West Bromwich Albion are the only English club to win promotion to the top flight, and the FA Cup, in the same season. They did this in 1930-’31. Their greatest season was in 1953-’54, when they won the FA Cup, and finished 2nd in the League (losing the title to Wolverhampton by 4 points). It was also the club’s best season at the turnstiles: they averaged 38, 110.
These days, the Baggies have become a real yo-yo club. But fans should console themselves that the club has come a long way from their form of 15 years ago. In 1993, they were in the old League Two (the 3rd Level), and drawing only around 15,000 per game.
I hope Albion gets promoted this season from the League Championship (the 2nd Level), because they play a very up-tempo, attacking style of football. They should have been promoted last season, but were upset by Derby County, in the playoff final. They certainly would have fared better than Derby in the Premier League, this season.
After failing to gain promotion last spring, West Brom lost some good players, like Diomansy Kamara (to Fulham), and Jason Koumas (to Wigan), but they are actually a more solid club, this season. Players like Kevin Phillips, Zoltan Gera, and the underrated winger Jonathan Greening were smart in sticking with manager Tony Mowbray. And Slovenian midfielder Robert Koren has been a revelation. Come May, it could very well turn out that Koumas and Kamara will wish they stayed in the West Midlands, when both their clubs go down, , and West Bromwich goes up. **{See this thumbnail history of West Bromwich Albion FC, from the Albion Road website; coincidence in names entirely unintentional.}
Thanks to Historical Football Kits website (historicalkits[dot]co[dot]uk). All the kits on the left-hand side of the chart are copyright Historical Kits, and used by permission. Thanks to the Colours Of Football website (colours-of-football[dot]com). Thanks to viewimages websit (viewimages[dot]com). Thanks to Albion Road website (albionroad[dot]com).
