West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

, West Midlands, England. They compete in the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

, the second level of the

English football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. The club was formed in 1878 and has played at its home ground,

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

, since 1900. Albion were a founder member of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

, the first professional football league in the world. The club has spent the majority of its existence in the top tier of English football, where it has played for 82 seasons, most recently competing in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 2021. They have been champions of England once, in 1919–20, and have been runner-up twice, in 1924–25 and 1953–54. Albion have reached ten

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

finals and won the Cup on five occasions. The first win came in

, the year the league was founded, followed by wins in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and most recently in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, the club's last major trophy. Albion also won the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

at the first attempt in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, and have reached a further two finals. The club's longest continuous period in the top division spanned 24 years between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 it had its longest spell out of the top division. The team have 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 long-standing rivalries with their traditional local rivals

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. Albion contest the

Black Country derby The Black Country derby is the name given to any local derby between England, English association football, football teams West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion, Walsall F.C, Walsall and Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wan ...

with the latter.

History

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 the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

.McOwan pp. 7–10. They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880, becoming the first team to adopt the ''

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

'' suffix; Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked, close to what is today

Greets Green Greets Green (usually pronounced 'Grits Green') is a residential area of West Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. The appropriate Sandwell ward is called Greets Green and Lyng. The population taken at the 2011 census was 11,769. It was most ...

. 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 The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

in the same year; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season. In 1885 the club turned professional, and in

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

the team reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2–0 to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in a replay. They reached the final again in

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

, but lost 2–0 to

. In

the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

2–1 in the final. As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a

Football World Championship The Football World Championship, also known as the United Kingdom Championship or the International Club Championship, was an exhibition association football match played between the English and Scottish club champions (either national cup or lea ...

game against

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat. West Bromwich Albion team 1888

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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members. Albion's second FA Cup success came in

, beating Aston Villa 3–0. They met Villa again in the

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at

. They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04. The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the following season reached another

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, where they were defeated by

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in a replay. Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the only time in their history following the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records. The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, but were relegated in 1926–27. In 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the

, beating

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

2–1 in the final. The "double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since. Albion reached the final again in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, losing to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, but were relegated three years later. They gained promotion in 1948–49, 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

, 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

in the league. 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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

finals. 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 James Hagan (21 January 1918 – 26 February 1998) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and once for England national football team, Engla ...

, won the final by defeating

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

5–3 on aggregate. That was the last

two-legged In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum of ...

final and, the following year, Albion reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

again, the first played at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. They lost 3–2 to Third Division

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

after being 2–0 up at half-time. 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 Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

thanks to a single goal from

Jeff Astle Jeffrey Astle (13 May 1942 – 19 January 2002) was an English professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion. Nicknamed "the King" by the club's fans, he played 361 games for them an ...

. Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

quarter-final in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, and were defeated 2–1 by

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the 1970 League Cup Final. The club were less successful during the reign of

Don Howe Donald Howe (12 October 1935 – 23 December 2015) was an English football player, coach, manager and pundit. As a right back Howe featured for clubs West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal together with the England national football team in his pla ...

, and were relegated to Division Two at the end of 1972–73, but gained promotion three years later under the guidance of player-manager

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

. Under

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

, Albion reached the 1978 FA Cup semi-final but lost to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

. In May of that year, Albion became the first English professional team to play in China, going unbeaten on their five-game trip. In 1978–79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

quarter-final, where they were defeated by

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. The team around this time was notable for simultaneously fielding three black players:

Cyrille Regis Cyrille Regis (9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018) was a professional footballer who played as a forward. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made 614 league appearances and scored 158 league goals, most prolifically at ...

Laurie Cunningham Laurence Paul Cunningham (8 March 1956 – 15 July 1989) was an English professional footballer who played as a left winger. He notably played in England, France, and Spain, where he became the first-ever English player to sign for Real Madr ...

and Brendon Batson; and is considered to be an integral part of the acceptance of black footballers in the English leagues. In his second spell as manager,

Ronnie Allen Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for 19 years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League and scoring 276 goals. ...

guided the team to both domestic cup semi-finals in 1981–82. 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, 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.

Recent years (1992–present)

Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the

was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed

Division Two Division II or Division 2 may refer to: Sports * NCAA Division II, an intermediate-level division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association * Division 2 (Swedish football) * Division 2 (Swedish ice hockey), the fourth tier of ice hockey in S ...

. In 1992–93, Albion finished fourth and entered the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

for the first time. Albion's first appearance at

for over 20 years – and their last at the original stadium – saw them beat

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

3–0 to return to the second level – now renamed the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. Manager

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), more commonly known as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former player. A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddl ...

then joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, however, and a succession of managers over the next few seasons saw Albion consolidate their Division One status without mounting a serious promotion challenge. WBA The Great Escape

The appointment of

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...

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. After being relegated in their first Premier League season, they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04. In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

, 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, as well as bottom on the final day of the season. They failed to avoid the drop the following season, and Robson was replaced by

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

in October 2006. The club competed in the

Championship play-off In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this syst ...

final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the

, where they lost 1–0 to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship, but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign. Mowbray left the club and was replaced by

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau early in his career. After winning the Swiss league title with Aarau i ...

, who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

. Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the

. It included an 8th-place finish in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

under

Steve Clarke Stephen Clarke (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Scotland national team. Clarke played for St Mirren, Chelsea and the Scotland national team, winning three majo ...

, and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12 and

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 2 ...

in 2016–17. In August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner

Jeremy Peace Jeremy Roland Peace (born 13 August 1956) is a British businessman, and the former chairman and owner of West Bromwich Albion F.C, a professional association football, football Club (organization), club in the West Midlands (county), West Midland ...

had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan. By this time, the club had begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay. Pulis and his replacement

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

were both dismissed during the season. Albion finished fourth in their first season back in the Championship under the management of

Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of club Port Vale. Moore was born in Birmingham, though represented Jamaica at international level. He ...

, losing the Championship play-off semi-final on penalties.

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

took over as manager in June 2019, and led Albion to automatic promotion back to the Premier League during the 2019–20 season. Back in the Premier League, Bilić was controversially sacked on 16 December 2020, with

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

named as his replacement the same day. After Albion were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, Allardyce resigned from his position. The club endured disappointing results back in the Championship during the tenures of

Valérien Ismaël Valérien Alexandre Ismaël (born 28 September 1975) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers. A centre-back, Ismaël played for Strasbourg, Crystal Palace, Len ...

and

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

, who left the club in the relegation places in the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season.

Carlos Corberán Carlos Corberán Vallet (born 7 April 1983) is a Spanish Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who is currently head coach of La Liga club Valencia CF, Valencia. Previously ...

was named as successor on 25 October 2022. He guided Albion to a 5th-place finish and the play-off semi-finals at the end of the 2023–24 season. In February 2024, the English Football League approved a takeover of the club by American entrepreneur Shilen Patel.

Crest and colours

Badge

Albion's main club badge dates back to the late 1880s, when club secretary Tom Smith suggested that a throstle (song thrush) sitting on a

crossbar Crossbar may refer to: Structures * Latch (hardware), a post barring a door * Top tube of a bicycle frame * Crossbar, the horizontal member of various sports goals * Crossbar, a horizontal member of an electricity pylon Other * In electroni ...

be adopted for the badge.McOwan p. 15. The badge has been subject to various revisions since then. It has always featured a throstle, usually on a blue and white striped shield, although the crossbar was replaced with a hawthorn branch at some point after the club's move to

the Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. The throstle was chosen because the

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage. It also gave rise to Albion's early nickname, ''the Throstles''. The hawthorn bush is also a favourite bush of throstles, which were regularly seen on the pre-stadium estate and local area. As late as the 1930s, a caged throstle was placed beside the touchline during matches and it was said that it only used to sing if Albion were winning. In 1979, an effigy of a throstle was erected above the half-time scoreboard of the Woodman corner at the Hawthorns, and was returned to the same area of the ground following redevelopment in the early 2000s. In 1975, a version of the badge (on a

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

rather than a shield) was granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

to the Football League for licensing to the club. The badge was described in heraldic

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

as, "On a roundel paly of thirteen argent and azure a

mistle thrush The mistle thrush (''Turdus viscivorus'') is a bird common to much of Europe, Palearctic, temperate Asia and North Africa. It is a year-round resident in a large part of its range, but northern and eastern populations bird migration, migrate s ...

perched on a

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

branch leaved and fructed proper." This is the only known occasion on which the branch has been described as a raspberry branch rather than a hawthorn branch:

Rodney Dennys Rodney Onslow Dennys, (16 July 1911 – 13 August 1993) was a British foreign service operative and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. During World War II he served in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army. ...

, the

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; * to conserve ...

responsible, may have been imperfectly briefed. The badge was re-designed in 2006, incorporating the name of the club for the first time. The new design aimed to safeguard and consolidate the club's identity. Prior to this, the main club badge rarely coincided with that worn on the first team strip. No badge appeared on the kit for most of the club's history, although the

Stafford knot The Stafford knot, more commonly known as the Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped knot that is the traditional symbol of the English county of Staffordshire and of its county town, Stafford. It is a particular representation of the s ...

featured on the team jerseys for part of the 1880s.Matthews (2007) p. 64. The

town

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

were worn on the players' shirts for the

and

FA Cup finals. The town's

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto, "'' Labor omnia vincit''", translates as "labour conquers all things" or "work conquers all". The town arms were revived as the shirt badge from 1994 until 2000, with the throstle moved to the collar of the shirts. Albion's first regular shirt badge appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s where it was blue. Although it featured the throstle, it did not include the blue and white striped shield of the club badge. A similar design was also used during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the mid-1970s, a more abstract version of the throstle was used on the club's shirts, while in the late 1970s through to the mid-1980s, an embroidered WBA logo was displayed, a common abbreviation of the club's name in print. Not until the early 21st century did the full club badge appear on the team's shirts.

Colours

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. 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. 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. For the regional leagues played during the Second World War, Albion were forced to switch to all-blue shirts, as

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...

meant that striped material was considered a luxury. 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.Matthews (1987) p. 241. The away shirt additionally featured a large 'V' during the First World War. In the 1935 FA Cup Final, however, when both of Albion and

'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. 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. Albion players – along with those of other

teams – first wore numbers on the back of their shirts in the abandoned season of 1939–40, and names on the back of their shirts from 1999–2000. Red numbers were added to the side of Albion players' shorts in 1969.

Kit sponsors

BSR Housewares became the club's first shirt sponsor during the 1981–82 season. 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 The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as ...

. 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. The longest-running shirt sponsorship deal agreed by the club ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2004 with the

West Bromwich Building Society West Bromwich Building Society, commonly referred to as the West Brom or West Brom Building Society, is the eighth largest building society in the UK, with its headquarters in West Bromwich, England. It is a member of the Building Societies Ass ...

. Today the club's principal sponsor is Ideal Heating. Since June 2024, West Brom's kit has been manufactured by

Macron Macron may refer to: People * Emmanuel Macron (born 1977), president of France since 2017 * Brigitte Macron (born 1953), French teacher, wife of Emmanuel Macron * Jean-Michel Macron (born 1950), French professor of neurology, father of Emmanuel ...

. Previous manufacturers have included Scoreline, Influence, Pelada,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

Diadora Diadora is an Italian sportswear and footwear manufacturing company based in Caerano di San Marco (Veneto), subsidiary of Geox, founded in 1948. Diadora produces football boots and athletic shoes, as well as a range of apparel that includes ...

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

and Puma.

Stadium

The speed with which the club became established following its foundation is illustrated by the fact that it outgrew four successive grounds in its first seven years. The first was Cooper's Hill, where they played from 1878 to 1879. From 1879 to 1881, they appear to have alternated between Cooper's Hill and Dartmouth Park. During the 1881–82 season, they played at Bunn's Field, also known as the Birches. This had a capacity of between 1,500 and 2,000, and was Albion's first enclosed ground, allowing the club to charge an entrance fee for the first time. From 1882 to 1885, as the popularity of football increased, Albion rented the Four Acres ground from the well-established West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club. But they quickly outgrew this new home and soon needed to move again. From 1885 to 1900, Albion played at

Stoney Lane Stoney Lane was a football ground in West Bromwich, England. It was the home ground of West Bromwich Albion from 1885 until 1900. History West Bromwich Albion moved to Stoney Lane in 1885 from their Four Acres ground in 1885. A 600-seat grands ...

; their tenure of this ground was arguably the most successful period in the club's history, as they won the FA Cup twice and were runners-up three times. Throstle at the Hawthorns

By 1900, when the lease on Stoney Lane expired, the club needed a bigger ground yet again and so made its last move to date. All of Albion's previous grounds had been close to the centre of West Bromwich, but on this occasion they took up a site on the town's border with Handsworth and

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

. The new ground was named

, after the hawthorn bushes that covered the area and were cleared to make way for it. Albion drew 1–1 with

in the first match at the stadium, on 3 September 1900. The record attendance at the Hawthorns was on 6 March 1937, when 64,815 spectators saw Albion beat

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

3–1 in the FA Cup quarter-final. The Hawthorns became an all-seater stadium in the 1990s, in order to comply with the recommendations of the

Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...

. Its capacity today is 26,688, the four stands being known respectively as the Birmingham Road End, Smethwick End, East Stand and West Stand (Halfords Lane). At an altitude of 551 feet (168 m) above sea level, the Hawthorns is the highest of all the 92 Premier League and Football League grounds. The Hawthorns is certificated under the highest

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

pitch surfaces which means it is ready to host almost any competition if required. The stadium's West Stand has the potential to be developed over the Halfords Lane at the back of the stand to allow for an upper tier, bringing the capacity of The Hawthorns to around 30,000. West Bromwich Albion own retail outlets around The Hawthorns, including its Stadium Megastore and seasonally a club store in

town centre. They also own the former Hawthorns Pub, a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building behind the West Stand on the corner of Halfords Lane and the Birmingham Road. This has served as the official club fanzone with licensed bars, live music, fan favourites – such as mascots and children activities – as well as being shared with a high street food outlet. The pub competes with The Vine pub in Roebuck Lane, a popular destination for visiting and home football fans year-round.

Supporters

Fan culture

The official West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club was founded on 4 October 1951. In the years since then, over 30 branches have been established throughout the United Kingdom, and internationally in Jersey, Ireland, Spain, Malta, Croatia, USA, UAE, India, Thailand and Australia. There are also supporters groups for those with disabilities, for mental health support,

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

supporters, supporters in the emergency services and armed forces, and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people. Albion's "club anthem" is ''The Lord's my Shepherd'', a setting of

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and ...

. The song originated following a rare Sunday game in the 1970s and has been sung at matches ever since. Supporters of the team celebrate goals by bouncing up and down and chanting "Boing Boing". This dates back to the 1992–93 season, when the team was promoted from the new

, with the origin of the chant still unclear. '' The Liquidator'' instrumental by the Harry J. Allstars has also been popularly played in the stadium and sung to since the late 1960s. The

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

song ''"West Bromwich Albion"'' by Ray King is another club anthem popularly played before matches. In recent years fans of the team have celebrated the end of each season by adopting a

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Anglo culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock characte ...

theme for the final away match, including dressing as

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in 2004 in honour of Player of the Season

Thomas Gaardsøe Thomas Gaardsøe Christensen (; born 23 November 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer. Gaardsøe most notably won the 1999 Danish Superliga with Aalborg Boldspilklub, and played abroad for English clubs Ipswich Town and West Bromwi ...

In 2002–03 Albion's fans were voted the best in the Premier League by their peers, while in the BBC's 2002 "national intelligence test" ''Test the Nation'', they were found to be "more likely to be smarter than any other football supporters, registering an average score of 138". Famous fans include goalkeepers

Aaron Ramsdale Aaron Christopher Ramsdale (born 14 May 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Southampton and the England national team. Ramsdale began his senior club career playing for Sheffield United and signed fo ...

and Ben Foster, comedian

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

, TV presenter

Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for fo ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

singer

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

, comedian

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

, actress

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Go ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

guitarist

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

, tennis players Ann Jones and

Goran Ivanišević Goran Ivanišević (; born 13 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 1994. Ivanišević won 22 ATP To ...

, television presenter

Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter. She is currently the main co-presenter for ITV's '' This Morning'', alongside Ben Shephard. Deeley began her career as a co-presenter of the ITV children' ...

, DJ

Dave Haslam Dave Haslam is a British writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJed over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and has since DJed worldwide. He has written for the ''New Musical Express'', ''The Guardian'', the ''London Review of Books' ...

, boxers

Richie Woodhall Richie Woodhall (born 17 April 1968) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2000. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 1998 to 1999, as well as the Commonwealth middleweight title from 1992 to 1995, and the ...

and Tommy Langford, and guitarist

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Publications

The club has published an official matchday programme for supporters since 1905. The publication was entitled ''Albion News'' for many years, but was renamed ''Albion'' from the 2002–03 season until the close season of 2013, when it was renamed back to ''Albion News''. It won Premier League Programme of the Year in 2002–03 and Third Division Programme of the Year in 1991–92. In 2007–08, it was awarded Championship Programme of the Year by both Programme Monthly and the Football Programme Directory. The programme has a circulation in excess of 8,000 copies. The first West Bromwich Albion

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, ''Fingerpost'', was published from 1983 until 1992, and was followed by several others, most notably ''Grorty Dick'' (1989–2005) and ''Last Train to Rolfe Street'' (1992–1995). Since ''Grorty Dick'' ceased publication in 2005, the club now only has one fanzine dedicated to it; 'Baggie Shorts' which is produced by the West Bromwich Albion Supporters' Club London Branch.

"Baggies" nickname

Although known in their early days as ''"the Throstles"'', the club's more popular nickname among supporters came to be ''the Baggies'', a term which the club itself looked down upon for many years but later embraced. The phrase was first heard at the Hawthorns in the 1900s, but its exact origins are uncertain.McOwan pp. 38–40. One suggestion is that the name was bestowed on Albion supporters by their rivals at

, because of the large baggy trousers that many Albion fans wore at work to protect themselves from molten iron in the factories and foundries of the

. Club historian Tony Matthews, however, suggests that it derives from the "bagmen", who carried the club's matchday takings in big leather bags from the turnstiles to the cash office on the halfway line. Other theories relate to the baggy shorts worn by various players during the club's early years. The official club mascots are named ''Baggie Bird'' and ''Albi''; both are based on the throstle depicted on the club crest.

Rivalries

Historically, Albion's greatest rivals were

from nearby

. The two clubs contested three

s between 1887 and 1895 (Villa winning two and Albion one). More recently, however, some Albion fans tend to see

as their main rivals, particularly as between 1989 and 2002 Albion and Villa were never in the same division, but Albion were in the same division as Wolves for 11 out of 14 seasons. This had led to Aston Villa supporters now considering

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

to be their fiercest rivals. A less-heated rivalry also exists with Birmingham City, with whom Albion contested the 1931 FA Cup final, as well as a semi-final in 1968. A number of

hooligan firm Hooligan firms (also known as football firms) are groups that participate in football hooliganism in European countries. For groups in Latin America, see barra brava and torcida organizada. Belgium * Club Brugge – East Side * RSC Anderle ...

s associate themselves with Albion, including Section 5, Clubhouse and the Smethwick Mob.

Black Country derby

Albion and Wolves contest the

, one of the longest standing derbies in world football. It is considered one of the fiercest rivalries in English football. A 2008 survey found it to be the most intense rivalry in the country, with one in four fans from both clubs claiming that their rivalry went much deeper than football. The two sides have played each other 160 times, with their first major clash being an FA Cup tie in 1886. Both Albion and Wolves were founding members of

, making the derby the joint oldest in English league football. The rivalry came to prominence when the two clubs contested the league title in 1953–54, and during the 1990s it intensified to new heights among supporters, with both clubs languishing in Division One for much of the decade and only local pride at stake. Moreover, in 2002 Albion came from being 11 points adrift to overhaul Wolves to gain promotion. The rivalry was further heightened after the sides met in the play-offs in 2007. A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com confirmed that the majority of both Albion and Wolves supporters consider the other to be their main rival. In February 2012 the Baggies beat Wolves 5–1 away from home, with

Peter Odemwingie Peter Osaze Odemwingie (born 15 July 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in what is now Uzbekistan, Odemwingie began his career with Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier League. He then earned a move to E ...

scoring a hat-trick. The game became known as the 'demolition derby', and remains the highest scoring Black Country derby of the 21st century. Despite their geographical location, fellow Black Country club

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

are seen as lesser rivals, having played in a lower division than Albion for most of their history.

Rivalry with Aston Villa

Ranked by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' in 2010 as the most fierce in the region, games between

and West Brom are particularly ferocious. The two first met on 9 December 1882, in the second round of the Staffordshire Cup: Villa hosted a 3–3 draw in front of 13,900 fans, while in the replay West Brom won by a single goal with an attendance of 10,500. On 3 January 1885, they met for the first time in the third round of the FA Cup: a goalless draw at West Brom was followed by a 3–0 victory for them away at Villa. The following year, both teams became founder members of the Football League. They met first in a league fixture on 19 January 1889, Villa winning 2–0 at home, before a draw the next week ending 3–3. The two teams met in two further FA Cup finals in the 19th century, a 3–0 win for West Brom in

and a 1–0 win for Aston Villa in

. Birmingham City were relegated from the Premier League in 2011 and Wolverhampton Wanderers a season later, leaving Aston Villa and West Brom as the only West Midlands teams in England's top division. Without their respective main rivals and with Albion finishing above their nearest rivals for the second season in a row, the historic rivalry was rekindled to pre-1990s competitiveness. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Aston Villa were relegated, leaving West Brom as the only West Midlands team in the top flight for the 2016–17 season. After Albion's relegation at the end of the

2017–18 Premier League The 2017–18 Premier League was the 26th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 119th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

, the teams faced each other in the Championship. In the 2018–19 EFL Championship play-off semi-finals, Villa controversially knocked out Albion on penalties, after the Albion had two men sent-off over both legs.

Ownership and governance

''As of 1 September 2024'':

Board of directors

Senior management

History of Albion's ownership and governance

In the club's formative years, West Bromwich Albion were run by a seven-man playing committee, and funded by each member contributing a weekly subscription of 6d ( six pence) (2p). Albion's first chairman was Henry Jackson, appointed in 1885, with the club becoming a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

in June 1891.Matthews (2005) pp. 267–269. Other early chairmen of Albion included

Jem Bayliss Albert Edward James Matthias Bayliss (1 August 1863 – 19 August 1933), known as Jem Bayliss, was an English footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, as well as the England national side. He captained the West Bromwich Albion side whic ...

and

Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...

, both of whom had earlier played for the club. Indeed, from 1878 to 1986 there was always an Albion player or ex-player on the club's committee or board of directors. Bassett became an Albion director in 1905, following the resignation of the previous board in its entirety. The club was in deep financial trouble and had had a writ served upon them by their bank, but Bassett and returning chairman Harry Keys rescued the club, aided by local fund-raising activities. Bassett became chairman in 1908, and helped the club to avoid bankruptcy once more in 1910 by paying the players' summer wages from his own pocket. He remains Albion's longest-serving chairman, having held the position until his death in 1937. The club's longest-serving director was Major H. Wilson Keys, during the period 1930–1965, including 15 years as chairman. He became vice-president of the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

in 1969. Sir Bert Millichip served as Albion chairman from 1974 to 1983, after which he chose to concentrate on his role as chairman of the Football Association. In 1996, the club became a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

, issuing shares to supporters at £500 and £3,000 each, under the Chairmanship of Paul Thompson. The shares were quoted on the

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market, Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in opera ...

, but the club withdrew from the stock exchange in order to become a private company again in 2004. The name of the company thus reverted from West Bromwich Albion plc to West Bromwich Albion Limited, the latter becoming a subsidiary of West Bromwich Albion Holdings Limited.

took up the post in 2002, after a rift between previous chairman Paul Thompson and manager

forced Thompson to quit the club. In September 2007, Peace acquired additional shares in West Bromwich Albion Holdings Limited, taking his total stake in the company to 50.56%. This triggered a requirement, under the

Takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

Code, for him to make a mandatory cash offer for the remaining shares in both WBA Holdings Ltd and WBA Ltd. Later that year, Michelle Davies became Albion's first female director. She stepped down in 2010. Jeremy Peace announced in June 2008 that he was looking for a major new investor for the club, but no firm proposals were received by the 31 July deadline. On 24 July 2015, Jeremy Peace announced that his sale exclusivity deal was called off after a potential buyer was unable to fulfil the terms of sale. In July 2016, Peace announced that he had found a buyer in the form of a Chinese investment group headed by Lai Guochuan. The figure agreed upon is believed to have been in the region of £175 million – £200 million. The takeover was successfully completed on 15 September the same year.

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

was originally appointed Chairman of the club before Lai replaced him with associate Li Piyue after the club's relegation in the 2017–18 season. Lai himself took over as Chairman on 2 February 2022. The

season saw increased scrutiny of the club's ownership, and the practices of majority shareholder Guochuan Lai. The club's financial situation began to receive national media attention, having already been commented on frequently in local press. Supporter action groups and in-stadium protests by fans to raise awareness of the club's off-field issues took shape during the season, but were briefly paused in April 2023 as the club's fans supported the side's promotion push. On 15 February 2024, it was announced that Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father, philanthropist Kiran C Patel had reached an agreement to acquire an 87.8% stake in the club, under the name Bilkul Football WBA. Shilen Patel would also be named as the Chairman of the club.

Players

Current squad

Under-23s and Academy

Coaching staff

''As of 1 June 2025''

First team

Academy

Notable former players

As part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations in 2004, a survey was commissioned via the official West Bromwich Albion website and the ''

Express & Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publis ...

'' newspaper to determine the greatest West Brom players of all time. A modern-day, 16-man squad was compiled from the results; all selected players are depicted on a commemorative mural displayed at

. Fourteen of the sixteen players are English-born, with a fifteenth, Cyrille Regis, a

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

-born full

international. The list of 16 is as follows: Jeff Astle Gates

Other notable honours bestowed upon West Brom players include the

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the ...

award, which was presented to Cyrille Regis in 1979. In 1998, Billy Bassett and Bryan Robson were named among the list of

Football League 100 Legends The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Football League and Premier League football. The players were selected in 1998 by a panel of journ ...

, along with

Arthur Rowley George Arthur Rowley Jr. (21 April 1926 – 19 December 2002), nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his explosive left-foot shot, was an English football player and cricketer. He holds the record for the most goals in the history of English lea ...

Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...

and

. Bryan Robson was also an inaugural inductee into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

in 2002, to be joined two years later by Geoff Hurst.

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

, a player with Albion, has also been inducted, although this was for his achievements as a manager. In 1919–20, Fred Morris became the first Albion player to finish as top goalscorer in

Division One Division 1 or Division One may refer to: Association football * Azadegan League, the second-tier professional football league in Iran * Brisbane Premier League Division 1, the second-tier professional football league in Brisbane, Queensland, Austr ...

, a feat which has since been repeated by Ronnie Allen,

Derek Kevan Derek Tennyson Kevan (6 March 1935 – 4 January 2013) was an English footballer. He spent the majority of his club career playing as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion, where he earned the nickname "The Tank". In 1961–62 he was j ...

, Jeff Astle and Tony Brown. Brown, who holds the club records for goals and appearances, was voted into the PFA Centenary Hall of Fame in July 2007.

Player of the Year

Partial list of managers

The following managers have all led West Bromwich Albion to at least one of the following achievements while in charge of the club: winning a major trophy or reaching the final, achieving a top three league finish in the top flight, winning promotion or reaching the quarter-finals of a major European competition.

Records

West Bromwich Albion's record victory was their 12–0 league win against

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

on 4 April 1892. This is still the widest margin of victory for a game in the top-flight of English football, although the record was equalled by

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

when they beat

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English f ...

by the same scoreline in 1909. Albion's biggest FA Cup victory came when they beat Chatham 10–1 on 2 March 1889. The club's record league defeat was a 3–10 loss against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on 4 February 1937, while a 0–5 defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

on 18 February 1967 represents Albion's heaviest FA Cup loss. Tony Brown holds a number of Albion's club records. He has made the most appearances overall for the club (720), as well as most appearances in the league (574), FA Cup (54) and in European competition (17). Brown is the club's top scorer in the league (218), the FA Cup (27) and in Europe (8). He is also the club's record scorer overall, with 279 goals. W. G. Richardson scored 328 goals for the club, but this includes 100 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which are not normally counted towards competitive totals. Richardson holds the club record for most league goals in a single season, scoring 39 times in 1935–36. Albion's most capped international player, taking into account only those caps won whilst at the club, is

Chris Brunt Christopher Colin Brunt (born 14 December 1984) is a Northern Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and is the current West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion loan player manager. He is wi ...

. He appeared 55 times for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

as an Albion player, earning 65 caps in total before retiring from international football in 2017.

Jesse Pennington Jesse Pennington (23 August 1883 – 5 September 1970) was an English footballer in the early part of the 20th century. He was nicknamed "Peerless Pennington". Career Born in West Bromwich, Pennington was a left-back for West Bromwich Albion fo ...

is the club's most capped England international, with 25 caps.Matthews (2007) pp. 404–405. The highest transfer fee paid by the club is £15 million to

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

for

Oliver Burke Oliver Jasen Burke (born 7 April 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for club Union Berlin. He came through the academy at Nottingham Forest, signing a professional contract in September 2014 a ...

on 25 August 2017. The record transfer fee received by Albion from another club was for the transfer of

Salomón Rondón José Salomón Rondón Giménez (; born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Pachuca and captains the Venezuela national team. After starting out at Aragua, Rondón went on to spen ...

Dalian Yifang Dalian Professional Football Club (), known as Dalian Pro, was a Chinese professional football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, which mostly competed in the Chinese Super League. Dalian Pro played its home matches at various grounds across Dalia ...

in July 2019 for £16.5 million.

Honours

Reference: West Bromwich Albion team 1920

League *

(level 1) **Champions: 1919–20 **Runners-up: 1924–25, 1953–54 *

/ First Division /

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

(level 2) **Champions: 1901–02, 1910–11, 2007–08 **Runners-up: 1930–31, 1948–49, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2019–20 *

(level 3) **Play-off winners:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Cup *

**Winners: 1887–88, 1891–92, 1930–31, 1953–54, 1967–68 **Runners-up: 1885–86, 1886–87, 1894–95, 1911–12, 1934–35 *

**Winners: 1965–66 **Runners-up: 1966–67, 1969–70 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

**Winners:

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

''(shared)'' **Runners-up:

Tennent Caledonian Cup The Tennent Caledonian Cup (sponsored by Tennent Caledonian Breweries) was a short-lived preseason football tournament held at Ibrox Park from 1976 to 1979 and contested by teams from England and Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the ...

McOwan p. 269. **Winners: 1977

Footnotes

:A. : Older sources quote the year of formation as 1879, as evidence of a Strollers match from 1878 came to light only as recently as 1993. :B. : ''Throstle'' is a colloquial

name for the

song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, w ...

. :C. : The town crest remained on the away strip until 2001. :D. : Kevan was joint-top scorer with

Ray Crawford Ray Crawford (October 26, 1915 – February 1, 1996) was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman. Biography Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Crawford served as a U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot and flew the P-38 ...

of Ipswich Town. :E. : Secretary-manager. Albion did not appoint a full-time manager until 1949. :F. : The Football League First Division was the top division of English football until 1992, when the Premier League became the top division. At the same time, the second, third and fourth tiers of English football became known as the Football League First Division, Second Division and Third Division respectively. These three divisions were renamed again in 2004 as part of a Football League re-branding exercise, becoming known as the Football League Championship, League One and League Two respectively. :G. : This feat was repeated by Sunderland in the 2013–14 season and Leicester the following year.

References

;General * * * * * ;Specific

External links

*
Official Supporters Club
(archived)
Former Players AssociationWomen's teamWest Bromwich Albion F.C. – Official Hospitality website
. {{Authority control Football clubs in the West Midlands (county) The Football League founder members Association football clubs established in 1878 English Football League clubs West Bromwich FA Cup winners EFL Cup winners 1878 establishments in England Football clubs in England Premier League clubs