West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion crest
Full name	West Bromwich Albion Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Baggies, The Throstles
Founded	1878
Ground	The Hawthorns West Bromwich
Capacity	28,003
Chairman	Jeremy Peace
Manager	Tony Mowbray
League	The Championship
2005-06	19th, FA Premier League (relegated)
Home colours Away colours

West Bromwich Albion Football Club is a quality footy team init

 English football club that was formed in 1878 by workers from Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire, now part of the West Midlands). Commonly called "West Brom," less commonly "Albion", they currently play in the Football League Championship.

The club reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 1886, just eight years after its foundation, but ended as runners-up. They repeated this achievement the following year, but in 1888 it was third time lucky as Albion won this prestigious trophy for the first time. This, if nothing else, made them an automatic choice to be one of the twelve founder members of the Football League which was established later that year.

They won their only league title in 1920, but to date they have won the FA Cup five times. The most recent occasion was in 1968 when they beat Everton thanks to a single goal from iconic centre-forward Jeff Astle. They also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966, beating West Ham United in the last two-legged final.

Albion's most memorable times of more recent years came under the management of Ron Atkinson in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they qualified for the UEFA Cup twice and on one occasion reached the quarter final. Atkinson's team won widespread approval for its attractive, attacking style of football, and also for its pioneering selection of players of Afro-Caribbean origins, but material success in the form of trophies eluded it.

Since the 1980s Albion have failed to maintain even this relatively modest level of success. From 1986 to 2002 they spent their longest ever period out of the top division, and although there has been a promising revival in recent years (three seasons being spent in the Premiership between 2002 and 2006) they are currently playing in the Football League Championship. The 1968 FA Cup win is still their most recent major trophy to date.

History

Main article: History of West Bromwich Albion F.C.

Early years

West Bromwich Albion F.C. was founded in 1878 by workers from Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich. They joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881, and this made them eligible for their first competition: the Birmingham Senior Cup. They reached the quarter finals, beating several better-established clubs on the way.

The following year, 1882, Albion joined the Staffordshire F.A., and that same season the club won its first trophy: the Staffordshire Cup. They also entered the F.A. Cup for the first time in the 1882-3 season, and in 1886 they reached the final for the first time. They finished as runners-up, and repeated this achievement the following year, but in 1888 they went one better and won this prestigious trophy for the first time. Of all the clubs that went on to join the Football League, only Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa had won it previously; ironically, these were the two clubs that had beaten Albion in their first two finals.

This made Albion virtually an automatic choice to be one of the twelve founders of the Football League, which started in the same year. Success in the League has generally eluded them, with one notable exception, but to date they have won the F.A. Cup a total of five times. Only seven clubs have more wins. (See FA Cup.) Albion have also finished as runners-up on five occasions; only Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Newcastle United have appeared in more F.A. Cup finals.

Into the twentieth century

Albion's second FA Cup success came in 1892, but from then until the start of World War I, the club was sorely stretched financially; the team struggled, and suffered relegation twice. The highlight of these years was another cup final appearance in 1912, but this turned to embarrassment as Albion were beaten (in a replay) by Second Division Barnsley. Following the end of the war however Albion achieved what was arguably their greatest single success when they won the Football League title for the only time.

This was an isolated success however, and before long they were relegated again. But this led to what is another candidate for the club's greatest single success, when (in 1931) they became the first club to win the F.A. Cup and promotion from the Second Division in the same season. This feat has never been repeated, and it is hard to envisage it happening again in the future.

Once again relegation followed a few years later, and Albion found themselves in the Second Division once more at the start of World War II. They gained promotion in 1949 however, and there followed the club's longest ever continuous run in the top flight of English football: a total of 24 years.

The glory years? (the 1950s and 1960s)

Many fans still regard this as a golden era for English football, with the emergence of European competition and England's World Cup success of 1966, and nowhere was this more true than in the Midlands. The most successful Midlands club, in the 1950s at least, was Stan Cullis' Wolves. But it was a golden era for Albion as well; during this period they won the FA Cup twice. In 1954 they came close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the elusive League and Cup double. They succeeded in winning the Cup, but their League form was affected by a series of injuries towards the end of the season and they finished as runners-up to none other than Wolves.

Albion's last major trophy to date was the 1968 FA Cup. They also appeared in three League Cup finals between 1966 and 1970, winning the first of the three in 1966.

So near and yet so far: the 1970s and after

Albion had a three-year spell in the Second Division in the mid-1970s. This was followed by another golden era in which the team, under manager Ron Atkinson, won many friends for its open, attacking style of play, and also for its pioneering selection of players of Afro-Caribbean origins. Atkinson's side twice qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their League position - a notable achievement in the context of the club's League form over the decades. On one of these occasions they reached the quarter-finals. But material success in the form of trophies eluded the team throughout this short, heady period.

Atkinson was lured away to Manchester United in 1981, and although his successor Ronnie Allen guided the team to both domestic Cup semi-finals in 1982 the team then went into the longest and deepest decline in its history. They were relegated in 1986 (with the worst record in the club's history) and five years later even worse was to follow when they were relegated to the Third Division for the first time.

The Premiership era begins - without the Albion - 1992-2000

It was at the end of Albion's first ever season at that level that the FA Premiership was formed, and the Third Division became known as the Second. Albion had finished seventh that year, just outside the play-off places, but in 1993 they finished one place higher and entered the play-offs for the first time. The second leg of the play-off semi-final, when The Hawthorns was packed to the rafters to watch Albion overturn a 1-2 deficit against Swansea City to win 3-2 on aggregate, is still cited by many fans and players as their most memorable Albion game ever. (It was the last major game before the stadium was converted to an all-seater.) It set Albion up for their first appearance at Wembley for over twenty years (and their last ever at the old stadium), when they beat Port Vale 3-0 to return to the second level - now renamed the First Division. "Ossie" Ardiles, the manager who had led Albion to this success, became an instant hero, but the fans' adulation quickly turned to bitterness when Ardiles was lured away to manage Tottenham Hotspur with whom he had enjoyed great success and popularity as a player.

Ardiles' assistant Keith Burkinshaw was promoted to manager and Albion survived a relegation scare in 1994, a victory at Portsmouth on the final day of the season condemning local rivals Birmingham City to the drop instead.

Burkinshaw was unable to improve on this modest achievement, and neither was any of a succession of managers in the following five or six years. Albion retained their First Division status, but without ever mounting a serious promotion challenge. It was in March 2000, with the side in great danger of dropping back into the Second, that Gary Megson was appointed as manager.

The Megson revolution: 2000-2

Megson's CV at the time hardly put him in the top rank of League managers, but the turnaround that he achieved at The Hawthorns was little short of astonishing. Despite having very little time left to do business before the transfer deadline, he nevertheless managed to recruit no fewer than six new players, and Albion avoided relegation by beating champions elect Charlton Athletic on the final day of the 1999/2000 season.

This was only the start; one year later Albion finished sixth in the First Division and so made the play-offs. This adventure ended with a heavy defeat to Bolton Wanderers in the semi-final, but the following year (2002) Albion avoided the play-off lottery by finishing as runners-up and so securing automatic promotion. After sixteen years in the lower divisions - the club's longest ever spell out of what had by now become known as "the top flight" - they were about to take what their supporters regarded as their rightful place in the Premiership, now in its twelfth season. What made it even sweeter for those supporters was that Albion had been promoted over the heads of their bitterest local rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers, who with just a handful of games to go had looked virtually certain to join champions Manchester City in the Premiership.

The Premiership: dream or nightmare? 2002-4

The joy of everyone associated with the club turned to dismay within days however, when chairman Paul Thompson resigned his post after a major disagreement with Megson over policy. The summer of political wrangling left Megson and new chairman Jeremy Peace with very little time to bring in new players with the limited funds available, and as the season progressed it became clear that Albion were seriously unprepared for the rigours of the Premiership. They were relegated in 19th place (last but one).

At this point the lack of top-class players on Albion's books became a blessing in disguise. The squad was kept more or less intact for the 2003-4 season, and the team won promotion at the first attempt - an increasingly rare achievement.

Albion were better prepared for their second Premiership campaign, and players of the calibre of Kanu and Zoltan Gera signed in the summer of 2004. Points seemed just as hard to come by however, and by October it was clear that Megson had taken the club as far as he could. He left in acrimonious circumstances, and Bryan Robson, a playing hero of the Albion side of the Atkinson era, was appointed to replace him.

Robson and the Great Escape: 2004-6

Robson of course, while he'd been away, had become a household name through his exploits with Manchester United and England, and had already experienced mixed success as a manager elsewhere. For a while Albion continued to struggle, sliding to 20th and last place in the Premiership table. That's where they were on Christmas Day, and it was a well-documented fact that no team had ever avoided relegation from the Premiership after being bottom at Christmas.

By the end of January however results started to go Albion's way, and despite being bottom again as the season went into its final game, they managed to pull off the greatest escape of the Premiership era.

Expectations were high for the 2005-6 season, boosted by the arrival of players such as striker Nathan Ellington from Wigan Athletic and goalkeeper Chris Kirkland (on loan from Liverpool). Minutes before the transfer deadline, Curtis Davies joined from Luton Town for what was a club record fee for a defender. But yet again Albion struggled for points, and this time there was no escape (great or otherwise). They were relegated for the second time in three years, to what was by now known as The Championship.

The Board kept faith with Robson through the summer of 2006, and once again the squad was kept more or less intact; Kanu and Kirkland were the most notable departures, and several experienced players (as well as one or two promising youngsters) were brought in. Hopes of another successful promotion campaign were high. Albion were undefeated in their first five games (winnning at home and drawing away - classic promotion form), but then after losing to Sunderland and Preston North End and failing to win at home to Southend United they found themselves with only twelve points from eight games, five points behind the leaders Cardiff City and in ninth place.

Many of the fans had lost confidence in Robson by this time, and following the draw against Southend the Board clearly agreed. Albion and Robson parted company "by mutual consent".

Back to the drawing board: 2006

The decision to sack Robson (few had much doubt that this is effectively what had happened) seemed to come as a shock to the players, and also to Robson's assistant Nigel Pearson who was immediately appointed as caretaker manager. As his spell in charge developed, Pearson appeared to do his chances of a permanent appointment no harm; but he never put himself forward for the job and was quoted as saying that he had not applied for it. On Friday 13 October, 2006 it was announced that Albion's new boss would be Tony Mowbray - the appointment to take effect on Wednesday 18 October. In the intervening five days Albion had to play two games, both of them away from home; but on Saturday 14 October the team did Pearson proud with a fine victory away to Ipswich Town. Albion had won only one away game in the previous 18 months, and the 5-1 scoreline made it their biggest away win for over a quarter of a century.

On Monday 16 October Pearson announced that he was leaving with immediate effect, two days before Mowbray took up his post. This left reserve team coach Craig Shakespeare to take charge for one game, against Crystal Palace. This resulted in a second consecutive away victory, the scoreline this time being 2-0.

During Pearson's four weeks in charge (including the Palace game) Albion were unbeaten, with four wins and one draw. Robson's former asistant had greatly enhanced his reputation, and within days he was appointed assistant manager of Newcastle United.

Mowbray was remembered by fans of English football as a tough-tackling centre back with Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town. He also had a four year spell at Celtic. In his first managerial post (apart from a brief spell as caretaker at Ipswich in 2002) he had clearly impressed the fans of Hibernian, as well as his employers at Easter Road. He was seen as an ambitious young manager with a preference for positive, attacking football: just what the Albion fans were hoping for.

Mark Venus, who had been Mowbray's assistant at Hibs, was appointed to the same role at Albion on the day that Mowbray took charge.

Their first match in charge of Albion was a home game against those bitterest of local rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers. It was a fixture that could have long-term consequences for the fans' relationship with the new regime, but they passed with flying colours as Albion won 3-0 - their biggest victory over Wolves for over a quarter of a century. Subsequent results were disappointing, however, with only one point coming from the next three League games (and a Carling Cup defeat at home to a seriously weakened Arsenal side to boot). The manager and players insist that they have been unlucky and will turn things round again, but the catalogue of defensive errors and a continuing profligacy in front of goal is beginning to worry many fans.

Nicknames

In more formal times, Albion's "official" nickname was always The Throstles. This originated because the public house in which the team used to change in its very early days kept a pet thrush in a cage ("throstle" is an alternative name for the song thrush). The bird became something of a mascot and soon appeared on the club crest. Well into the twentieth century, a caged throstle used to be placed beside the touchline during matches. It's said that it only used to sing if the Albion were winning. A giant effigy of a throstle used to perch on top of the scoreboard in the Woodman Corner of The Hawthorns, until 1994, when it was moved to the Halfords/Smethwick Corner. It returned to the re-built Woodman Corner in 2001.

The more popular nickname however has always been The Baggies. There are several theories for how this name may have originated [1]. One suggestion is that the name was bestowed on Albion supporters by their rivals at Aston Villa, because of the characteristic baggy moleskin trousers that many Albion fans wore at work to protect themselves from molten iron in the foundries of the Black Country, West Bromwich being a centre of the 'puddling industry'. It could also originate from the turnstile operators who took bags of money from the turnstiles to the cash office located on the halfway line. As they emerged during the first half the crowd would say 'here come the baggies', and the name then stuck. Another theory, which has little evidence to support it, is that Albion were one of the last teams to change to smaller shorts, keeping the longer baggy shorts.

Fans will sometimes refer to the team as The Stripes (for example, one of the more famous football chants is rendered at The Hawthorns as "Oh when the Stripes go marching in"). This recognises the fact that Albion are the only major team in the West Midlands that plays in striped shirts (or jerseys, as they used to be known).

The club is also known colloquially as The Albion or West Brom. The latter is clearly just an abbreviation of the club's rather cumbersome full name, while the former recognises the rarity of this suffix. West Bromwich was in fact the first club to use this as an appendage to its name, and it was later copied by such clubs as Brighton and Hove, Burton, and even Stirling in Scotland.

Of these last two names, "the Albion" is more common in the local areas of Birmingham and the Black Country (along with "the Villa", "the Wolves", and "the Blues"), while further afield "West Brom" is probably more common.

Supporters

Despite its proximity to Birmingham, the majority of Albion's supporters come from the nearby Black Country. The fanbase was traditionally working class, as befits such an industrial area, and this generally still holds true today.

Albion have a supporters club, which has branches throughout the United Kingdom, as well as in Ireland, Australia, Canada, Malta and Thailand.

The supporters of West Bromwich Albion are famous for the "Boing Boing" chant, which involves bouncing up and down when the team scores a goal. Albion fans are also noted for their "End of season parties", where a fancy-dress theme is adopted for the last away match of the season. Themes in past seasons have included suits, beachwear and even dressing as vikings.

Famous people who are known or rumoured to support West Bromwich Albion include:

Tom Ross (DJ) (BRMB and Capital Gold Frank Skinner (comedian) Adrian Chiles (television presenter) Leslie Crowther (comedian, deceased) Richie Woodhall (boxer) Julie Walters (actress) Dan Smith (model) Lenny Henry (entertainer) Adrian Goldberg (broadcaster) Cat Deeley (television presenter) Michael Jones (Hedgeman)

Goran Ivanisevic (tennis player) Josie Lawrence (comedian and actress) Ronnie Wood (rock guitarist) Betty Boothroyd (politician) John McEnroe (tennis player) Dean Headley (cricketer) Kayleigh Pearson (model) Sébastien Grosjean (tennis player) Matthew Marsden (actor) Eric Clapton (rock musician)

In the BBC's "national intelligence test", Test the Nation (broadcast in 2002), fans of West Bromwich Albion were found to be "more likely to be smarter than any other football supporters, registering an average score of 138". (At the other end of the scale was Burnley FC with an average IQ of 76.)[2]

Rivalry

Albion have a fierce local rivalry with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa. This rivalry is long standing as all three clubs were founder members of the Football League in the late 19th century. There is also a far less aggressive rivalry with Birmingham City. Since the late 1980s, they have exercised their rivalry with Wolves the most frequently, having been in the same division for 11 seasons since 1989. During this time there were regular derbies with Birmingham. In 2002, Albion played Villa for the first time since 1988 and played each other over three of the next four seasons.

Albion's well-known nicknames for the supporters of rival teams include 'Dingles', 'Dogheads' or 'Tatters' for Wolverhampton Wanderers and 'Seals for Aston Villa.

Their "Section 5" hooligan firm have infamously clashed with supporters of clubs including Wolverhampton Wanderers, Walsall, Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Cardiff City.

Current first team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	SUI	Pascal Zuberbühler
2	DF	ENG	Steve Watson
3	DF	ENG	Paul Robinson
4	DF	ENG	Chris Perry
5	DF	ENG	Neil Clement
6	DF	ENG	Curtis Davies (captain)
7	MF	SCO	Nigel Quashie
8	MF	ENG	Jonathan Greening
9	FW	ENG	Nathan Ellington
10	FW	WAL	John Hartson
11	MF	HUN	Zoltán Gera
12	MF	ENG	Richard Chaplow
13	GK	ENG	Luke Steele
14	DF	DEN	Martin Albrechtsen
15	FW	SEN	Diomansy Kamara

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	ENG	Darren Carter
18	MF	DEN	Thomas Gaardsøe
19	MF	WAL	Jason Koumas
20	DF	EIR	Paul McShane
21	FW	ENG	Kevin Phillips
22	FW	ENG	Stuart Nicholson
23	DF	ENG	Jeff Forsyth
24	MF	ENG	Ronnie Wallwork
25	GK	ENG	Russell Hoult
26	MF	WAL	Rob Davies
27	FW	ENG	Rob Elvins
28	DF	ENG	Jared Hodgkiss
30	GK	ENG	Luke Daniels
33	FW	ENG	Michael Nardiello

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
29	GK	POL	Tomasz Kuszczak (on loan to Manchester United)

Managerial History

Note that all managers prior to 1948 were given the title secretary-manager

• Louis Ford, (1890 - 1892)
• Henry Jackson, (1892 - 1894)
• Edward Stephenson, (1894 - 1895)
• Clement Keys, (1895 - 1896)
• Frank Heaven, (1896 - 1902)
• Fred Everiss, (1902 - 1948)
• Jack Smith, (1948 - 1952)
• Jesse Carver, (1952)
• Vic Buckingham, (1952 - 1959)
• Gordon Clark, (1959 - 1961)
• Archie Macaulay, (1961 - 1963)
• Jimmy Hagan, (1963 - 1967)
• Alan Ashman, (1967 - 1971)
• Don Howe, (1971 - 1975)
• Johnny Giles, (1975 - 1977)
• Ronnie Allen, (1977) - a stop gap replacement for Johnny Giles
• Ron Atkinson, (1978 - 1981) - had three-and-half years at the helm during which Albion were one of the country's most feared sides
• Ronnie Allen, (1981 - 1982) - quit after reaching the semi finals of both cup competitions but almost getting Albion relegated
• Ron Wylie, (1982 - 1984) - had two unsuccessful seasons as manager
• Johnny Giles, (1984 - 1985) - sacked after Albion's terrible start to the 1985-86 season
• Nobby Stiles, (1985 - 1986) - failed to make a difference to Albion's terrible form which saw them relegated to the Second Division
• Ron Saunders, (1986 - 1987) - failed to prevent relegation and was sacked after failing to mount a promotion challenge
• Ron Atkinson, (1987 - 1988) - second spell wasn't nearly as productive as first spell
• Brian Talbot, (1988 - 1991) - failed to impress as player-manager and was finally ousted as Albion slid towards the Second Division drop zone
• Bobby Gould, (1991 - 1992) - took Albion to their lowest ebb of relegation to the old Third Division and moved to Coventry a year later having failed to win promotion
• Osvaldo Ardiles, (1992 - 1993) - had one great season in charge and guided Albion to glory in the Division Two playoffs
• Keith Burkinshaw, (1993 - 1994) - spent one season in charge and was sacked after Albion almost went down from Division One
• Alan Buckley, (1994 - 1997) - spent two-and-a-half years in charge before being sacked for failing to get Albion anywhere near the top of Division One
• Ray Harford, (1997) - spent 10 months as manager before being lured away by QPR
• Denis Smith, (1997 - 1999) - ensured Division One survival for two seasons running but was sacked after just 18 months in charge
• Brian Little, (1999 - (2000) - lasted just eight months before Albion's dismal form cost Little his job and almost cost Albion their Division One status
• Gary Megson, (2000 - 2004) - achieved promotion to the Premiership twice but was sacked after announcing he would leave at the end of the season, with Albion struggling.
• Bryan Robson, (2004 - 2006) - achieved Premiership survival in 2005 but was unable to prevent relegation the following season. Left the club by mutual consent on 18 September 2006 after the team won only three league matches out of the first eight.
• Tony Mowbray, (2006 - current) appointed following his departure from Hibernian.

List of chairmen

• Sir Bert Millichip, (1974 - 1983)
• Sid Lucas, (1983 - 1988)
• John Silk, (1988 - 1992)
• Trevor Summers, (1992 - 1994)
• Tony Hale, (1994 - 2000)
• Paul Thompson, (2000 - 2002)
• Jeremy Peace, (2002 - )

Honours

Football League

• Football League Division One (old)
  • Champions: 1920
  • Runners-Up: 1925, 1954
• Football League Division Two (old), Division One (old), Championship (new)
  • Champions: 1902, 1911
  • Runners-Up: 1931, 1949, 2002, 2004
• Football League Division Two (old), League One (new)
  • Playoff Winners: 1993

Cup Competitions

• FA Cup
  • Winners: 1888, 1892, 1931, 1954, 1968
  • Runners-Up: 1886, 1887, 1895, 1912, 1935
• Football League Cup
  • Winners: 1966
  • Runners-Up: 1967, 1970
• FA Charity Shield
  • Winners: 1920, 1954 (shared with [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolves] ])
• Birmingham Senior Cup
  • Winners: 1886, 1895, 1987, 1990, 1991
  • Runners-Up: 1887, 1888, 1889, 1892, 1894, 1903, 1905, 2002

Trivia

• Albion achieved a unique "double" in 1931 when they became the first team to win F.A. Cup and promotion to the First Division in the same season. 75 years later, no other team has yet achieved this feat.
• In 1957 Albion became the first British professional team to win a game in the Soviet Union. They played three games, drawing against FC Zenit in Leningrad (Russia) and beating Dynamo Tbilisi (Georgia) and the Soviet Army side, CDKA Moscow (Russia). A couple of decades later they became the first British professional team to play in China. During the Chinese tour, midfielder John Trewick was asked what he thought of the Great Wall of China. His famous reply was "Once you've seen one wall, you've seen them all".

Bibliography

• Matthews, T. (2002). The Official Encyclopaedia of West Bromwich Albion. Britespot. ISBN 1-904103-16-2.
• McOwen, G. (2002). The Essential History of West Bromwich Albion. Hodder. ISBN 0-7553-1146-9.
• Rollin, G&J (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001-2002. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7260-3.

External links

• West Bromwich Albion F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
• Official site
• West Bromwich Albion Unofficial Website
• West Bromwich Albion Messageboard
• Independent West Bromwich Albion Messageboard
• Albion news from expressandstar.com
• www.baggies.com (Unofficial fan-run site)
• Independent West Brom site
• www.wbaunofficial.com (Unofficial site)
• Albion Till We Die (Unofficial site)
• West Bromwich Albion Football Chants
• Premierleague.com - West Bromwich Albion
• West Bromwich Albion Kits from the Past
• www.frappr.com/baggies (Worldwide Fanmeet)