Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about West Bromwich Albion Football Club’s history. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
West Bromwich Albion FC is located in the eastern-central part of the town of West Bromwich. West Bromwich is located in the central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League, but are looking likely to be relegated this season down to the Championship, which is England’s 2nd division (this video was recorded in March 2018 and the club was relegated that season). West Brom’s home ground is called the Hawthorns, which opened in 1900 and holds about 27,000 people.
Origin
West Brom’s founding story begins in November 1878 when a group of workers from the George Salter Spring Works played a match against a club named Hudsons FC. Ten months later, on September 20, 1879, many of the men from that initial match formed the West Bromwich Strollers as an official club.
Their initial name of Strollers is explained by 1 of 2 stories. (1) The first is that when the club was formed, no sporting shops in the town sold soccer balls. So, the players had to walk to a nearby town to buy their first ball. (2) The second is that the club didn’t have an official home ground in its early days and actually carried around portable goal posts since they were never sure where they’d be playing.
Whatever the real reason, the club decided to change the Strollers part of the name in 1880 because it sounded too casual. Albion was adopted as the last part of the club name in reference to the name of the old foundry district where many of the club’s members lived. Since the change in 1880, the club has been known as West Bromwich Albion Football Club.
Nicknames
West Brom are nicknamed Albion, the Throstles, & the Baggies.
The Albion nickname is rather self-explanatory as it is the last part of the club’s official name. One quick fact about the word Albion that we also mentioned in our Brighton & Hove video, is that Albion is actually the earliest known name for the island of Britain. It was used by Ancient Greeks as early as the 4th century BC.
The Throstles nickname has 2 possible explanations. The first is that it came about in 1900 when the club moved into its current home ground of the Hawthorns. The name of the ground came from the fact that the area where the stadium was built once had flourishing hawthorn bushes everywhere. Thrushes are small birds that commonly frequent hawthorn bushes and the local name for a Thrush is a Throstle.
The other explanation is that the bar where the team got ready for matches in its early days had a pet thrush in a cage and the nickname came from that.
Whatever the real reason, Throstles was the official club nickname until the 1980s.
The most common nickname these days for West Brom is “The Baggies”. There are many different stories to this nickname’s origin. You’re going to have to do your own research but to summarize some of them quickly:
- Early gate receipts were often paid in coins and gatekeepers would need to carry large bags full of coins to the office for deposit. The nickname evolved from this practice.
- Another story is that many supporters worked at the local iron works and tended to wear baggy clothing while attending matches, so they were called baggies.
- Yet another story is that when locals needed their work attire repaired, it would often make them look like a big flour bag. Reportedly Aston Villa supporters, used the Baggies term to make fun of West Brom supporters.
- And there are still other explanations beyond these, so we’ll never truly know the real reason for the club’s most common nickname.
But it was used for decades as an informal nickname before it was formally adopted by the club in the 1980s.
Crest
The club’s current crest has been used since 2006.
It’s a pretty straightforward crest with the club’s name of West Bromwich Albion at the top.
The blue and white vertical stripes on the shield are a reference to the club’s kit.
And in the middle of the crest is a Throstle, perched on hawthorn leaves and berries. That should be self-explanatory based on our conversation about the club’s nickname.
Important Events
Like many clubs in England, West Brom has plenty of important events in its history. I’d like to discuss 4 of them now.
West Bromwich was one of the founding members of the Football League on April 17th, 1888 at the Royal Hotel in Manchester. This league laid the foundations for what eventually became the English football pyramid and over 100 years later, the Premier League.
On April 8, 1920, West Brom beat Bradford Park Avenue 3-1 at home to win the club’s first and only top flight title. The team ended the season with 60 points and 104 goals, both records at the time.
The next important event I’d like to discuss is actually 2 events wrapped in one, with both occurring late in the 1930-31 season. On April 25, 1931, West Brom, then a second division club, played Birmingham City in the final of the FA Cup. West Brom won 2-1 to claim their 3rd FA Cup. Only 1 week later, on May 2, 1931, the club beat Charlton Athletic 3-2 to gain promotion back to the first division. This unique double of West Brom winning the FA Cup and promotion to the top flight in the same season is the only time it’s happened in English soccer’s history.
And finally, the last event I’d like to discuss is West Brom’s “Great Escape” in the 2004-2005 season. On Christmas of 2004, the club was bottom of table in the Premier League. The club bounced around near the bottom of the table throughout the rest of the season. On May 15, 2005, the club began the day in last place and almost certain to be relegated. The Baggies beat Portsmouth 2-0 at home, but still need other results to go their way. About 15 minutes before the end of the season since all matches were played at the same time, the club still sat bottom of the table.
But, a miraculous turn of events in multiple other matches saw the team surge to 17th place and achieve safety in the most dramatic circumstances. That season, West Brom became the first club to avoid relegation having been bottom at Christmas. And are still the only club to have avoided relegation being bottom of the table heading into the final match of the season.
Supporters
West Brom fans have an interesting chant and move where they jump up and chant “boing, boing!” Like a lot of the other items we’ve discussed, there’s a few different explanations on where this originated. My favorite is that it came from honoring the club’s founders who worked at a spring factory.
Another story is the fans were freezing cold at a match and just started jumping up and down to stay warm. There’s also a handful of other explanations but regardless of the reason, this has become a signature move for Baggies supporters.
Noteworthy Players
Tony Brown was nicknamed by his manager as Mr. Albion. He has the club record for appearances and goals scored. Brown also won a League Cup, FA Cup, and nearly won the 1st division during his playing career.
Jeff Astle was the greatest center forward in the Baggies’ history. He won and scored goals in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals. Astle was also the first man to score in both finals. There are memorial gates at West Brom’s home ground named the Astle gates in his honor.
And last, but certainly not least, Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson and Laurie Cunningham played for West Brom in the late 1970s. These three men are largely credited with inspiring an entire generation of black professional soccer players in the UK. These men dealt with terrible abuse and treatment mainly from opposing fans but persevered as standout role models. The three are planned to be honored with a statue at West Brom’s ground. Also Regis and Cunningham are recognized as two of the greatest players to have ever played for the West Brom.
Noteworthy Managers
We have to mention Fred Everiss in this section. At the time, Fred wasn’t what we think of as a modern manager and basically served every function in his time with the club from 1896 until his death in 1951. He was officially secretary-manager from 1902 to 1948 and managed the club for over 1500 matches including winning the 1st division title and an FA Cup.
Since Fred Everiss, the club has gone through many managers with none remaining for a long amount of time, generally speaking. So, the one additional manager I wanted to highlight here is Bryan Robson.
Robson was arguably one of the greatest players to have played for the Baggies, but his greatest playing moments came after his time at West Brom, so I wanted to highlight him as a manager. Robson had some success as a manager prior to joining West Brom, winning a first division title and making a handful of cup finals.
He joined West Brom in 2004 and led them on their great escape that we’ve already discussed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to avoid relegation in his second season and left after only being at the club for 2 years. He hasn’t had the greatest managerial career, but was a fantastic player and a famous manager, which is why I’m highlighting him in this section.
Rivals
The Baggies 3 main rivals are Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Stoke City. Including West Brom, all of 4 of these clubs were founding members of the Football League, way back in 1888.
Aston Villa are West Brom’s main historic rival. The two clubs play only 4 miles apart and met in 3 FA Cup Finals before 1900. The clubs have played numerous times over the years and were some of the best clubs in the country in the early 20th century. The rivalry has dwindled a bit in recent years with the clubs only being in the same division a handful of times since the late ’80s.
West Brom’s other main rival is Wolverhampton Wanderers. This rivalry has actually become more intense than the Villa rivalry. Matches between the Baggies and Wolves are called the Black Country Derby. The two clubs are about 13 miles apart and first met in 1886. Matches have always been intense, but the rivalry really escalated in the 1950s when both clubs were competing at the top of the first division. Things became more spiteful in the 80’s from a West Brom perspective as the Baggies struggled while Wolves were competing at the highest levels. This rivalry is actually one of the most intense in all of English soccer with violence among fans sometimes still an issue as recently as 2011.
And finally, West Brom’s current rivals in the Premier League are Stoke City. As we discussed in our Stoke City video, in addition to being local rivals and playing many times over the years, this rivalry really started to increase when both clubs were in the old 3rd division in the early 1990s. The two clubs had very different playing approaches which led to conflict. Stoke and West Brom have met many times across the years in England’s different divisions and both may be going down to the championship next season so the rivalry may continue.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.
The Baggies have spent 81 seasons in the top flight in their history.
The club has 7 major trophies including:
- 5 FA Cups
- 1 1st Division title
- 1 League Cup
The club’s record first team appearance holder is Tony Brown with 720 appearances.
The club’s record goal scorer is also Tony Brown with 279 goals.
West Brom’s record transfer purchase was Oliver Burke from RB Leipzig in Germany on August 25, 2017 for about £15M.
And the club’s record transfer sale was Saido Berahino to Stoke City FC on January 28, 2017 for about £15.
One last interesting fact about the club: The Hawthorns, West Brom’s home ground, is the highest stadium of all 92 fully professional grounds in the Premier League and Football League. It sits at an astounding 551 feet about sea level, which is absolutely nothing compared to stadiums in Mexico and South America.
So there you have it… a bit of history on West Bromwich Albion Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.
Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.
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