The West Bromwich Albion team that won the League Championship and Charity Shield in 1919–20

West Bromwich Albion Football Club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter's Spring Works and turned professional in 1885.[1][2] Albion won the FA Cup for the first time in 1888 and later that year became one of the founder members of the Football League. In the 1900–01 season, the club moved to its current home ground, The Hawthorns.[3] Albion have spent the majority of their history – 81 of 123 seasons – in the top division of English football, including 24 seasons in a row between 1949–50 and 1972–73. From 1986–87 to 2001–02, they spent sixteen consecutive seasons outside the top division, recording their lowest ever league finish of seventh in Division Three in 1991–92. Albion have been promoted eleven times and relegated twelve times, with seven of the 23 changes of division coming between 2002 and 2010. The team played in the Premier League for the first time in 2002–03.

Chart of West Bromwich Albion Performances

Albion have won the League Championship once, the FA Cup five times, the League Cup once and the Charity Shield twice, one of which was shared. They have been runners-up in the League Championship twice, in the FA Cup five times and in the League Cup twice. In European competitions, Albion have reached the quarter-final stage of both the Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup.

The club has played more than one hundred seasons since their first entry in the FA Cup in 1883–84. The table details the club's achievements in all national and European first team competitions, and records their top league goalscorer, for each completed season. Records of locally organised cup competitions such as the Birmingham Senior Cup and Staffordshire Senior Cup, which have permitted reserve teams from the 1900s onwards,[4] are not included.

Seasons

Key

Winners Runners-up Promoted Relegated

Divisions in bold indicate a change in division.
Players in bold indicate the top scorer in the division that season.

Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Europe / Other Top league goalscorer(s)[a] Average league attendance
Division (tier) Pld W D L GF GA Pts Pos Player(s) Goals
1883–84 N/A R1
1884–85 N/A QF
1885–86 N/A RU
1886–87 N/A RU
1887–88 N/A W
1888–89 FL[b] 22 10 2 10 40 46 22 6th SF Billy Bassett
Tom Pearson 		11 4,437
1889–90 FL 22 11 3 8 47 50 25 5th R1 Tom Pearson 17 5,741
1890–91 FL 22 5 2 15 34 57 12 12th SF Tom Pearson 13 5,056
1891–92 FL 26 6 6 14 51 58 18 12th W Tom Pearson 13 7,700
1892–93 Div 1[c] (1) 30 12 5 13 58 69 29 8th R1 Billy Bassett
Tom Pearson 		11 5,113
1893–94 Div 1 (1) 30 14 4 12 66 59 32 8th R1 Roddy McLeod 14 5,257
1894–95 Div 1 (1) 30 10 4 16 51 66 24 13th RU Tom Hutchinson 15 6,654
1895–96 Div 1 (1) 30 6 7 17 30 59 19 16th[d] R3 Roddy McLeod
Billy Richards 		6 6,215
1896–97 Div 1 (1) 30 10 6 14 33 56 26 12th R2 Albert Flewitt 6 6,190
1897–98 Div 1 (1) 30 11 10 9 44 45 32 7th R3 Ben Garfield 12 7,013
1898–99 Div 1 (1) 34 12 6 16 42 57 30 14th R3 Billy Richards 10 5,350
1899–1900 Div 1 (1) 34 11 8 15 43 51 30 13th R3 Chippy Simmons 12 5,695
1900–01 Div 1 (1) ↓ 34 7 8 19 35 62 22 18th SF Dick Roberts
Chippy Simmons 		5 13,090
1901–02 Div 2 (2) ↑ 34 25 5 4 82 29 55 1st R1 Chippy Simmons 23 7,822
1902–03 Div 1 (1) 34 16 4 14 54 53 36 7th R1 Billy Lee 10 17,128
1903–04 Div 1 (1) ↓ 34 7 10 17 36 60 24 18th R1 Chippy Simmons 8 13,356
1904–05 Div 2 (2) 34 13 4 17 56 48 30 10th QR Walter Jack 13 4,884
1905–06 Div 2 (2) 38 22 8 8 79 36 52 4th R1 Adam Haywood 21 8,637
1906–07 Div 2 (2) 38 21 5 12 83 45 47 4th SF Fred Shinton 28 12,652
1907–08 Div 2 (2) 38 19 9 10 61 39 47 5th R2 Fred Buck 18 11,469
1908–09 Div 2 (2) 38 19 13 6 56 27 51 3rd[e] R2 Charlie Hewitt 15 18,644
1909–10 Div 2 (2) 38 16 5 17 58 56 37 11th R3 Fred Buck 16 12,021
1910–11 Div 2 (2) ↑ 38 22 9 7 67 41 53 1st R2 Sid Bowser 22 16,601
1911–12 Div 1 (1) 38 15 9 14 43 47 39 9th RU Bob Pailor 10 19,358
1912–13 Div 1 (1) 38 13 12 13 57 50 38 10th R1 Bob Pailor 16 18,280
1913–14 Div 1 (1) 38 15 13 10 46 42 43 5th R3 Alf Bentley 16 21,734
1914–15 Div 1 (1) 38 15 10 13 49 43 40 10th R1 Fred Morris 11 11,403
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.
1919–20 Div 1 (1) 42 28 4 10 104 47 60 1st R1 Charity Shield[f] W Fred Morris 37 31,968
1920–21 Div 1 (1) 42 13 14 15 54 58 40 14th R1 Fred Morris 16 30,024
1921–22 Div 1 (1) 42 15 10 17 51 63 40 13th R3 Stan Davies 14 23,673
1922–23 Div 1 (1) 42 17 11 14 58 49 45 7th R3 Stan Davies 20 19,960
1923–24 Div 1 (1) 42 12 14 16 51 62 38 16th R4 Bobby Blood 9 18,620
1924–25 Div 1 (1) 42 23 10 9 58 34 56 2nd R4 George James 25 23,167
1925–26 Div 1 (1) 42 16 8 18 79 78 40 13th R4 Stan Davies 19 19,860
1926–27 Div 1 (1) ↓ 42 11 8 23 65 86 30 22nd R3 Joe Carter
Stan Davies 		15 21,710
1927–28 Div 2 (2) 42 17 12 13 90 70 46 8th R3 Jimmy Cookson 38 20,263
1928–29 Div 2 (2) 42 19 8 15 80 79 46 7th QF Jimmy Cookson
Tommy Glidden 		21 13,696
1929–30 Div 2 (2) 42 21 5 16 105 73 47 6th R3 Jimmy Cookson 33 14,900
1930–31[g] Div 2 (2) ↑ 42 22 10 10 83 49 54 2nd W W. G. Richardson 18 23,389
1931–32 Div 1 (1) 42 20 6 16 77 55 46 6th R3 Charity Shield RU W. G. Richardson 27 25,404
1932–33 Div 1 (1) 42 20 9 13 83 70 49 4th R4 W. G. Richardson 30 24,247
1933–34 Div 1 (1) 42 17 10 15 78 70 44 7th R3 W. G. Richardson 26 21,488
1934–35 Div 1 (1) 42 17 10 15 83 83 44 9th RU W. G. Richardson 25 23,767
1935–36 Div 1 (1) 42 16 6 20 89 88 38 18th R4 W. G. Richardson 39[h] 24,616
1936–37 Div 1 (1) 42 16 6 20 77 98 38 16th SF Harry Jones 17 23,277
1937–38 Div 1 (1) ↓ 42 14 8 20 74 91 36 22nd R4 W. G. Richardson 15 23,829
1938–39 Div 2 (2) 42 18 9 15 89 72 45 10th R4 Harry Jones 18 19,611
1939–40[i] Div 2 (2)
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.
1945–46 n/a[j] R4
1946–47 Div 2 (2) 42 20 8 14 88 75 48 7th R4 Dave Walsh 28 28,621
1947–48 Div 2 (2) 42 18 9 15 63 58 45 7th R4 Dave Walsh 22 31,618
1948–49 Div 2 (2) ↑ 42 24 8 10 69 39 56 2nd QF Dave Walsh 23 34,379
1949–50 Div 1 (1) 42 14 12 16 47 53 40 14th R3 Dave Walsh 15 39,588
1950–51 Div 1 (1) 42 13 11 18 53 61 37 16th R3 Ronnie Allen 10 32,245
1951–52 Div 1 (1) 42 14 13 15 74 77 41 13th R5 Ronnie Allen 32 30,332
1952–53 Div 1 (1) 42 21 8 13 66 60 50 4th R4 Ronnie Allen 20 32,701
1953–54 Div 1 (1) 42 22 9 11 86 63 53 2nd W Johnny Nicholls 28 40,083
1954–55 Div 1 (1) 42 16 8 18 76 96 40 17th R4 Charity Shield WS[k] Ronnie Allen 27 32,859
1955–56 Div 1 (1) 42 18 5 19 58 70 41 13th R5 Ronnie Allen 17 28,589
1956–57 Div 1 (1) 42 14 14 14 59 61 42 11th SF Derek Kevan 16 23,676
1957–58 Div 1 (1) 42 18 14 10 92 70 50 4th QF Bobby Robson 24 33,741
1958–59 Div 1 (1) 42 18 13 11 88 68 49 5th R5 Derek Kevan 26 33,189
1959–60 Div 1 (1) 42 19 11 12 83 57 49 4th R5 Derek Kevan 26 28,362
1960–61 Div 1 (1) 42 18 5 19 67 71 41 10th R3 DNE[l] Derek Kevan 18 26,088
1961–62 Div 1 (1) 42 15 13 14 83 67 43 9th R5 DNE Derek Kevan[m] 33 22,102
1962–63 Div 1 (1) 42 16 7 19 71 79 39 14th R4 DNE Alec Jackson
Derek Kevan 		14 19,547
1963–64 Div 1 (1) 42 16 11 15 70 61 43 10th R4 DNE Clive Clark 16 22,362
1964–65 Div 1 (1) 42 13 13 16 70 65 39 14th R3 DNE Clive Clark 11 20,453
1965–66 Div 1 (1) 42 19 12 11 91 69 50 6th R3 W[n] Jeff Astle
John Kaye 		18 20,496
1966–67 Div 1 (1) 42 16 7 19 77 73 39 13th R4 RU Inter-Cities Fairs Cup R3 Clive Clark 19 24,257
1967–68 Div 1 (1) 42 17 12 13 75 62 46 8th W R2 Jeff Astle 26 27,561
1968–69 Div 1 (1) 42 16 11 15 64 67 43 10th SF R3 Charity Shield RU Jeff Astle 21 26,582
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QF
1969–70 Div 1 (1) 42 14 9 19 58 66 37 16th R3 RU Anglo-Italian Cup Grp Jeff Astle 25 28,591
1970–71 Div 1 (1) 42 10 15 17 58 75 35 17th R4 R4 Anglo-Italian Cup Grp Tony Brown 28 26,606
Texaco Cup R1
1971–72 Div 1 (1) 42 12 11 19 42 54 35 16th R3 R2 Watney Cup RU Tony Brown 17 27,186
1972–73 Div 1 (1) ↓ 42 9 10 23 38 62 28 22nd R5 R3 Texaco Cup R2 Tony Brown 12 22,340
1973–74 Div 2 (2) 42 14 16 12 48 45 44 8th R5 R3 Tony Brown 19 16,466
1974–75 Div 2 (2) 42 18 9 15 54 42 45 6th R4 R3 Texaco Cup Grp Tony Brown 12 12,805
1975–76 Div 2 (2) ↑ 42 20 13 9 50 33 53 3rd R5 R2 Anglo-Scottish Cup Grp Alistair Brown 10 17,955
1976–77 Div 1 (1) 42 16 13 13 62 56 45 7th R3 R3 Anglo-Scottish Cup Grp David Cross 12 25,573
1977–78 Div 1 (1) 42 18 14 10 62 53 50 6th SF R4 Tennent Caledonian Cup W Tony Brown 19 24,521
1978–79 Div 1 (1) 42 24 11 7 72 35 59 3rd R5 R2 UEFA Cup QF Alistair Brown 18 27,211
Tennent Caledonian Cup SF[o]
1979–80 Div 1 (1) 42 11 19 12 54 50 41 10th R3 R4 UEFA Cup R1 Peter Barnes 15 23,214
1980–81 Div 1 (1) 42 20 12 10 60 42 52 4th R4 QF Cyrille Regis 14 21,236
1981–82 Div 1 (1) 42 11 11 20 46 57 44[p] 17th SF SF UEFA Cup R1 Cyrille Regis 17 17,694
1982–83 Div 1 (1) 42 15 12 15 51 49 57 11th R4 R2 Cyrille Regis 9 15,966
1983–84 Div 1 (1) 42 14 9 19 48 62 51 17th R5 R4 Garry Thompson 13 14,692
1984–85 Div 1 (1) 42 16 7 19 58 62 55 12th R3 R4 Garry Thompson 19 14,470
1985–86 Div 1 (1) ↓ 42 4 12 26 35 89 24 22nd R3 R4 Full Members' Cup ASF Imre Varadi 9 12,306
1986–87 Div 2 (2) 42 13 12 17 51 49 51 15th R3 R2 Full Members' Cup R1 Garth Crooks 11 9,280
1987–88 Div 2 (2) 44 12 11 21 50 69 47 20th R3 R1 Full Members' Cup R2 Andy Gray 10 10,126
1988–89 Div 2 (2) 46 18 18 10 65 41 72 9th R3 R1 Full Members' Cup R1 Don Goodman 15 12,887
1989–90 Div 2 (2) 46 12 15 19 67 71 51 20th R5 R4 Full Members' Cup R1 Don Goodman 21 11,656
1990–91 Div 2 (2) ↓ 46 10 18 18 52 61 48 23rd R3 R1 Full Members' Cup R1 Gary Bannister 13 12,136
1991–92 Div 3 (3) 46 19 14 13 64 49 71 7th[q] R2 R1 Associate Members' Cup R1 Gary Robson 9 12,711
1992–93 Div 2[r] (3) ↑ 46 25 10 11 88 54 85 4th[s] R3 R1 Football League Trophy R3 Bob Taylor 30 15,781
1993–94 Div 1 (2) 46 13 12 18 60 69 51 21st R1 R2 Anglo-Italian Cup Grp Bob Taylor 18 17,232
1994–95 Div 1 (2) 46 16 10 20 51 57 58 19th R3 R1 Andy Hunt 13 15,304
1995–96 Div 1 (2) 46 16 12 18 60 68 60 11th R3 R2 Anglo-Italian Cup AF Bob Taylor 17 15,367
1996–97 Div 1 (2) 46 14 15 17 68 72 57 16th R3 R1 Andy Hunt
Paul Peschisolido 		15 15,269
1997–98 Div 1 (2) 46 16 13 17 50 56 61 10th R4 R3 Lee Hughes 14 16,922
1998–99 Div 1 (2) 46 16 11 19 69 76 59 12th R3 R1 Lee Hughes 31 14,900
1999–2000 Div 1 (2) 46 10 19 17 43 60 49 21st R3 R3 Lee Hughes 12 14,719
2000–01 Div 1 (2) 46 21 11 14 60 52 74 6th[t] R3 R2 Lee Hughes 21 17,803
2001–02 Div 1 (2) ↑ 46 27 8 11 61 29 89 2nd QF R3 Scott Dobie 10 21,052
2002–03 Prem (1) ↓ 38 6 8 24 29 65 26 19th R4 R3 Danny Dichio
Scott Dobie 		5 26,731
2003–04 Div 1 (2) ↑ 46 25 11 10 64 42 86 2nd R3 QF Lee Hughes 11 24,785
2004–05 Prem (1) 38 6 16 16 36 61 34 17th R4 R2 Robert Earnshaw 11 26,002
2005–06 Prem (1) ↓ 38 7 9 22 31 58 30 19th R3 R4 Nathan Ellington
Nwankwo Kanu 		5 25,419
2006–07 Chmp[u] (2) 46 22 10 14 81 55 76 4th[v] R5 R3 Diomansy Kamara 20 20,763
2007–08 Chmp (2) ↑ 46 23 12 11 88 55 81 1st SF R3 Kevin Phillips[8][9] 22 22,311
2008–09 Prem (1) ↓ 38 8 8 22 36 67 32 20th R4 R2 Chris Brunt 8 25,828
2009–10 Chmp (2) ↑ 46 26 13 7 89 48 91 2nd R5 R3 Chris Brunt
Graham Dorrans[10] 		13 22,199
2010–11 Prem (1) 38 12 11 15 56 71 47 11th R3 QF Peter Odemwingie 15 24,683
2011–12 Prem (1) 38 13 8 17 45 52 47 10th R4 R3 Peter Odemwingie 10 24,903
2012–13 Prem (1) 38 14 7 17 53 57 49 8th R3 R3 Romelu Lukaku 17 25,366
2013–14 Prem (1) 38 7 15 16 43 59 36 17th R3 R3 Saido Berahino
Stéphane Sessègnon 		5 25,196
2014–15 Prem (1) 38 11 11 16 38 51 44 13th QF R4 Saido Berahino 14 25,064
2015–16 Prem (1) 38 10 13 15 34 48 43 14th R5 R3 Salomón Rondón 9 24,631
2016–17 Prem (1) 38 12 9 17 43 51 45 10th R3 R2 Salomón Rondón 8 23,876
2017–18 Prem (1) ↓ 38 6 13 19 31 56 31 20th R5 R3 Jay Rodriguez
Salomón Rondón 		7 24,520
2018–19 Chmp (2) 46 23 11 12 87 62 80 4th[w] R4 R3 Dwight Gayle 23 24,148
2019–20 Chmp (2) ↑ 46 22 17 7 77 45 83 2nd R5 R1 Charlie Austin
Hal Robson-Kanu 		10 24,053[x]
2020–21 Prem (1) ↓ 38 5 11 22 35 76 26 19th R3 R3 Matheus Pereira 11 5,371[y]
2021–22 Champ (2) 46 18 13 15 52 45 67 10th R3 R2 Karlan Grant 18 21,875
2022–23 Champ (2) 46 18 12 16 59 53 66 9th R4 R2 Brandon Thomas-Asante
Daryl Dike 		7 22,625

Footnotes

  1. ^ Goals in regular league competition only, excluding play-offs or test matches. Sourced from Matthews (2007) up to and including the 2006–07 season.
  2. ^ West Bromwich Albion were one of the twelve founding members of the Football League.
  3. ^ The Football League expanded to two divisions in 1892, absorbing most of the teams from the Football Alliance. The league previously known simply as the Football League became the Football League First Division.
  4. ^ Albion retained their place in Division One by winning two and drawing one of four test matches, playing home and away against Manchester City and Liverpool.
  5. ^ Albion missed out on promotion on goal average, by 0.0056 of a goal.
  6. ^ The Charity Shield was first played for in 1908. In its early years, the match took place at the end of the season, but was subsequently moved to September or October of the following season. From 1959 onwards it has been played in August, prior to the beginning of the league programme. It was renamed the FA Community Shield in 2002.[5]
  7. ^ West Bromwich Albion completed the "double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion in the same season. As of May 2008 they remain the only English club to have achieved this feat.[6]
  8. ^ Club record for most league goals (39) and most goals in total (40) scored in a season.
  9. ^ The 1939–40 season was abandoned in early September and all results annulled. Albion's record at the time of the annulment was P3 W1 D1 L1 F8 A8 Pts3.
  10. ^ The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League did not resume until the following season.
  11. ^ From 1939 to 1993, in the event of a draw, the Charity Shield would be shared between the two competing teams, with each team having possession of the trophy for six months.
  12. ^ The League Cup started in 1960–61. Most First Division clubs took part in it from the first season, but Albion did not enter until 1965–66, when the FA offered the winners a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[7]
  13. ^ Kevan was joint-top Division One scorer with Ray Crawford of Ipswich Town.
  14. ^ Albion won the League Cup at their first attempt.
  15. ^ Albion lost 2–0 to Heart of Midlothian in the third place play-off.
  16. ^ The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win instead of two.
  17. ^ Lowest League finish.
  18. ^ With the advent of the Premier League, the third tier of English football became known as the Second Division.
  19. ^ Promoted following 3–0 victory over Port Vale in the play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium.
  20. ^ Lost 5–2 on aggregate in play-off semi-finals to Bolton Wanderers.
  21. ^ In 2004–05 the Football League First Division had been renamed the Football League Championship as part of a re-branding exercise by the Football League.
  22. ^ Lost 1–0 to Derby County in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
  23. ^ Lost 3–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw on aggregate to Aston Villa in the play-off semi-finals.
  24. ^ The remaining nine league fixtures of the 2019–20 season were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
  25. ^ All but one league fixtures of the 2020–21 season were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ McOwan pp. 7–8.
  2. ^ "In the record book". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  3. ^ McOwan p. 30.
  4. ^ Matthews (1987) pp. 202–206.
  5. ^ Ross, James (22 August 2008). "England – List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  6. ^ Matthews (2007) p. 23.
  7. ^ McOwan p. 86.
  8. ^ "West Bromwich Albion top goalscorers 2007–08". West Bromwich Albion F.C. Retrieved 16 November 2008.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Sutcliffe, Richard (4 June 2008). "Leeds United join clamour for Kevin Phillips". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  10. ^ "Player statistics 2009/10". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 2 May 2010. Archived from the original on 6 April 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.

External links

West Bromwich Albion Football Club
West Bromwich Albion F.C. seasons
Lists of English men's football seasons by club
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