13] The "Double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since.[14] Albion reached the final again in 1935, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, but were relegated three years later.[15] They gained promotion in 1948–49,[16] and there followed the club's longest unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, a total of 24 years
Success and decline (1950–1992)
In 1953–54, Albion came close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double. They succeeded in winning the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3–2, but injuries and a loss of form towards the end of the season meant that they finished as runners-up to fierce rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league.[19] Nonetheless, Albion became known for their brand of fluent, attacking football, with the 1953–54 side being hailed as the "Team of the Century". One national newspaper went so far as to suggest that the team be chosen en masse to represent England at the 1954 FIFA World Cup finals.[20] They remained one of the top English sides for the remainder of the decade, reaching the semi-final of the 1957 FA Cup and achieving three consecutive top five finishes in Division One between 1957–58 and 1959–60.
Although their league form was less impressive during the 1960s, the second half of the decade saw West Brom establish a reputation as a successful cup side. Albion entered the Football League Cup for the first time in 1965–66 and, under manager Jimmy Hagan, won the final by defeating West Ham United 5–3 on aggregate. That was the last two-legged final and, the following year, Albion reached the final again, the first played at Wembley. They lost 3–2 to Third Division Queens Park Rangers after being 2–0 up at half-time.[21] Albion's cup form continued under Hagan's successor Alan Ashman. He guided the club to their last major trophy to date, the 1968 FA Cup, when they beat Everton in extra time thanks to a single goal from Jeff Astle.[22] Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final in 1969, and were defeated 2–1 by Manchester City in the 1970 League Cup Final
The club were less successful during the reign of Don Howe, and were relegated to Division Two at the end of 1972–73,[24] but gained promotion three years later under the guidance of player-manager Johnny Giles.[25] Under Ron Atkinson, Albion reached the 1978 FA Cup semi-final but lost to Ipswich Town.[26] In May of that year, Albion became the first English professional team to play in China, going unbeaten on their five-game trip.[27][28] In 1978–79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final, where they were defeated by Red Star Belgrade.[29] The team around this time was notable for simultaneously fielding three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson; and is considered to be an integral part of the acceptance of black footballers in the English leagues.[30] In his second spell as manager, Ronnie Allen guided the team to both domestic cup semi-finals in 1981–82.[31] The mid-1980s saw the start of Albion's longest and deepest decline. They were relegated in 1985–86 with the worst record in the club's history,[32] beginning a period of 16 years outside the top flight. Five years later, the club were relegated to the Third Division for the first and only time.[33]
Recent years (1992–present)
Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the Premier League was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed Division Two. In 1992–93, Albion finished fourth and entered the playoffs for the first time, having just missed out the previous year. Albion's first appearance at Wembley for over 20 years – and their last ever at the original stadium – saw them beat Port Vale 3–0 to return to the second level – now renamed the First Division.[34] Manager Ossie Ardiles then joined Tottenham Hotspur, however, and a succession of managers over the next few seasons saw Albion consolidate their Division One status without ever mounting a serious promotion challenge.
The appointment of Gary Megson in March 2000 heralded an upturn in the club's fortunes. Megson guided Albion to Division One safety in 1999–2000, and to the play-offs a year later. He went on to lead the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2001–02.[35] After being relegated in their first Premier League season,[36] they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04.[37] In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day "Great Escape", when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas.[G][38] West Brom also remain the only team to escape relegation having been bottom during the final day of the season. Despite this success, they failed to avoid the drop the following season,[39] and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006.[40] The club competed in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County.[41] The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth.[42] One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship,[43] but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign.[44] Mowbray left the club to manage Celtic and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo,[45] who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt,[46] but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson.[47]
Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010–11 season.[48] Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the Premier League. It included an 8th-place finish in 2012–13 under Steve Clarke,[49] and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12[50] and Tony Pulis in 2016–17.[51] On 5 August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner Jeremy Peace had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan.[52] By this time, the club had already begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay.[53] Pulis,[54] and his replacement Alan Pardew were both sacked during the season. Albion finished 4th in their first season back in the Championship under the management of Darren Moore, and later, caretaker manager James Shan, qualifying for the Championship play-offs. However, the team lost in the playoff semi-final.[55] Slaven Bilic took over as boss on June 13, 2019.[56]
Colours and crest
West Brom have played in navy blue and white striped shirts for the majority of their existence, usually with white shorts and white socks. The team is occasionally referred to as the Stripes by supporters.[57] A number of different colours were trialled during the club's formative years however, including cardinal red and blue quarters in 1880–81, yellow and white quarters in 1881–82, chocolate and blue halves in 1881–82 and 1882–83, red and white hoops in 1882–83, chocolate and white in 1883–84 and cardinal red and blue halves in 1884–85.[58] The blue and white stripes made their first appearance in the 1885–86 season, although at that time they were of a lighter shade of blue; the navy blue stripes did not appear until after the First World War.[59] For the regional leagues played during the Second World War, Albion were forced to switch to all-blue shirts, as rationing meant that striped material was considered a luxury.[60]
Like all football clubs, Albion sport a secondary or "change" strip when playing away from home against a team whose colours clash with their own. As long ago as the 1890s, and throughout much of the club's early history, a change strip of white jerseys with black shorts was worn.[61] The away shirt additionally featured a large 'V' during the First World War.[62] In the 1935 FA Cup Final, however, when both of Albion and Sheffield Wednesday's kits clashed, a switch was made to plain navy blue shirts. An all-red strip was adopted at the end of the 1950s, but was dropped following defeat in the 1967 League Cup Final, to be replaced by the all-white design that was worn during the club's FA Cup run of 1967–68.[61] Since then the away strip has changed regularly, with yellow and green stripes the most common of a number of different designs used. In the 1990s and 2000s a third kit has occasionally been introduced.[63]
Albion players – along with those of other Football League teams – first wore numbers on the back of their shirts in the abandoned season of 1939–40,[64] and names on the back of their shirts from 1999–2000.[65] Red numbers were added to the side of Albion players' shorts in 1969.[61]
Kit sponsors
BSR Housewares became the club's first shirt sponsor during the 1981–82 season.[59] The club's shirts have been sponsored for the majority of the time since then, although there was no shirt sponsor at the end of the 1993–94 season, after local solicitors Coucher & Shaw were closed down by the Law Society of England and Wales.[66] Unusually for a Premier League club, Albion were again without a shirt sponsor for the start of the 2008–09 campaign, as negotiations with a new sponsor were still ongoing when the season began.[67] The longest-running shirt sponsorship deal agreed by the club ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2004 with the West Bromwich Building Society.[59][68] Today the club's principal sponsor is Ideal Boilers.[69] Other sponsors have included T-Mobile (2004–08), Homeserve (2010–11), Bodog (2011–12), Zoopla (2012–14), Intuit Quickbooks (2014–15), Tlcbet (2015–16), K8 group (2016–2017), and Palm Eco-Town Development (2017–18).
Since July 2018, West Brom's kit has been manufactured by Puma.[70] Previous manufacturers have included Diadora (2003–2006), Umbro (2006–11) and Adidas (2011–18).
Albion were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888, the first professional football league in the world, and have spent the majority of their existence in the top tier of English football. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20, and have been runners-up twice. Albion have reached ten FA Cup finals, winning the Cup on five occasions. The first win came in 1888, the year the league was founded, and the most recent in 1968, their last major trophy. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966. The club's longest continuous period in the top division spanned 24 years between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever spell out of the top division.
The team has played in navy blue and white stripes for most of the club's history; and the club badge features a throstle perched on a hawthorn branch. Albion have a number of long-standing rivalries with other West Midlands clubs; their traditional rivals being Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Albion contest the Black Country Derby with the latter.
Early years (1878–1950)
The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich, in Staffordshire.[A][2] They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880, becoming the first team to adopt the Albion suffix; Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked, close to what is today Greets Green.[2] The club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition, the Birmingham Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, beating several longer-established clubs on the way. In 1883, Albion won their first trophy, the Staffordshire Cup. Albion joined the Football Association in the same year; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season.[3] In 1885 the club turned professional,[4] and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2–0 to Blackburn Rovers in a replay. They reached the final again in 1887, but lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites Preston North End 2–1 in the final.[5] As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a Football World Championship game against Scottish Cup winners Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat
In March 1888, William McGregor wrote to what he considered to be the top five English teams, including Albion, informing them of his intention to form an association of clubs that would play each other home and away each season. Thus when the Football League started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members.[7] Albion's second FA Cup success came in 1892, beating Aston Villa 3–0. They met Villa again in the 1895 final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at The Hawthorns.[8] They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04.[9] The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the following season reached another FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Second Division Barnsley in a replay.[10]
Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the only time in their history following the end of World War I, their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records.[11] The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to Huddersfield Town, but were relegated in 1926–27.[12] In 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the FA Cup, beating Birmingham 2–1 in the final.[13] The "Double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since.[14] Albion reached the final again in 1935, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, but were relegated three years later.[15] They gained promotion in 1948–49,[16] and there followed the club's longest unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, a total of 24 years
Success and decline (1950–1992)
In 1953–54, Albion came close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double. They succeeded in winning the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3–2, but injuries and a loss of form towards the end of the season meant that they finished as runners-up to fierce rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league.[19] Nonetheless, Albion became known for their brand of fluent, attacking football, with the 1953–54 side being hailed as the "Team of the Century". One national newspaper went so far as to suggest that the team be chosen en masse to represent England at the 1954 FIFA World Cup finals.[20] They remained one of the top English sides for the remainder of the decade, reaching the semi-final of the 1957 FA Cup and achieving three consecutive top five finishes in Division One between 1957–58 and 1959–60.
Although their league form was less impressive during the 1960s, the second half of the decade saw West Brom establish a reputation as a successful cup side. Albion entered the Football League Cup for the first time in 1965–66 and, under manager Jimmy Hagan, won the final by defeating West Ham United 5–3 on aggregate. That was the last two-legged final and, the following year, Albion reached the final again, the first played at Wembley. They lost 3–2 to Third Division Queens Park Rangers after being 2–0 up at half-time.[21] Albion's cup form continued under Hagan's successor Alan Ashman. He guided the club to their last major trophy to date, the 1968 FA Cup, when they beat Everton in extra time thanks to a single goal from Jeff Astle.[22] Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final in 1969, and were defeated 2–1 by Manchester City in the 1970 League Cup Final
The club were less successful during the reign of Don Howe, and were relegated to Division Two at the end of 1972–73,[24] but gained promotion three years later under the guidance of player-manager Johnny Giles.[25] Under Ron Atkinson, Albion reached the 1978 FA Cup semi-final but lost to Ipswich Town.[26] In May of that year, Albion became the first English professional team to play in China, going unbeaten on their five-game trip.[27][28] In 1978–79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final, where they were defeated by Red Star Belgrade.[29] The team around this time was notable for simultaneously fielding three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson; and is considered to be an integral part of the acceptance of black footballers in the English leagues.[30] In his second spell as manager, Ronnie Allen guided the team to both domestic cup semi-finals in 1981–82.[31] The mid-1980s saw the start of Albion's longest and deepest decline. They were relegated in 1985–86 with the worst record in the club's history,[32] beginning a period of 16 years outside the top flight. Five years later, the club were relegated to the Third Division for the first and only time.[33]
Recent years (1992–present)
Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the Premier League was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed Division Two. In 1992–93, Albion finished fourth and entered the playoffs for the first time, having just missed out the previous year. Albion's first appearance at Wembley for over 20 years – and their last ever at the original stadium – saw them beat Port Vale 3–0 to return to the second level – now renamed the First Division.[34] Manager Ossie Ardiles then joined Tottenham Hotspur, however, and a succession of managers over the next few seasons saw Albion consolidate their Division One status without ever mounting a serious promotion challenge.
The appointment of Gary Megson in March 2000 heralded an upturn in the club's fortunes. Megson guided Albion to Division One safety in 1999–2000, and to the play-offs a year later. He went on to lead the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2001–02.[35] After being relegated in their first Premier League season,[36] they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04.[37] In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day "Great Escape", when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas.[G][38] West Brom also remain the only team to escape relegation having been bottom during the final day of the season. Despite this success, they failed to avoid the drop the following season,[39] and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006.[40] The club competed in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County.[41] The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth.[42] One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship,[43] but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign.[44] Mowbray left the club to manage Celtic and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo,[45] who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt,[46] but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson.[47]
Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010–11 season.[48] Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the Premier League. It included an 8th-place finish in 2012–13 under Steve Clarke,[49] and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12[50] and Tony Pulis in 2016–17.[51] On 5 August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner Jeremy Peace had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan.[52] By this time, the club had already begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay.[53] Pulis,[54] and his replacement Alan Pardew were both sacked during the season. Albion finished 4th in their first season back in the Championship under the management of Darren Moore, and later, caretaker manager James Shan, qualifying for the Championship play-offs. However, the team lost in the playoff semi-final.[55] Slaven Bilic took over as boss on June 13, 2019.[56]
Colours and crest
West Brom have played in navy blue and white striped shirts for the majority of their existence, usually with white shorts and white socks. The team is occasionally referred to as the Stripes by supporters.[57] A number of different colours were trialled during the club's formative years however, including cardinal red and blue quarters in 1880–81, yellow and white quarters in 1881–82, chocolate and blue halves in 1881–82 and 1882–83, red and white hoops in 1882–83, chocolate and white in 1883–84 and cardinal red and blue halves in 1884–85.[58] The blue and white stripes made their first appearance in the 1885–86 season, although at that time they were of a lighter shade of blue; the navy blue stripes did not appear until after the First World War.[59] For the regional leagues played during the Second World War, Albion were forced to switch to all-blue shirts, as rationing meant that striped material was considered a luxury.[60]
Like all football clubs, Albion sport a secondary or "change" strip when playing away from home against a team whose colours clash with their own. As long ago as the 1890s, and throughout much of the club's early history, a change strip of white jerseys with black shorts was worn.[61] The away shirt additionally featured a large 'V' during the First World War.[62] In the 1935 FA Cup Final, however, when both of Albion and Sheffield Wednesday's kits clashed, a switch was made to plain navy blue shirts. An all-red strip was adopted at the end of the 1950s, but was dropped following defeat in the 1967 League Cup Final, to be replaced by the all-white design that was worn during the club's FA Cup run of 1967–68.[61] Since then the away strip has changed regularly, with yellow and green stripes the most common of a number of different designs used. In the 1990s and 2000s a third kit has occasionally been introduced.[63]
Albion players – along with those of other Football League teams – first wore numbers on the back of their shirts in the abandoned season of 1939–40,[64] and names on the back of their shirts from 1999–2000.[65] Red numbers were added to the side of Albion players' shorts in 1969.[61]
Kit sponsors
BSR Housewares became the club's first shirt sponsor during the 1981–82 season.[59] The club's shirts have been sponsored for the majority of the time since then, although there was no shirt sponsor at the end of the 1993–94 season, after local solicitors Coucher & Shaw were closed down by the Law Society of England and Wales.[66] Unusually for a Premier League club, Albion were again without a shirt sponsor for the start of the 2008–09 campaign, as negotiations with a new sponsor were still ongoing when the season began.[67] The longest-running shirt sponsorship deal agreed by the club ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2004 with the West Bromwich Building Society.[59][68] Today the club's principal sponsor is Ideal Boilers.[69] Other sponsors have included T-Mobile (2004–08), Homeserve (2010–11), Bodog (2011–12), Zoopla (2012–14), Intuit Quickbooks (2014–15), Tlcbet (2015–16), K8 group (2016–2017), and Palm Eco-Town Development (2017–18).
Since July 2018, West Brom's kit has been manufactured by Puma.[70] Previous manufacturers have included Diadora (2003–2006), Umbro (2006–11) and Adidas (2011–18).
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