West Bromwich Albion
Also written as West Brom.
The club
West Bromwich Albion were founded in 1878 and were a founder member of the Football League in 1888. They play at The Hawthorns, capacity 26,850. It is the highest ground above sea level of any Premier League or Football League stadium, at 551 feet. The club are the Baggies, also the Throstles and the Albion, and play in navy blue and white stripes.
Recent seasons
Albion were Championship runners-up in 2019/20 with 83 points and went up, then went straight back down, 19th in the Premier League in 2020/21 with 26 points. Since then they have been a Championship club, and the trend has been steadily downward. They finished 10th in 2021/22 with 67 points, 9th in 2022/23 with 66, and 5th in 2023/24 with 75, losing the play-off semi-final to Southampton. That was the high point. They were 9th in 2024/25 with 64 points, and 21st in 2025/26 with 51 points from 46 games, 13 wins, 14 draws and 19 defeats, 48 goals scored and 58 conceded. That included a two-point deduction imposed on 24 April 2026 for breaching EFL Profit and Sustainability Rules. They finished one place and four points clear of relegation to League One.
The 2025/26 season went through three managers. Ryan Mason began it and was sacked on 6 January 2026 after 27 matches. James Morrison took interim charge for five days. Eric Ramsay was appointed on 11 January from Minnesota United on a two-and-a-half-year deal and was dismissed on 24 February after nine games without a win. Morrison returned as interim on 4 March and was made permanent on 30 April once survival was secured.
Honours and landmarks
Albion have won the Football League once, in 1919/20, the FA Cup five times, in 1888, 1892, 1931, 1954 and 1968, and the League Cup once, in 1966. The 1930/31 side won the FA Cup and won promotion in the same season, a double no English club has managed before or since. Albion were also the first English professional team to play in China, in 1978.
Record attendance is 64,815 against Arsenal in an FA Cup sixth round tie on 6 March 1937. Tony Brown holds both the appearance record, 720 games between 1963 and 1981, and the scoring record with 279 goals, 218 of them in the league. Record fee paid is £15,000,000 to RB Leipzig for Oliver Burke on 25 August 2017; record fee received is £15,000,000 from Stoke City for Saido Berahino on 28 January 2017. The worst modern season on record is 1985/86, 24 points from 42 First Division games.
Notable scorelines
Record victory: 12-0 against Darwen in the First Division on 4 April 1892, which remains a joint record score in the English top flight. Record defeat: 3-10 against Stoke City in the First Division on 4 February 1937, in the same season as the record crowd.
Head-to-head notes
Albion do not publish all-time head-to-head records and none was established for any 2026/27 opponent. Two connections are live this season. The EFL Cup first round is away at Rotherham United, who were relegated from League One in 2025/26 in 23rd place with 41 points and are now a League Two club; Albion signed goalkeeper Matt Ingram from Oxford United, another club relegated from the Championship last season, on a free transfer on 1 July. The league opens away at Norwich City, who finished ninth in the Championship in 2025/26 with 65 points, ten places and 14 points above Albion.
Right now (2026/27)
James Morrison is the head coach, appointed permanently on 30 April 2026 after two spells as interim, so 2026/27 is his first full season.
Recruitment has been busy and mostly cheap. Centre-forward Barney Stewart signed from Falkirk on 17 June for £1,300,000. Centre-forward Jimmy-Jay Morgan joined from Chelsea on 18 June for £4,000,000, the summer's biggest outlay. Goalkeeper Matt Ingram arrived from Oxford United on a free transfer on 1 July and centre-back Carter Pinnington from Liverpool on a free the same day. Goalkeeper William Rutter came from Brighton and Hove Albion on 2 July. Left-back Conor Townsend returned to the club from Ipswich Town on a free transfer on 24 July. Right-back Nolan Galves signed from Rodez on 28 July for an undisclosed fee.
Outgoings have been minimal. Goalkeeper Josh Griffiths joined Stoke City on 25 June and centre-forward Eseosa Sule went to St Mirren for a nominal fee on 14 July. Winger Akeel Higgins joined Wigan Athletic on a free transfer on 3 July, a move recorded on Wigan's side.
Pre-season was played largely behind closed doors. Albion beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 at St George's Park on 11 July, beat Bromley 4-1 in Ferreiras, Portugal on 17 July, lost 3-1 to Notts County at their training centre on 25 July and beat Shrewsbury Town 4-1 at the New Meadow the same day, which is to say two squads played on one afternoon. They were due at Peterborough United on 1 August.
The season starts with the EFL Cup first round away at Rotherham United on Saturday 8 August 2026. The Championship campaign opens away at Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday 15 August 2026 at 3pm.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C._records_and_statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C._seasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_West_Bromwich_Albion_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_League_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Wigan_Athletic_F.C._season
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.