List of West Bromwich Albion F.C. seasons explained

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 125 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.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

Key to league record:

• Pld = Matches played
• W = Matches won
• D = Matches drawn
• L = Matches lost
• GF = Goals for
• GA = Goals against
• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position

Key to divisions:

• FL = Football League
• Div 1 = Football League First Division
• Div 2 = Football League Second Division
• Div 3 = Football League Third Division
• Prem = Premier League
• Chmp = EFL Championship
• N/A = Not applicable

Key to rounds:

• DNE = Did not enter
• QR = Qualifying round
• Grp = Group stage
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• R3 = Round 3
• R4 = Round 4
• R5 = Round 5

• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-finals
• ASF = Area semi-finals
• AF = Area final
• RU = Runners-up
• WS = Shared
• W = Winners

bgcolor=gold

Winners

bgcolor=silver

Runners-up

bgcolor=#DFD

Promoted

bgcolor=#FCC

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)		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									bgcolor=silver	RU
1886–87	N/A									bgcolor=silver	RU
1887–88	N/A									bgcolor=gold	W
1888–89	FL	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	bgcolor=gold	W				Tom Pearson	13	7,700
1892–93	Div 1 (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	bgcolor=silver	RU				Tom Hutchinson	15	6,654
1895–96	Div 1 (1)	30	6	7	17	30	59	19	16th	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	34	7	8	19	35	62	22	bgcolor=#FCC	18th	SF				Dick Roberts Chippy Simmons	5	13,090
1901–02	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (2)	34	25	5	4	82	29	55	bgcolor=gold	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	34	7	10	17	36	60	24	bgcolor=#FCC	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	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	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (2)	38	22	9	7	67	41	53	bgcolor=gold	1st	R2				Sid Bowser	22	16,601
1911–12	Div 1 (1)	38	15	9	14	43	47	39	9th	bgcolor=silver	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	bgcolor=gold	1st	R1		Charity Shield	bgcolor=gold	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	bgcolor=silver	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	42	11	8	23	65	86	30	bgcolor=#FCC	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	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (2)	42	22	10	10	83	49	54	bgcolor=#DFD	2nd	bgcolor=gold	W				W. G. Richardson	18	23,389
1931–32	Div 1 (1)	42	20	6	16	77	55	46	6th	R3		Charity Shield	bgcolor=silver	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	bgcolor=silver	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	24,616
1936–37	Div 1 (1)	42	16	6	20	77	98	38	16th	SF				Harry Jones	17	23,277
1937–38	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	42	14	8	20	74	91	36	bgcolor=#FCC	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	Div 2 (2)
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.
1945–46	n/a									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	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (2)	42	24	8	10	69	39	56	bgcolor=#DFD	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	bgcolor=silver	2nd	bgcolor=gold	W				Johnny Nicholls	28	40,083
1954–55	Div 1 (1)	42	16	8	18	76	96	40	17th	R4		Charity Shield	bgcolor=gold	WS	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			Derek Kevan	18	26,088
1961–62	Div 1 (1)	42	15	13	14	83	67	43	9th	R5	DNE			Derek Kevan	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	bgcolor=gold	W			Jeff Astle John Kaye	18	20,496
1966–67	Div 1 (1)	42	16	7	19	77	73	39	13th	R4	bgcolor=silver	RU	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	R3	Clive Clark	19	24,257
1967–68	Div 1 (1)	42	17	12	13	75	62	46	8th	bgcolor=gold	W	R2			Jeff Astle	26	27,561
1968–69	Div 1 (1)	42	16	11	15	64	67	43	10th	SF	R3	Charity Shield	bgcolor=silver	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	bgcolor=silver	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	bgcolor=silver	RU	Tony Brown	17	27,186
1972–73	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	42	9	10	23	38	62	28	bgcolor=#FCC	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	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (2)	42	20	13	9	50	33	53	bgcolor=#DFD	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	bgcolor=gold	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
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	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 1 (1)	42	4	12	26	35	89	24	bgcolor=#FCC	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Div 2 (2)	46	10	18	18	52	61	48	bgcolor=#FCC	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	R2	R1	Associate Members' Cup	R1	Gary Robson	9	12,711
1992–93	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 2 (3)	46	25	10	11	88	54	85	bgcolor=#DFD	4th	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	R3	R2			Lee Hughes	21	17,803
2001–02	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 1 (2)	46	27	8	11	61	29	89	bgcolor=#DFD	2nd	QF	R3			Scott Dobie	10	21,052
2002–03	bgcolor=#FCC	Prem (1)	38	6	8	24	29	65	26	bgcolor=#FCC	19th	R4	R3			Danny Dichio Scott Dobie	5	26,731
2003–04	bgcolor=#DFD	Div 1 (2)	46	25	11	10	64	42	86	bgcolor=#DFD	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Prem (1)	38	7	9	22	31	58	30	bgcolor=#FCC	19th	R3	R4			Nathan Ellington Nwankwo Kanu	5	25,419
2006–07	Chmp (2)	46	22	10	14	81	55	76	4th	R5	R3			Diomansy Kamara	20	20,763
2007–08	bgcolor=#DFD	Chmp (2)	46	23	12	11	88	55	81	bgcolor=gold	1st	SF	R3			Kevin Phillips^[5] ^[6]	22	22,311
2008–09	bgcolor=#FCC	Prem (1)	38	8	8	22	36	67	32	bgcolor=#FCC	20th	R4	R2			Chris Brunt	8	25,828
2009–10	bgcolor=#DFD	Chmp (2)	46	26	13	7	89	48	91	bgcolor=#DFD	2nd	R5	R3			Chris Brunt Graham Dorrans^[7]	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	bgcolor=#FCC	Prem (1)	38	6	13	19	31	56	31	bgcolor=#FCC	20th	R5	R3			Jay Rodriguez Salomón Rondón	7	24,520
2018–19	Chmp (2)	46	23	11	12	87	62	80	4th	R4	R3			Dwight Gayle	23	24,148
2019–20	bgcolor=#DFD	Chmp (2)	46	22	17	7	77	45	83	bgcolor=#DFD	2nd	R5	R1			Charlie Austin Hal Robson-Kanu	10	24,053
2020–21	bgcolor=#FCC	Prem (1)	38	5	11	22	35	76	26	bgcolor=#FCC	19th	R3	R3			Matheus Pereira	11	5,371
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
2023–24	Champ (2)	46	21	12	13	70	47	75	5th	R4	R1			Brandon Thomas-Asante	11	24,057

• Seasons spent at Level 1 of football league system: 81
• Seasons spent at Level 2 of football league system: 42
• Seasons spent at Level 3 of football league system: 2
• Seasons spent at Level 4 of football league system: 0

References

General

• Book: McOwan, Gavin . The Essential History of West Bromwich Albion . Headline . 2002 . 188–293 . 0-7553-1146-9.
• Book: Matthews, Tony . Mackenzie, Colin . Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987 . Breedon Books . 1987 . 0-907969-23-2.
• Book: Matthews, Tony . West Bromwich Albion: The Complete Record . Breedon Books . 2007 . 167–397 . 978-1-85983-565-4.
• Web site: English League Leading Goalscorers 1889-2007 . . 7 November 2008 . 16 November 2008.
• West Bromwich Albion at Soccerbase.com (Results/Fixtures, League Table)

Specific

External links

• Web site: West Bromwich Albion . Football Club History Database . Richard Rundle . 5 December 2008.

Notes and References

1. McOwan pp. 7–8.
2. Web site: In the record book . West Bromwich Albion F.C. . 14 October 2008 . 16 November 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071217182406/http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0%2C%2C10366~1022925%2C00.html . 17 December 2007.
3. McOwan p. 30.
4. Matthews (1987) pp. 202–206.
5. Web site: West Bromwich Albion top goalscorers 2007–08 . West Bromwich Albion F.C. . 16 November 2008.
6. News: Sutcliffe . Richard . Leeds United join clamour for Kevin Phillips . . 4 June 2008 . 16 November 2008.
7. Web site: Player statistics 2009/10 . West Bromwich Albion F.C. . 2 May 2010 . 5 May 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100406020144/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/Stats/0%2C%2C10366~1363967%2C00.html . 6 April 2010.