West Bromwich Albion Football Club are an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The club was founded in 1878 as West Bromwich Strollers, by workers from George Salter's Spring Works and turned professional in 1885. A founder member of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1888, the team has spent the majority of its history in the top division of English football. This list encompasses records set by the club, their managers and their players. The player records section includes details of the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first-team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Albion players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club. Attendance records at The Hawthorns, the club's home ground since 1900, are also included. Records generally refer only to first team, competitive matches in national or European competitions. Reserve matches, youth matches, friendlies, testimonials, war-time matches and regional competitions are not considered, except where indicated. The club's record appearance maker and goalscorer is Tony Brown, who scored 279 goals in 720 appearances between 1963 and 1981.

Player records

Appearances

*Youngest first-team league player: Charlie Wilson, 16 years 73 days, vs Oldham Athletic, First Division, 1 October 1921Rollin p. 399. *Youngest Premier League player:

Isaiah Brown Isaiah Jay Brown (born 7 January 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and is currently a free agent. He represented the England national under-20 team. Brown played for West Bromwich Albion's academ ...

, 16 years 117 days vs

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, 4 May 2013 *Oldest first-team player:

George Baddeley George Baddeley (8 May 1874 – July 1952) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke and West Bromwich Albion. Career Born in Fegg Hayes, Stoke-upon-Trent, Baddeley attended Fegg Hayes Church of England School. Afte ...

, 39 years 345 days, vs

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, First Division, 18 April 1914 *Oldest Premier League player:

Dean Kiely Dean Laurence Kiely (born 10 October 1970) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeping coach at Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Republic of Ireland national team. Born in England, he won elev ...

, 38 years 226 days vs Blackburn Rovers, 24 May 2009 *Most Premier League appearances: 269,

Chris Brunt Christopher Colin Brunt (born 14 December 1984) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and is the current West Bromwich Albion loan player manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders ...

*Most substitute appearances: 93,

Hal Robson-Kanu Thomas Henry Alex "Hal" Robson-Kanu (born 21 May 1989) is a Welsh inactive professional footballer who last played as a forward for West Bromwich Albion and the Wales national team. Although he initially played primarily on the wing, he was use ...

, 2016–21

Most appearances

:''Total appearances including substitute appearances are listed below, with the number of substitute appearances shown in parentheses.''McOwan pp. 294–317; Matthews (2007) pp. 409–428.

Goalscorers

*Most goals in a season: 40,

W. G. Richardson William "Ginger" Richardson (29 May 1909 – 29 March 1959) often referred to as W.G. Richardson and by the nickname 'Ginger' to avoid confusion with teammate Bill Richardson, was an English professional footballer, who played as a centre forw ...

, 1935–36 *Most league goals in a season: 39, W. G. Richardson, 1935–36 *Most league goals in one match: 6,

Jimmy Cookson James Cookson (6 December 1904 – 14th December 1970) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for Manchester City, Chesterfield, West Bromwich Albion, Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town. Life and care ...

, vs

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, 17 September 1927 *First league goal: Joe Wilson, vs

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, 8 September 1888 *First FA Cup hat-trick:

Jem Bayliss Albert Edward James Matthias Bayliss (1 August 1863 – 19 August 1933), known as Jem Bayliss, was an English footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, as well as the English national side. He captained the West Bromwich Albion side whic ...

, vs Old Westminsters, sixth round, 13 February 1886 *First league hat-trick: Tom Pearson, vs

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

, The Football League, 4 November 1889 *Most hat-tricks: 14, W. G. Richardson, 1931–1938 *Most Premier League goals: 30,

Peter Odemwingie Peter Osaze Odemwingie (born 15 July 1981) is a retired Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward and winger. Odemwingie grew up in Uzbekistan and Russia and began his career with Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier League. ...

*Oldest Premier League goalscorer:

Gareth McAuley Gareth Gerald McAuley ( ; born 5 December 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He represented Northern Ireland at senior international level, being capped on 80 occasions and scoring nine times ...

, 37 years 87 days, 25 February 2017 vs

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Top goalscorers

Tony Brown is the all-time top goalscorer for West Bromwich Albion. :''Appearances, including substitute appearances, are marked in parentheses.''

International caps

This section refers only to caps won while a West Bromwich Albion player. *First representative honour:

Bob Roberts ''Bob Roberts'' is a 1992 American Satire, satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senat ...

for North vs South, played in London on 26 January 1884 *First international cap: Bob Roberts for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, 19 March 1887 *Most capped player:

, 47 caps for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as a West Bromwich Albion player (65 caps in total) *Most capped player for England:

Jesse Pennington Jesse Pennington (23 August 1883 – 5 September 1970) was an English footballer in the early part of the 20th century. He was nicknamed "Peerless Pennington". Career Born in West Bromwich, Pennington was a left-back for West Bromwich Albion fo ...

, 25 caps as an Albion playerMatthews (2007) pp. 404–408. *First players to play in the World Cup Finals: Stuart Williams for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 39,234 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey t ...

and Don Howe, Bobby Robson and Derek Kevan for

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, both matches on 8 June 1958 at the 1958 World Cup finals. *First player to score in a World Cup Finals: Derek Kevan for England vs USSR in Gothenburg on 8 June 1958 at the 1958 World Cup finals.

Transfers

Highest transfer fees paid

Progression of record transfer fee paid

:''Transfers in bold are also British record transfers''

Highest transfer fees received

Managerial records

*First secretary-manager:

Louis Ford Louis Ford (born 1845 in West Bromwich) was a businessman, football administrator and football referee. Ford joined the committee of West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in the late 1880s, serving as honorary financial secretary from ...

(fulfilled the role from 1890 to 1892) *Longest serving secretary-manager:

Fred Everiss Fred Everiss (1882–1951) was secretary-manager of the English football club West Bromwich Albion for 46 years from 1902 to 1948, later serving the club as a director after retirement in 1948. Everiss led Albion to the League Title in the 1919 ...

(fulfilled the role from 1902 to 1948, an English record) *First full-time manager: Jack Smith (managed the club between 1948 and 1952) *Longest serving full-time manager: Vic Buckingham (managed the club from February 1953 to August 1959)

Club records

Goals

*Most league goals scored in a season: 105 in 42 matches,

, 1929–30 *Fewest league goals scored in a season: 29 in 38 matches,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, 2002–03 *Most league goals conceded in a season: 98 in 42 matches, First Division, 1936–37 *Fewest league goals conceded in a season: 27 in 38 matches, Second Division, 1908–09

Points

*Most points in a season: **Two points for a win: 60 (in 42 games in 1919–20), First Division **Three points for a win: 91 (in 46 games in 2009–10), Championship *Fewest points in a season: **Two points for a win: 12 (in 22 games in 1890–91, First Division) **Three points for a win: 24 (in 42 games in 1985–86, First Division)

Matches

Firsts

*First match: West Bromwich Strollers 0–0 Hudson's, a 12-a-side friendly match on 23 November 1878 *First competitive match: Calthorpe 2–3 West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham Senior Cup first round, 12 November 1881 *First FA Cup match: West Bromwich Albion 0–2 Wednesbury Town, first round, 10 November 1883 *First league match:

0–2 West Bromwich Albion,

, at the Victoria Ground, 8 September 1888Matthews (2007) p. 174. *First match at The Hawthorns: West Bromwich Albion 1–1 Derby County, 3 September 1900 *First floodlit match at The Hawthorns: West Bromwich Albion 1–1 Chelsea,

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, 18 September 1957 *First League Cup match: West Bromwich Albion 3–1

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

, second round, 22 September 1965 *First European match:

DOS Utrecht DHSC is a football club in the Ondiep district of Utrecht, Netherlands. The club plays in the 2022-23 Vierde Divisie. History VV DOS (1901–2004) Voetbalvereniging Door Oefening Sterk, in short VV DOS, was established in 1901. The club won ...

1–1 West Bromwich Albion,

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

, second round, 2 November 1966McOwan p. 258. *First Premier League match:

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

1–0 West Bromwich Albion, 17 August 2002

Wins

*Record league win: 12–0 vs Darwen, First Division, 4 April 1892 (English top division joint record) *Record Premier League win: 4–0 vs Everton, 19 November 2005; 5–1 vs

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, 12 February 2012; 4–0 vs

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, 25 February 2012; 4–0 vs

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, 28 September 2014; 4–0 vs

, 21 November 2016 *Record FA Cup win: 10–1 vs

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, third round, 2 March 1889 *Record League Cup win: 6–1 vs

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, fourth round replay, 10 November 1965 and 6–1 vs

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, second round, 14 September 1966 *Record European win: 4–0 vs

FC Dinamo București Fotbal Club Dinamo București (), commonly known as Dinamo București or simply Dinamo, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in Bucharest. Founded in 1948, they have spent almost List of unrelegated association f ...

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, second round second leg, 27 November 1968

Defeats

*Record league defeat: 3–10 vs

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, First Division, 4 February 1937 *Record Premier League defeat: 0–6 vs

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, 26 April 2003 and 0–6 vs Chelsea, 14 August 2010 *Record FA Cup defeat: 0–5 vs Leeds United, fourth round, 18 February 1967 *Record League Cup defeat: 0–6 vs

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 ...

, second round, 25 August 2021 *Record European defeat: 0–3 vs

Bologna F.C. 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two Co ...

, third round first leg, 1 February 1967

Consecutive results

*Record consecutive league wins: 11 (April – August 1930)McOwan p. 184. *Record consecutive league draws: 5 (August – October 1999) *Record consecutive league defeats: 11 (October – December 1995) *Record consecutive league games without defeat: 17 (December 1901 – March 1902; September – December 1957) *Record consecutive league games without a win: 20 (August 2017 – January 2018) *Record consecutive games without a win, all competitions: 21 (August 2017 – January 2018) *Record consecutive league games without defeat from the start of the season: 10 (August – September 2021) *Record consecutive games without a win from the start of the season: 12 (August – October 1985)

Attendances

Home attendances

:''Home attendance records listed are for games at The Hawthorns only (1900–present). For limited details of attendance records at Albion's previous grounds, see

West Bromwich Albion F.C. former grounds From their formation in 1878 as West Bromwich Strollers, until their move to The Hawthorns in 1900, West Bromwich Albion F.C. occupied five different grounds. All of these early grounds were close to the centre of West Bromwich. List of grounds ...

.'' *Highest league attendance: 60,945, vs

, First Division, 4 March 1950 *Lowest league attendance and lowest overall attendance: 1,050, vs Sheffield United, First Division, 30 April 1901 *Highest FA Cup attendance and highest overall attendance: 64,815, vs

, sixth round, 6 March 1937 *Lowest FA Cup attendance: 5,230 vs Leicester Fosse, preliminary round, 14 January 1905 *Highest League Cup attendance: 41,188, vs

, second round, 22 September 1965 *Lowest League Cup attendance: 6,288, vs

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, second round first leg, 24 September 1985 *Highest home European attendance: 35,118, vs Valencia CF,

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

fourth round second leg, 6 December 1978 *Lowest home European attendance: 16,745, vs

Grasshoppers Zurich Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

, UEFA Cup fourth round second leg, 30 September 1981 *Highest all-seated attendance: 27,751 vs

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Premier League, 15 May 2005

Away and neutral attendances

*Highest away European attendance: 95,300, vs

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, 7 March 1979Matthews (1987) p. 236. *Lowest away European attendance: 5,500, vs

, 2 November 1966 *Highest attendance at a neutral venue: 99,852 vs

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

1954 FA Cup Final The 1954 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, played on 1 May 1954 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 1953–54 staging of English football's primary cup com ...

, 1 May 1954

Footnotes

:A. As of May 2019, Brown is the third youngest player to appear in a Premier League match, after

Harvey Elliott Harvey Daniel James Elliott (born 4 April 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Liverpool. Having come up through Fulham's academy, Elliott made his first-team debut for Fulham in September 2 ...

and

Matthew Briggs Matthew Anthony Briggs (born 6 March 1991) is an English-born Guyanese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Gosport Borough and captains the Guyana national football team. Briggs began his career with Fulham, where he progres ...

. :B. The "Other" column constitutes goals and appearances (including those as a substitute) in the

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

, European Cup Winners' Cup,

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

, Watney Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup,

Tennent Caledonian Cup The Tennent Caledonian Cup (sponsored by Tennent Caledonian Breweries) was a short-lived preseason football tournament held at Ibrox Park from 1976 to 1979 and contested by teams from England and Scotland. Results 1976 ''Southampton beat Man ...

, Full Members Cup,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

and in play-offs and test matches. :C. The fee for Long may rise to £6.5m with add-on clauses. :D. The record was equalled by

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

when they beat Leicester Fosse by the same scoreline in April 1909. :E. Excludes Anglo-Italian Cup games

References

General * * * * * * Specific {{Lists of football records and statistics in England by club Records

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...