The 2020–21 season was the 143rd year in existence of West Bromwich Albion and their first season back in the Premier League after a two-year absence, following promotion from the Championship in the previous season. They also participated in the FA Cup and the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. On 16 December 2020, Albion parted company with head coach Slaven Bilić, after winning one of the first 13 league games. Sam Allardyce was confirmed as his successor later that day, with the former England manager taking charge of his eighth Premier League club, a competition record. West Brom were relegated back to the Championship, after just one season in the Premier League, following an away defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 9 May 2021. This equalled Norwich City's record of five Premier League relegations and was the first time that a team managed by Sam Allardyce had been relegated from the top flight.

Background

Prior to the start of the season, sports journalists were pessimistic about West Bromwich Albion's chances of surviving relegation.

Phil McNulty Phil McNulty is a Liverpool-born sports journalist. He has been BBC Sport’s chief football writer since July 2000. McNulty attended Roman Catholic secondary school De La Salle Grammar in Liverpool. He covered the FIFA World Cups for the BBC in ...

, the BBC's chief football writer, thought that Albion would finish in 19th place, while

Henry Winter Henry Winter (born 18 February 1963) is an English sports journalist. He is currently the Chief Football Writer for ''The Times'', and previously a Football Correspondent for ''The Daily Telegraph''. Education Winter was educated at Westmi ...

of '' The Times'' also forecast relegation. '' The Guardian'' predicted a 20th-place finish, while identifying Matheus Pereira as Albion's key player. Restrictions stemming from the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

created uncertainty surrounding the reintroduction of supporters to football stadia. As a result, the club did not issue full season tickets in 2020–21. Albion unveiled three new kits for the season, designed in tribute to the " barcode" design worn by the club's promotion winning team of

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

. The home kit featured navy blue and white striped shirts, white shorts and navy blue socks, while the away colours comprised green and yellow striped shirts, green shorts and yellow socks. The

third kit A third jersey, alternative jersey, third kit, third sweater or alternative uniform is a jersey or uniform that a sports team can wear instead of its home outfit or its away outfit during games, often when the colors of two competing teams' ot ...

was made up of red and yellow stripes, red shorts and yellow socks. The kits were manufactured by

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

and were sponsored by Ideal Boilers. Alongside all other Premier League clubs, West Bromwich Albion's players wore a "No Room For Racism" badge on their shirts; this replaced the " Black Lives Matter" badges worn at the end of the previous Premier League season.

First-team squad

Transfers

Transfers in

Loans in

Loans out

Transfers out

Friendly matches

Competitions

Premier League

Following their promotion from the

2019–20 EFL Championship The 2019–20 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the 28th season under its current league division format. Leeds ...

, West Bromwich Albion are competing in the

2020–21 Premier League The 2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992 and the 122nd season of top-flight English football overall. The season w ...

, the 29th season of English football's top division since its breakaway from the Football League in 1992. It is Albion's 13th season in the Premier League, 81st season in the top division of English football and their 122nd season of league football in all. Albion defeated Chelsea 5–2 in April in what was their first victory at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

since 1978.

League table

Results summary

Results by matchday

Matches

The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 20 August.

FA Cup

The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

clubs all entering the competition.

EFL Cup

The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on 6 September, live on Sky Sports by

Phil Babb Philip Andrew Babb (born 30 November 1970) is a sports television pundit and former professional football player and manager. As a player he was a central defender who made over 370 league appearances during his career, most notably spending ...

Statistics

, - !colspan=14, ''Players who left the club:''

Goals record

Disciplinary record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season West Bromwich Albion F.C. seasons West Bromwich Albion