Club News

From Strollers to Survivors

11 Things You Need to Know About West Bromwich Albion

1 WEST Brom have been champions of England once, in the 1919-20 season. They finished nine points clear of runners-up Burnley and 11 ahead of third-placed Chelsea.

2 WEST Brom are one of the more successful clubs in FA Cup history, having won th’owd tin pot five times. Their last victory came in 1968, when they beat Everton 1-0. It was the first Cup final to be televised live in colour; both teams wore away strips; and the game saw the first substitute to be used in an FA Cup final, Dennis Clarke of West Brom.

3 THE club’s nicknames are the Baggies, the Throstles and Albion. 'Baggies' has uncertain origins, with some speculating it is to do with the baggy shorts that the players wore in the turn of the century.

4 ALBION’S main club badge dates back to the late 1880s, when club secretary Tom Smith suggested that a throstle, or song thrush, sitting on a crossbar be adopted. The throstle was chosen because the pub in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage.  

5 ALBION’S stadium, the Hawthorns, is named after hawthorn bushes that covered the area and were removed to build the stadium.

6WEST Brom is the only club to survive relegation from the top flight after starting the final day of the season as the bottom club. This was in 2004-05.

7 THE Baggies were founder members of the Football League in 1888, and reached the FA Cup final in 1886, 1887 and 1888, losing the first two before beating Preston North End to win it for the first time.

8 WEST Brom were the first team to contain the world ‘Albion’ in their team name after they changed from their original name West Bromwich Strollers in 1878.

9 THE Hawthorns is 551 feet above sea level, the highest altitude of any Premier League or Football League club, and has a capacity of 26,287. 

10ALBION’S home kit has not always been navy blue and white - they experimented with a red and yellow kit at one stage.

11 IN 1979, Albion became the first team to tour China. On a visit to the Great Wall of China, defender John Trewick told a TV crew: “Once you've seen one wall, you've seen them all!” He later maintained he was merely joking for the cameras.