The season opened with five straight defeats before Newcastle were beaten 6-0. This was to be another season were results were hit and miss several senior players departed to be replaced by a younger squad of the older The worst performances of the season came at Chelsea and Lincoln. At Stamford Bridge, a poor Albion side gave in to a 1-7 defeat, with Jimmy Greaves scoring five times for Chelsea. The performance was so bad that six positional changes were made in the next game Don Howe reverting back to his favoured right back position Graham Williams back to Left back, Chuck Drury and Bobby Robson changing half back positions, Stuart Williams and Bobby Cram both losing their place's. A month later and the chance to salvage the season when Albion were drawn away to Lincoln City bottom of the Second Division, Albion as a team did not turn up that day and were deservedly beaten 3-1.
To many poor results plus all the chopping and changing of the side, meant that many of the older players were being left out of the side old favourites Barlow, Allen and Kennedy there was no consistency, with the younger players earning their places, a change of form at the right time Albion only dropped three points in the last eleven games to reach 10th place by the end of the season, A last match win at Tottenham, who had already won the championship and were shortly to complete the double gave some dignity back to what was again another season of should have done better.
The new players to make the first team and would make a big impact were in defence Graham Williams, previously a left-winger who had been converted, like his namesake Stuart, to a full-back. Joe Kennedy's place had gone to Stan Jones centre-half, who had been signed from Walsall outside-left from Queens Park Rangers, Clive Clark. Chippy Clark who signed at the end of the season and Bobby Hope, who had made his debut in the last game of the 1959-60 season at the age of only sixteen years and seven Hope became the midfield general, it was often said by opposing managers at this time that "if you stop Bobby Hope, you stop Albion",
Left to Right Back Row: Gordon Clark (Manager) Chuck Drury, Stuart Williams, Don Howe, Jock Wallace, Joe Kennedy, Bobby Robson, Dick Graham (Trainer) Graham Williams, Front Row: Alec Jackson, Davy Burnside, Ronnie Allen, Derek Kevan, Derek Hogg
20-08-1960
Sheff Wed
1-0
West Brom
24-08-1960
West Brom
1-2
Birmingham
27-08-1960
West Brom
2-4
Fulham
31-08-1960
Birmingham
3-1
West Brom
03-09-1960
Preston
2-1
West Brom
05-09-1960
West Brom
6-0
Newcastle
10-09-1960
West Brom
0-2
Burnley
14-09-1960
Newcastle
3-2
West Brom
17-09-1960
Nottm Forest
1-2
West Brom
24-09-1960
West Brom
6-3
Man City
01-10-1960
Arsenal
1-0
West Brom
08-10-1960
Bolton
0-1
West Brom
15-10-1960
West Brom
1-0
West Ham
22-10-1960
Leicester
2-2
West Brom
29-10-1960
West Brom
0-2
Aston Villa
05-11-1960
Everton
1-1
West Brom
12-11-1960
West Brom
1-2
Blackburn
19-11-1960
Man Utd
3-0
West Brom
26-11-1960
West Brom
1-3
Tottenham
03-12-1960
Chelsea
7-1
West Brom
10-12-1960
West Brom
3-1
Blackpool
17-12-1960
West Brom
2-2
Sheff Wed
26-12-1960
Cardiff
3-1
West Brom
27-12-1960
West Brom
1-1
Cardiff
31-12-1960
Fulham
1-2
West Brom
07-01-1961
FA Cup 3rd Rd
Lincoln
3-1
West Brom
14-01-1961
West Brom
3-1
Preston
21-01-1961
Burnley
0-1
West Brom
28-01-1961
Wolves
4-2
West Brom
04-02-1961
West Brom
1-2
Nottm Forest
11-02-1961
Man City
3-0
West Brom
18-02-1961
West Brom
2-3
Arsenal
25-02-1961
West Brom
3-2
Bolton
04-03-1961
West Ham
1-2
West Brom
11-03-1961
West Brom
1-0
Leicester
25-03-1961
West Brom
3-0
Everton
28-03-1961
Aston Villa
0-1
West Brom
01-04-1961
Blackpool
0-1
West Brom
03-04-1961
West Brom
2-1
Wolves
08-04-1961
West Brom
1-1
Man Utd
15-04-1961
Blackburn
2-1
West Brom
22-04-1961
West Brom
3-0
Chelsea
29-04-1961
Tottenham
1-2
West Brom
DIVISION ONE 1960 - 61
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
1
Tottenham Hotspur
42
31
4
7
115
55
2.091
66
2
Sheffield Wednesday
42
23
12
7
78
47
1.660
58
3
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
25
7
10
103
75
1.373
57
4
Burnley
42
22
7
13
102
77
1.325
51
5
Everton
42
22
6
14
87
69
1.261
50
6
Leicester City
42
18
9
15
87
70
1.243
45
7
Manchester United
42
18
9
15
88
76
1.158
45
8
Blackburn Rovers
42
15
13
14
77
76
1.013
43
9
Aston Villa
42
17
9
16
78
77
1.013
43
10
West Bromwich Albion
42
18
5
19
67
71
0.944
41
11
Arsenal
42
15
11
16
77
85
0.906
41
12
Chelsea
42
15
7
20
98
100
0.980
37
13
Manchester City
42
13
11
18
79
90
0.878
37
14
Nottingham Forest
42
14
9
19
62
78
0.795
37
15
Cardiff City
42
13
11
18
60
85
0.706
37
16
West Ham United
42
13
10
19
77
88
0.875
36
17
Fulham
42
14
8
20
72
95
0.758
36
18
Bolton Wanderers
42
12
11
19
58
73
0.795
35
19
Birmingham City
42
14
6
22
62
84
0.738
34
20
Blackpool
42
12
9
21
68
73
0.932
33
21
Newcastle United
42
11
10
21
86
109
0.789
32
22
Preston North End
42
10
10
22
43
71
0.606
30
1960-61
Wallace
Hogg
Howe
Potter
Williams GE
Williams SG
Drury
Smith
Kennedy
Bannister
Robson
Aitken
Jackson
Carter
Burnside
Cram
Allen
Mcready
Kevan
Clark
Hope
Lovatt
Billingham
Steele
Jones
1961 - 62
Back Row left to right:
J Lovatt, P Billingham, S Jones, R Potter, W Dixon (Trainer) J Wallace, D Kevan,
S Williams, R .Cram
Middle Row: C Clark, G Williams, C Drury, R Robson, Gordon Clark (Manager) D Howe, A Jackson D Burnside,
Front Row: K Smith, G Carter, R Hope, C Brokes, J Bannister, B Macready
Gordon Clark did a steady job as manager but never reached the heights that Vic Buckingham had in the 50s he resigned midway through the 1961-2 he resigned to be replaced by Archie Macaulay,. When Macaulay arrived, Albion were 21st in the League, with only a couple of wins under their belt, but his under his guidance influence the club eventually finished 9th. As the fans had become used to goal scoring teams, The forward line was still producing goals and was regularly made up of Clive Clark and Alec Jackson on the wings, Keith Smith in the centre, with Dave Burnside,. The main striker, as usual, was Derek Kevan breaking Albion's post-war record with four goals in the final game of the season in the 7-1 defeat of Blackpool.
This season never looked like any different to the previous 14 seasons Albion always looking like a steady mid table side , not good enough to win anything and not poor enough to stare relegation in the face although a poor spell in the New Year left many fans worried. But a 6-2 thumping of Bolton and a 5-1 victory against Cardiff City put things back on track.
19-08-1961
West Brom
0-2
Sheff Wed
23-08-1961
West Brom
2-0
Everton
26-08-1961
Leicester
1-0
West Brom
30-08-1961
Everton
3-1
West Brom
02-09-1961
West Brom
1-3
Ipswich
06-09-1961
West Brom
0-0
Birmingham
09-09-1961
Burnley
3-1
West Brom
16-09-1961
West Brom
4-0
Arsenal
20-09-1961
Birmingham
1-2
West Brom
23-09-1961
Bolton
3-2
West Brom
30-09-1961
West Brom
2-2
Man City
07-10-1961
West Brom
1-1
Man Utd
18-10-1961
Cardiff
2-2
West Brom
21-10-1961
West Brom
1-1
Aston Villa
28-10-1961
Nottm Forest
4-4
West Brom
04-11-1961
West Brom
4-0
Blackburn
11-11-1961
West Ham
3-3
West Brom
18-11-1961
West Brom
3-1
Sheff Utd
25-11-1961
Chelsea
4-1
West Brom
02-12-1961
West Brom
2-4
Tottenham
09-12-1961
Blackpool
2-2
West Brom
16-12-1961
Sheff Wed
2-1
West Brom
23-12-1961
West Brom
2-0
Leicester
26-12-1961
West Brom
1-1
Wolves
06-01-1962
FA Cup 3rd Rd
Blackpool
0-0
West Brom
10-01-1962
FA Cup 3rd Rd Replay
West Brom
2-1
Blackpool
13-01-1962
Ipswich
3-0
West Brom
20-01-1962
West Brom
1-1
Burnley
27-01-1962
FA Cup 4th Rd
Wolves
1-2
West Brom
03-02-1962
Arsenal
0-1
West Brom
10-02-1962
West Brom
6-2
Bolton
17-02-1962
FA Cup 5th Rd
West Brom
2-4
Tottenham
21-02-1962
Man City
3-1
West Brom
24-02-1962
Man Utd
4-1
West Brom
03-03-1962
West Brom
5-1
Cardiff
14-03-1962
Aston Villa
1-0
West Brom
17-03-1962
West Brom
2-2
Nottm Forest
24-03-1962
Blackburn
1-1
West Brom
28-03-1962
Wolves
1-5
West Brom
31-03-1962
West Brom
0-1
West Ham
07-04-1962
Sheff Utd
1-1
West Brom
14-04-1962
West Brom
4-0
Chelsea
21-04-1962
Tottenham
1-2
West Brom
23-04-1962
Fulham
1-2
West Brom
24-04-1962
West Brom
2-0
Fulham
28-04-1962
West Brom
7-1
Blackpool
DIVISION ONE 1961 - 62
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
1
Ipswich Town
42
24
8
10
93
67
1.388
56
2
Burnley
42
21
11
10
101
67
1.507
53
3
Tottenham Hotspur
42
21
10
11
88
69
1.275
52
4
Everton
42
20
11
11
88
54
1.630
51
5
Sheffield United
42
19
9
14
61
69
0.884
47
6
Sheffield Wednesday
42
20
6
16
72
58
1.241
46
7
Aston Villa
42
18
8
16
65
56
1.161
44
8
West Ham United
42
17
10
15
76
82
0.927
44
9
West Bromwich Albion
42
15
13
14
83
67
1.239
43
10
Arsenal
42
16
11
15
71
72
0.986
43
11
Bolton Wanderers
42
16
10
16
62
66
0.939
42
12
Manchester City
42
17
7
18
78
81
0.963
41
13
Blackpool
42
15
11
16
70
75
0.933
41
14
Leicester City
42
17
6
19
72
71
1.014
40
15
Manchester United
42
15
9
18
72
75
0.960
39
16
Blackburn Rovers
42
14
11
17
50
58
0.862
39
17
Birmingham City
42
14
10
18
65
81
0.802
38
18
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
13
10
19
73
86
0.849
36
19
Nottingham Forest
42
13
10
19
63
79
0.797
36
20
Fulham
42
13
7
22
66
74
0.892
33
21
Cardiff City
42
9
14
19
50
81
0.617
32
22
Chelsea
42
9
10
23
63
94
0.670
28
1961-62
Wallace
Clark
Howe
Hope
Williams SG
Smith
Robson
Potter
Jones
Millington
Drury
Carter
Jackson
Cram
Burnside
Bannister
Lovatt
Williams GE
Kevan
1962 63
Many Thanks to ivie davies for sending this photo and giving permission to add to the site
Winter in 1963 led to the largest postponement and abandoned games since 1947, resulting in half a dozen games being crammed into the last fortnight before the Cup- final. One of the Albion games to be abandoned at Molineux on Boxing Day during a half time snowstorm, with the Wolves just having the edge. The replayed match saw Wolves cruise to a 7-0 win. That defeat to the Wolves was the worst point of the season; it doesn't get any worse than that! Derek Kevan moved to Second Division Chelsea in a shock transfer,
In the cup a 4th Rd defeat in extra time, after a replay and then only with an own goal and a penalty at Nottingham Forest put paid to any silver ware being added in the near future, This after a 5-1 3rd Rd win at Plymouth, one of the few third-round ties to be played on schedule. Just before Easter 1963 Chairman, Major H. Wilson Keys stepped down in favour of Jim Gaunt. His first job was to interview the candidates for the vacant manager's job after Archie Macaulay resigned after only fourteen months in the job. The new manager was Jimmy Hagan who took over the position which was fast earning the label of the game's 'hot-seat'- but however tough the job, Hagan. Hagan had already built up a fearsome reputation for his disciplinary attitude towards his players. His managerial pedigree was top of the pile in the lower leagues taking Peterborough United from non-League to the top of the Third Division before leaving the club after a dispute over the buying of players his directors thought he needed to buy new men, Hagan thought the players he had were good enough, so his contract was ended, because he wanted to save the club money! One of Hagan's first games in charge was a vital relegation battle at Manchester City, which Albion won 5-1 to all but relegate City and make themselves safe a great start for the new manager
18-08-1962
Man Utd
2-2
West Brom
22-08-1962
West Brom
2-1
Leyton Orient
25-08-1962
West Brom
1-2
Burnley
29-08-1962
Leyton Orient
2-3
West Brom
01-09-1962
Sheff Wed
3-1
West Brom
08-09-1962
West Brom
6-1
Fulham
12-09-1962
West Brom
1-0
Birmingham
15-09-1962
Leicester
1-0
West Brom
19-09-1962
Birmingham
0-0
West Brom
22-09-1962
West Brom
5-4
Bolton
29-09-1962
Everton
4-2
West Brom
06-10-1962
Aston Villa
2-0
West Brom
13-10-1962
West Brom
1-2
Tottenham
20-10-1962
Ipswich
1-1
West Brom
27-10-1962
West Brom
1-0
Liverpool
03-11-1962
Blackpool
0-2
West Brom
10-11-1962
West Brom
2-5
Blackburn
17-11-1962
Sheff Utd
1-0
West Brom
24-11-1962
West Brom
1-4
Nottm Forest
01-12-1962
West Ham
2-2
West Brom
08-12-1962
West Brom
2-1
Man City
15-12-1962
West Brom
3-0
Man Utd
05-01-1963
FA Cup 3rd Rd
Plymouth
1-5
West Brom
12-01-1963
West Brom
0-3
Sheff Wed
02-03-1963
Tottenham
2-1
West Brom
06-03-1963
FA Cup 4th Rd
West Brom
0-0
Nottm Forest
09-03-1963
West Brom
6-1
Ipswich
11-03-1963
FA Cup4thRd Replay
Nottm Forest
2-1
West Brom
16-03-1963
Wolves
7-0
West Brom
20-03-1963
Liverpool
2-2
West Brom
23-03-1963
West Brom
1-2
Blackpool
25-03-1963
Bolton
1-2
West Brom
03-04-1963
West Brom
2-2
Wolves
06-04-1963
West Brom
1-2
Sheff Utd
12-04-1963
Arsenal
3-2
West Brom
13-04-1963
Blackburn
3-1
West Brom
15-04-1963
West Brom
1-2
Arsenal
20-04-1963
West Brom
1-0
West Ham
27-04-1963
Man City
1-5
West Brom
30-04-1963
Burnley
2-1
West Brom
04-05-1963
West Brom
2-1
Leicester
07-05-1963
Everton
4-0
West Brom
11-05-1963
West Brom
1-0
Aston Villa
14-05-1963
Nottm Forest
2-2
West Brom
P
HW
HD
HL
HGF
HGA
AW
AD
AL
AGF
AGA
Points
G Avg
Everton
42
14
7
0
48
17
11
4
6
36
25
61
.0
Tottenham
42
14
6
1
72
28
9
3
9
39
34
55
.7903
Burnley
42
14
4
3
41
17
8
6
7
37
40
54
.3684
Leicester
42
14
6
1
53
23
6
6
9
26
30
52
.4905
Wolves
42
11
6
4
51
25
9
4
8
42
40
50
.4307
Sheff Wed
42
10
5
6
38
26
9
5
7
39
37
48
.2222
Arsenal
42
11
4
6
44
33
7
6
8
42
44
46
.1168
Liverpool
42
13
3
5
45
22
4
7
10
26
37
44
.2033
Nottm Forest
42
12
4
5
39
28
5
6
10
28
41
44
.9710
Sheff Utd
42
11
7
3
33
20
5
5
11
25
40
44
.9666
Blackburn
42
11
4
6
55
34
4
8
9
24
37
42
.1126
West Ham
42
8
6
7
39
34
6
6
9
34
35
40
.0579
Blackpool
42
8
7
6
34
27
5
7
9
24
37
40
.9062
West Brom
42
11
1
9
40
37
5
6
10
31
42
39
.8987
Aston Villa
42
12
2
7
38
23
3
6
12
24
45
38
.9117
Fulham
42
8
6
7
28
30
6
4
11
22
41
38
.7042
Ipswich
42
5
8
8
34
39
7
3
11
25
39
35
.7564
Bolton
42
13
3
5
35
18
2
2
17
20
57
35
.7333
Man Utd
42
6
6
9
36
38
6
4
11
31
43
34
.8271
Birmingham
42
6
8
7
40
40
4
5
12
23
50
33
.7
Man City
42
7
5
9
30
45
3
6
12
28
57
31
.5686
Leyton Orient
42
4
5
12
22
37
2
4
15
15
44
21
.4567
1962-63
Millington
Hope
Howe
Cram
Williams GE
Foggo
Williams SG
Carter
Jones
Bannister
Drury
Lovatt
Jackson
Murray
Burnside
Fenton
Smith
Bradley
Kevan
Mcready
Clark
Fairfax
Potter
1963-64
Hagan soon showed the hard side of his nature, with his vigorous training work-outs in all conditions, which eventually led to the previously unheard of player's strike. In the winter of 1963, Hagan had insisted that his players should train without tracksuit bottoms, despite Arctic conditions. They refused and threatened to walk out. The dispute raged for several days, making all the national headlines. Before the problem was solved amicably when Jim Gaunt intervened , only a week later when Hagan reversed his car over the canal bank outside the Spring Road training ground (many stories have come out of this, players cutting his brake pipes, players greasing the brakes, players fixing the gear box), truth is Hagan had recently acquired his car and the reverse position on the gear stick was in the opposite position to his old car, so when he put it into what he thought was 1st gear he had inadvertently put it into reverse., the vehicle somersaulting into the canal. Despite serious neck and back injuries, Hagan managed to climb out of the car onto the bonnet before help arrived and was back at work within weeks despite obvious pain. Some of the players ran down the bank to help carry him to safety. The bank at Spring Road is quite steep and a number of players where short of breath when they got him to the top and safety Hagan remarked "the trouble with you lot you aren't fit. How many of them wanted to throw him back down in to the canal is not known.
Hagan did have a good eye for a player and knew how to play the transfer market rarely over spending money just for the sake of buying. Doug Fraser from Aberdeen John Kaye from Scunthorpe. Joined by Terry Simpson from Peterborough United Hagan's old club. Tony Brown made his first team debut against Ipswich Town Hagan's first season, with the introduction of so many new players was surprisingly good, with 10th place the final position and it would have been even better but for a disappointing finish, due no doubt to the disharmony at the club caused by the many players who disliked Hagan's tactics several of the senior players handed in written transfer requests to the Board, Don Howe left for a move to Arsenal. Alec Jackson left to join Birmingham City. In the cup Albion still could not get past the 4th Rd losing 2-0 to Arsenal in a replay at Highbury.
DIVISION ONE 1963 - 64
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
Liverpool
42
26
5
11
92
45
2.044
57
2
Manchester United
42
23
7
12
90
62
1.452
53
3
Everton
42
21
10
11
84
64
1.313
52
4
Tottenham Hotspur
42
22
7
13
97
81
1.198
51
5
Chelsea
42
20
10
12
72
56
1.286
50
6
Sheffield Wednesday
42
19
11
12
84
67
1.254
49
7
Blackburn Rovers
42
18
10
14
89
65
1.369
46
8
Arsenal
42
17
11
14
90
82
1.098
45
9
Burnley
42
17
10
15
71
64
1.109
44
10
West Bromwich Albion
42
16
11
15
70
61
1.148
43
11
Leicester City
42
16
11
15
61
58
1.052
43
12
Sheffield United
42
16
11
15
61
64
0.953
43
13
Nottingham Forest
42
16
9
17
64
68
0.941
41
14
West Ham United
42
14
12
16
69
74
0.932
40
15
Fulham
42
13
13
16
58
65
0.892
39
16
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
12
15
15
70
80
0.875
39
17
Stoke City
42
14
10
18
77
78
0.987
38
18
Blackpool
42
13
9
20
52
73
0.712
35
19
Aston Villa
42
11
12
19
62
71
0.873
34
20
Birmingham City
42
11
7
24
54
92
0.587
29
21
Bolton Wanderers
42
10
8
24
48
80
0.600
28
22
Ipswich Town
42
9
7
26
56
121
0.463
25
1963-64
Potter
Jackson
Howe
Readrern
Williams GE
Crawford R
Cram
Fraser
Jones
Brown T
Simpson
Fairfax
Foggo
Drury
Fenton
Mcready
Kaye
Carter
Hope
Fudge
Clark
Howshall
1964-5
At the start of the season Albion embarked on a tour to Holland Losing to Alkmaar 2 - 1
but followed up with a 2-1 victory against ADO The Hague and a 1-0 Victory againsy Ajax Amsterdam
cardboard announcement card that was used in trams in Amsterdam for the friendly game between Ajax and West Brom
Many thanks to Joop from Amsterdam for allowing me to use this picture
A slight drop in the league form not to be unexpected with so many new faces still to gel. In The cup which always down the years seen as Albion's best chance of glory, they met the eventual winners Liverpool, at the Hawthorns in the 3rd Rd and lost 2-1, Hagan's plans were very nearing completion of what he saw as a winning combination of what he had set to achieve. Once again he cleverly raided the leagues lower levels to sign Jeff Astle from Nott's County. £22,500 for a unproved Fourth Division player but turned out to be the bargain buy of the decade
23rd January 1965
West Brom 2 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur
DIVISION ONE 1964 - 65
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
1
Manchester United
42
26
9
7
89
39
2.282
61
2
Leeds United
42
26
9
7
83
52
1.596
61
3
Chelsea
42
24
8
10
89
54
1.648
56
4
Everton
42
17
15
10
69
60
1.150
49
5
Nottingham Forest
42
17
13
12
71
67
1.060
47
6
Tottenham Hotspur
42
19
7
16
87
71
1.225
45
7
Liverpool
42
17
10
15
67
73
0.918
44
8
Sheffield Wednesday
42
16
11
15
57
55
1.036
43
9
West Ham United
42
19
4
19
82
71
1.155
42
10
Blackburn Rovers
42
16
10
16
83
79
1.051
42
11
Stoke City
42
16
10
16
67
66
1.015
42
12
Burnley
42
16
10
16
70
70
1.000
42
13
Arsenal
42
17
7
18
69
75
0.920
41
14
West Bromwich Albion
42
13
13
16
70
65
1.077
39
15
Sunderland
42
14
9
19
64
74
0.865
37
16
Aston Villa
42
16
5
21
57
82
0.695
37
17
Blackpool
42
12
11
19
67
78
0.859
35
18
Leicester City
42
11
13
18
69
85
0.812
35
19
Sheffield United
42
12
11
19
50
64
0.781
35
20
Fulham
42
11
12
19
60
78
0.769
34
21
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
13
4
25
59
89
0.663
30
22
Birmingham City
42
8
11
23
64
96
0.667
27
1964-65
Potter
Clark
Cram
Collard
Williams GE
Howshall
Fraser
Astle
Jones
Fairfax
Simpson
Fenton
Foggo
Carter
Brown T
Lovett
Kaye
Krzywicki
Hope
Williams WT
Crawford R
1965-6
Another epic year for the club, as the Hagan combination finally came good. It opened with a 3-0 win over West Ham followed up with a 1-0 victory at Newcastle, Astle scored his first ever hat-trick, scoring another three the following Friday in the 4-3 win at Northampton which put Albion to the top of the league John Kaye joined the hat-trick club with three in a 6-2 defeat of Stoke. Albion were a now a formidable outfit at last, sixth place finish at the end of the season being the best achieved for six years, some considerable wins over Fulham 6-2, Nottingham Forest 5-3, and Leicester City 5-1along with victories at Chelsea, Everton and Sunderland 5-1. the players had become used to each other's style at last, two younger players making their presence felt in the first team Graham Lovett, and Tony Brown,
1965-6 was to see Albion gain the first silverware since 1954 with the first entry by the club to the league cup Albion along with other top clubs had boycotted for the first five years of its existence, tending to regard it as a poor copy of the FA Cup. However, by 1965, had an additional prize for winning entry for the winners to a European competition?
Albion's first tie in the League Cup at home to Walsall. The next round was a tie with Leeds United at Elland Road, but Leeds manager Don Revie had decided that the League. Cup was not his main priority, so Albion was able to thrash a deliberately weakened home side (who would do that these days). Coventry were the next victims, going down 6-1 in a replay, the 5th rd produced another West Midlands derby saw the Villa beaten set up a two-leg semi final meeting with Hagan's old club Peterborough. The first leg, at West Bromwich was only won 2-1 the away leg looked an overwhelming prospect, until Tony Brown snatched a brilliantly taken hat-trick in a 4-2 win.
The final was also over two legs, against the previous year's FA Cup West Ham. The first leg was played at Upton Park Albion losing 2-1 but thanks to a late disputed Jeff Astle goal set up the perfect final at the Hawthorns. In the second leg, Albion were untouchable, hitting four fabulous goals in thirty-five minutes to take the Cup; it took only nine minutes to wipe West Hams advantage,
In an effort to stop the tide of Albion attacks, the West Ham pulled nine men back into defence but could not stop Clark heading a goal, then Graham Williams cracked home a thirty-yarder off an upright. It was forty minutes before West Ham made their first real attack Brabrook scoring with a header was scrambled off the line after it had hit the post. In the second half the Albion players relaxed their hold on the game and West Ham pulled Albion's winning margin down to 5-3 when Martin Peters headed a goal in the last quarter of an hour. At last the final whistle and Albion won the League Cup in their first year of competing as well as earning over £16,000 profit and much more from the lucrative entry into the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Jeff Astle, Clive Clark, Graham Williams Celebrate winning
the League Cup
1966 League Cup Winners
1966 - 67
A second successive final was on the cards this time culminating with a Final at Wembley instead of the two leg final, with away wins at Swindon and Northampton and good home wins over Manchester City 4-2 and Aston Villa again 6-1, then a semi final tie with the previous seasons losing finalists West Ham. This time the first leg was at West Bromwich, where Albion ended the tie as a contest in the first leg by hitting four goals without reply, then a draw in the capital.
The final in front of 100,000 spectators Albion took the field against Third Division Queens Park Rangers, in a match which was to prove a major embarrassment in the club's history as well as ending the association of the club with both Bobby Cram and Jimmy Hagan. It was rumoured that there had been a few words between the players and the manager but this has never been proved, but what happened in the second half will stay with all the fans who witnessed that devastating 45 minutes
All was well in the first half Clark had scored two goals after seven and thirty-six minutes to put his side completely in control but, Rangers were not finished a turn-around in the second half, a inspired by Rodney Marsh who turned the Albion defence inside-out. The boost in confidence of the Rangers' players was lifted even more when Roger Morgan pulled back the first goal after eighteen minutes; the equalizer coming after Marsh had left four Albion defenders standing. The Rangers' winner came seven minutes from time, it was hotly disputed by the entire Albion side, who claimed that Sheppard had been laid out by centre-half Hunt just before Lazarus pushed the winner into the net, but the goal was allowed and the embarrassed Albion side had lost their first ever League Cup-tie in humiliating circumstances.
That shocking defeat was the last straw for many supporters; the football of the previous year had rarely been repeated, with relegation only being ensured with two matches of the season remaining, in the FA Cup, the five-goal defeat at Leeds was the heaviest by an Albion side in their eighty-three years in the tournament. A run in the Fairs Cup had also suffered a setback, although a 6-3 aggregate win over Dutch part-timers Utrecht was gained in the first round, the Italians' from Bologna won 3-0 in Italy and 3-1 in West Bromwich four days after the league cup final with Queens Park Rangers, so it was little surprise when, on 3rd May, Danny Hagan's involvement with the club was terminated, despite his having recently signed a five-year contract.
It was an unfortunate but Hagan was unlucky to have been dismissed considering his excellent record. So Albion then started the process of finding their fifth manager in seven years, this time they again turned to a younger, track-suit manager from the lower leagues. Alan Ashman was appointed. Ashman was young, r, with an inspiring pedigree, having steered Carlisle United in their rise from the Fourth Division to the fringe of promotion to the First making him one of the top managers in the game. His first job was to pick a very sorry losing team up dust them off and turn them back in to a top flight team.
Ashman's First Division appearance as a manager did not get off to the best of starts with only one win, against Wolves, in the first seven outings of the season. Things got steadily worse, as Albion, near the bottom of the league went to Reading in the first round of the League Cup and lost 1-3, going out to a Third Division side for the second year in succession.
This may well have been the wakeup call Albion were looking for .finally at the end of September, Sheffield United were beaten 4-1, Jeff Astle grabbing a hat-trick. From then on until the end of the year, only two defeats at Everton and Manchester United blotted the copy book. Three results stood out above the rest. The first was the 8-1 defeat of Burnley at the Hawthorns, the biggest Albion win for ten years, then over Christmas, Manchester City were beaten 3-2 at the Hawthorns and again 2-0 at Maine Road, over the team which were to win the League that year a fourteen-game run saw the Albion climb to fifth place in the table. Unfortunately, the following results were disastrous to any ambitions they had of winning the title, losing 1-4 at Liverpool and 2-3 at Forest,
As normal over the years the FA Cup was again thought to be the best chance of adding silverware to the trophy cabinet. The first tie was at Colchester, This was the start of a cup run that would take 10 games to win the cup. It was Layer Road the Home of Colchester United where it all began
This was the first time Albion had ever played at Layer Road and given the difference in league pacing's it was generally assumed that they would not have too much trouble passing through to the fourth round.
One important factor was missed this was the FA Cup and season after season we hear of cup upsets in fact this was to be the ground that mighty Leeds United would be brought down to earth in the 70s.
With the memory of the defeats against Queens Park Rangers and Reading fresh in their minds, the players approached the match very cautiously and sure enough were soon a goal down,
The game was not a classic but against all the odds Colchester scored first and it took a penalty from Tony Brown to level the score. Then with only 90 seconds left to play Mickey Bullock put the ball in the net to make it 2-1 the Albion defence looked on as a shock exit for the Albion was on the cards. John Talbut Albion's centre half picked the ball out of the net and kicked it straight out of the ground in anger. The referee Arthur Jones then for some unknown reason to the 16,000 crowd
and players disallowed the goal and restarted the game still at 1-1. He blew the final whistle within seconds and the replay at the Hawthorns 4 days later was on.
There was no second chance for the Essex side, Albion were convincing 4-0 winners, when the difference in class was made to tell.
The fourth round gave a home tie with Southampton, resulted in a 1-1 draw;
FA Cup 4th Round Replay
February 21st 1968
At Southampton
3 - 2 Astle 2, Brown
Osborne*,Lovett)
Clarke,Williams,Collard,Talbut,Fraser,Brown,Kaye,
Astle,Hope,Clark
Attend 26,036
Southampton had already beaten the Albion 4-0 in the league game in August. but, the Cup is a different animal and the Albion won 3-2, despite losing goalkeeper John Osborne through injury, and Graham Williams deputising in goal for much of the match wearing John Osborne's shirt two sizes too big for him and having cigarette stubs flicked at him from behind the home end goal. Albion managed to come from behind to win, with Astle scoring an injury-time winner.
Back to the South Coast for the fifth round tie with Portsmouth, Astle and Clark scoring to secure a place in the sixth round.
The draw for the sixth round gave Albion a home game with Liverpool, favourites for the Cup, and they had already beaten Albion twice in the League. The first match ended in a 0-0 draw,
--
Attend 43,503
Action from the goalless draw at the Hawthorns Liverpool's Tommy Lawrence saving in front of Albion's John Kaye and John Talbut
at Anfield however Albion were supposed to roll over and give way to the reds but the Kop was silenced when Astle scored to equalize, Albion withstood the red onslaught in extra time.
The tie moved to Maine Road for the third meeting John Kaye playing the heroes part after receiving a cut over his eye after half an hour. A few minutes before Kaye picked up his injury, Astle scored to put Albion into the lead from a Collard pass, but Liverpool scored through Hatley to level just before Half time. The pace got even more frantic in the second half, with Kaye now wearing a bandage on his head, Liverpool were stopped from taking the lead by two great saves by Osborne, before Clive Clark finished a ten pass move to win the tie after 300 minutes of strenuous Cup-tie football
The semi final draw had already guaranteed a West Midland side would play at Wembley, a repeat of the 1931 Final with Birmingham City this time at Villa Park. The match was not as easy as Albion would have liked, no semi-final ever is, with Blues playing above their league status to make more of the opening half of the game with shots bombarding the Albion goal, Osborne was equal to the task, making save after save before Tony Brown and Jeff Astle won the game and secured a place in the final at Wembley
48 hours after the semi final meeting with Birmingham City, Manchester United were the visitors to the Hawthorns and in an match that would virtually decide the league championship Albion turned on the style and turned Manchester United inside out and were 6-1 up after seventy minutes Astle scoring a hat-trick, the game finished 6-3 in front of a 45,992 crowd, the unofficial attendance was more likely 55,000 plus after a gate was forced open and thousands poured in to what had already been a lock out an hour before the kick off. Manchester United finished the season 2 points behind Manchester City and this game all but put an end to their hopes of finishing top, United went on to a final of their own in the European Cup with victory against Benfica, fielding the same side who Albion beat easily only a few weeks previous. Two days later Astle hit another hat trick in a 3-1 win over West Ham, the side climbed back in to sixth spot, but a draw at Sunderland and a last day defeat at Arsenal dropped them down to eighth.
And so to the final Everton were the biggest favourites in the Final for many years especially as they had recently won 6-2 at The Hawthorns, with Alan Ball scoring four times. Revenge for this defeat and the fact their fans raided the shops in West Bromwich taking all the sugar they could carry back to Merseyside as there had been a sugar strike in Liverpool gave Albion a huge incentive to win the cup.
Unfortunately like most things you wait for and are expecting great things of let you down.
Both sides tried a new tactic of bore the opposition to death. It turned out to be the most disappointing final in living memory, the crowd chanting, "We want football". Both teams were cancelling each other out with little effort The little football that was on display sorry to say came from the sugar grabbing Merseyside's, Husband missing four scoring chances and Osborne playing the game of his life sounds exciting but that was the majority of shots in the game on the one occasion when he was beaten, John Kaye cleared a header from Joe Royle off the line. In the last five minutes of normal time Everton probably should have won the game with chances from Ball and Husband turning what were golden opportunities into to clear misses, the game ended scoreless.
After ninety minutes of unimaginative football, it took just two minutes of extra-time to produce a winner, a goal that will remain in the memories with fans who were at Wembley that day and those who were at home watching it on the television that day. It came, unsurprisingly from Astle, his thirty-fifth of the season, to put him in with the exclusive group of men who have scored in every round of the Cup. He picked up the ball inside the Everton half ran past the tired Everton defenders to let loose with a right-footed shot from twenty-five yards. The ball rebounded back of Brian Labone right into his path and he blasted home a drive with his weaker left foot, past a static Gordon West who could only watch it go into the net. As much as Everton huffed and puffed trying to get back into the game they could not get past John Osborne who again saved the day. With only minutes remaining Osborne threw the ball to Tony Brown who with his last gasp of energy went on a run into the Everton half, he looked up and saw Graham Lovett keeping up with him as Ray Wilson the Everton defender came towards him Tony Brown heard Lovett shout "don't give it to me" but Brown made the pass Lovett put his head down and in his own words shut his eyes and hit it. Expecting to hear the crowd roar as he made it 2-0 and score the winning goal. Instead he heard the crow moan and sent the ball over the bar. On his way back to his own half Jeff Astle patted him on the back and said "never mind I'm glad you didn't score or else I would not have scored the winning goal. This was Albion's fifth FA Cup victory.
Lap of Wembley
Photo by kind permission of Christine Vernon
1968 F A Cup Winners
s
The team were greeted back in West Bromwich by their eager fans. The team travelled in an open coach
From New Street Station 250,000 fans lined the streets to see their team carry the silver trophy back to West Bromwich.
Albion were on tour immediately after winning the cup, flying out to East Africa for a Trades Fair tour to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It was the first club tour since the two trips to New York and South America, but this tour will be long remembered by the players and officials for the ugly scenes in all of the games, ending in the 'Battle of Kampala' as the near riot in Ugandan capital.
The Africans set their stall out within the first fifteen minutes when Clive Clark was ruthlessly chopped by a vicious tackle which put him in plaster for three months. Throughout the second half, the match simmered and the inevitable explosion came ten minutes from the end when Asa Hartford became the second Albion man on the tour to be sent off the field minutes later, Ian Collard was chopped down with a waist high tackle and the match erupted. Fighting broke out, with Hartford running back on the field to join in the fray, which had been augmented by hundreds of spectators who had stormed the pitch. The match was restarted only after the intervention of armed police.
Many Thanks to ivie davies for sending this photo and giving permission to add to the site
IVIE TELLS ME HIS GOOD FRIEND COLIN HALL IS THE FOREST PLAYER TRYING TO BLOCK JOHN TALBUT
19-08-1967
Chelsea
1-0
West Brom
23-08-1967
Wolves
3-3
West Brom
26-08-1967
Southampton
4-0
West Brom
30-08-1967
West Brom
4-1
Wolves
02-09-1967
West Brom
0-2
Liverpool
06-09-1967
West Brom
1-3
Arsenal
09-09-1967
Stoke
0-0
West Brom
13-09-1967
League Cup 2nd Rd
Reading
3-1
West Brom
16-09-1967
West Brom
2-1
Nottm Forest
23-09-1967
Coventry
4-2
West Brom
30-09-1967
West Brom
4-1
Sheff Utd
07-10-1967
Fulham
1-2
West Brom
14-10-1967
West Brom
2-0
Leeds
24-10-1967
Everton
2-1
West Brom
28-10-1967
West Brom
0-0
Leicester
11-11-1967
West Brom
8-1
Burnley
18-11-1967
Sheff Wed
2-2
West Brom
25-11-1967
West Brom
2-0
Tottenham
02-12-1967
Man Utd
2-1
West Brom
11-12-1967
West Ham
2-3
West Brom
16-12-1967
Chelsea
0-3
West Brom
23-12-1967
West Brom
0-0
Southampton
26-12-1967
West Brom
3-2
Man City
30-12-1967
Man City
0-2
West Brom
06-01-1968
Liverpool
4-1
West Brom
20-01-1968
Nottm Forest
3-2
West Brom
27-01-1968
FA Cup 3rd Rd
Colchester
1-1
West Brom
31-01-1968
FA Cup 3Rd Rd Replay
West Brom
4-0
Colchester
03-02-1968
West Brom
0-1
Coventry
10-02-1968
Sheff Utd
1-1
West Brom
17-02-1968
FA Cup 4th Rd
West Brom
1-1
Southampton
21-02-1968
FA Cup 4th Rd Replay
Southampton
2-3
West Brom
24-02-1968
West Brom
2-1
Fulham
01-03-1968
Tottenham
0-0
West Brom
09-03-1968
FA Cup 5th Rd
Portsmouth
1-2
West Brom
13-03-1968
West Brom
3-0
Stoke
16-03-1968
West Brom
2-6
Everton
23-03-1968
Leicester
2-3
West Brom
30-03-1968
FA Cup 6th Rd
West Brom
0-0
Liverpool
02-04-1968
West Brom
0-0
Sunderland
06-04-1968
Burnley
0-0
West Brom
08-04-1968
FA Cup 6th Rd Replay
Liverpool
1-1
West Brom
12-04-1968
Newcastle
2-2
West Brom
13-04-1968
West Brom
1-1
Sheff Wed
15-04-1968
West Brom
2-0
Newcastle
18-04-1968
FA Cup 6th Rd 2nd Replay
West Brom
2-1
Liverpool
20-04-1968
Leeds
3-1
West Brom
27-04-1968
FA Cup Semi Final
West Brom
2-0
Birmingham
29-04-1968
West Brom
6-3
Man Utd
01-05-1968
West Brom
3-1
West Ham
04-05-1968
Sunderland
0-0
West Brom
11-05-1968
Arsenal
2-1
West Brom
18-05-1968
FA Cup Final
West Brom
1-0
Everton
09-12-1967 match postponed
West Brom
Sunderland
DIVISION ONE 1967 - 68
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
1
Manchester City
42
26
6
10
86
43
2.000
58
2
Manchester United
42
24
8
10
89
55
1.618
56
3
Liverpool
42
22
11
9
71
40
1.775
55
4
Leeds United
42
22
9
11
71
41
1.732
53
5
Everton
42
23
6
13
67
40
1.675
52
6
Chelsea
42
18
12
12
62
68
0.912
48
7
Tottenham Hotspur
42
19
9
14
70
59
1.186
47
8
West Bromwich Albion
42
17
12
13
75
62
1.210
46
9
Arsenal
42
17
10
15
60
56
1.071
44
10
Newcastle United
42
13
15
14
54
67
0.806
41
11
Nottingham Forest
42
14
11
17
52
64
0.813
39
12
West Ham United
42
14
10
18
73
69
1.058
38
13
Leicester City
42
13
12
17
64
69
0.928
38
14
Burnley
42
14
10
18
64
71
0.901
38
15
Sunderland
42
13
11
18
51
61
0.836
37
16
Southampton
42
13
11
18
66
83
0.795
37
17
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
14
8
20
66
75
0.880
36
18
Stoke City
42
14
7
21
50
73
0.685
35
19
Sheffield Wednesday
42
11
12
19
51
63
0.810
34
20
Coventry City
42
9
15
18
51
71
0.718
33
21
Sheffield United
42
11
10
21
49
70
0.700
32
22
Fulham
42
10
7
25
56
98
0.571
27
1967-68
Osborne
Clarke
Fraser
Hope
Williams GE
Fairfax
Howshall
Stephens
Colquhoun
Sheppard
Talbot
Campbell
Foggo
Tracey
Astle
Krzywicki
Kaye
Lovett
Brown T
Hartford
Clark
Martin
Collard
Rees
1968 -69
Back row G Lovett, E Colquhoun, R Wilson, R Sheppard, S Williams (Trainer) J Kaye,
J Osborne, C Clark, J Astle, D Clarke,
Front Row: R Hope, D Fraser, T Brown, G Williams, J Talbut, I Collard, R Rees, R Hartford.
Witin days of the Wembley win, the Albion squad were on the move again, jetting out to East Africa for a Trades Fair tour to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania the will be long remembered by the players and officials for the ugly scenes in all of the games, culminating in the 'Battle of Kampala'.
The scene was set after fifteen minutes when Clive Clark was callously chopped by a vicious tackle which put him in plaster for three months. Throughout the second half, the match simmered and the inevitable explosion came ten minutes from the end when Asa Hartford became the second Albion man on the tour to be sent off the field - minutes later, Ian Collard was scythed down with a waist high tackle and the match erupted. Fighting broke out, with Hartford running back on the field to join in the fray, which had been augmented by hundreds of spectators who had stormed the pitch. The match was restarted only after the intervention of armed police.
To start the new season as Cup-holders, the club had built up an awesome reputation as Cup-fighters. With automatic entry into the European Cup Winners' Cup following their FA Cup success, there were now three Cups at stake, not including the League and the Charity Shield, The Charity shield which Albion had only ever won once beating Tottenham in 1920 and shared once after drawing with Wolves in 1954 was the first hurdle to climb at Maine Road, against Manchester City.
Albion were badly hit by injuries following the East African tour at the end of the previous season for the curtain-raiser to the new season, Kenny Stephens, Dick Krzywicki, As a Hartford and substitute Alan Merrick, all being drafted in from the reserves leaving a very depleted Albion side Merrick on for John Osborne, who was injured during the game. The match was a catastrophe and City scored six times as the young Albion side were outclassed.
3rd AUGUST 1968 Manchester City 6-1 West Bromwich Albion
FA Charity Shield
35,510
Osborne. (Merrick)
Fraser Williams Lovett Talbut Kaye Stephens Brown Krzywicki Collard Hartford
The Cup Returns home
both pictures courtesy of Christine Vernon
Action from Albion v Burnley
The team failed completely in the League, but as usual, made an impact in the Cup tournaments. In the League Cup, Nottingham Forest were beaten 3-2 at Meadow Lane, Nott's County's ground which was used because of fire damage at the City Ground, and then, Forest won 5-2 at the Hawthorns in the league three days later. In the League Cup exit from this competition was all too quick when Peterborough United became the first club from the Fourth Division to beat Albion in a competitive match when they won 2-1 at London Road, the third consecutive elimination for the club to teams from the lower leagues.
The FA Cup however gave hopes of another successive final appearance with another semi-final appearance, Norwich City, Fulham and Arsenal, all went by the wayside in the earlier rounds, The sixth round meeting was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with another Astle-Brown double winning the tie 2-1 also thanks to John Osborne holding onto the ball in the dying minutes with half the Chelsea side kicking lumps out of him.
The semi-final was at Hillsborough against Leicester City, Albion never really got going in the game, a few minutes from the end of a featureless game, Allan Clarke, scored with a dipping shot which swerved late to deceive Osborne.
To add insult to injury the lack of ability to tame teams from weaker oppositions aided in Albion's exit of the European Cup Winners' Cup to Dunfermline Athletic after conquering two tougher European teams in the earlier rounds. Round one a 1-3 defeat at Bruges in Belgium, but Albion's 2-0 win at home saw them through, to the next round on the 'away goals' rule after a 3-3 draw on aggregate.
The second round a visit to Bucharest, capital of Rumania, to meet Dinamo Bucharest. Once again, there was a near riot in the first leg. Asa Hartford who could cause a riot in a telephone box angered the crowd by giving the Albion an early lead but the match degenerated into an unpleasant conflict .with police intervention being required, Ronnie Rees was sent off for retaliation which served to anger the crowd even more then as the players left the field under a barrage of bottles and bricks, police intervention was again required, the players being ushered off by home players and officials. With the use of intimidation, the Rumanians had succeeded in gaining a draw, but the second leg was won easily by four goals to nil.
Then the knock-out came ironically from another British side. The first leg was marked by a strong display from the Albion, who defended to a man to gain a goal-less draw in Scotland, but the hard work was undone when a goal in the first two minutes on the freezing Hawthorns pitch was enough to put Albion out, along with the help of some blatant time-wasting tactics from the Scots.
The FA Cup saw yet another semi-final appearance, by way of a 3-0 victory over Norwich City, 2-1 against Fulham (at Craven Cottage, with Welsh international Ronnie Rees coming on as substitute to score the winner) and 1-0 Arsenal in the 5th Round, who went out to a Bomber Brown free-kick special minutes from time. The quarter-final meeting was with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and was a heart-stopping affair, but another Astle-Brown double won the tie 2-1 and Albion were denied a third goal by the referee, who gave a penalty to Albion after Ron Harris had punched the ball out from well behind his own line -Peter Bonetti saved Brown's spot-kick to keep the Londoners in the hunt, Chelsea almost equalised in the dying minutes but thanks to an heroic John Osborne who held on to the ball with Chelsea players all trying to kick lumps out of him and the ball. Ossie still held on to the ball while receiving treatment
The semi-final was at Hillsborough against Leicester City, to be relegated within two months. Albion never really got going in the game, which had reserve Dennis Martin as a surprise choice for Clive Clark, who was relegated to the substitute's bench - a few minutes from the end of a drab game, Allan Clarke, scored for Leicester City with a dipping shot which swerved late completely to deceive Osborne.
FA Cup 3rd Rd
West Brom 3 - 0 Norwich City
4th Jan 1969
FA Cup 4th Rd
Fulham 1 -2 West Brom
25th Jan 1969
FA Cup 5th Rd
West Brom 1 -0 Arsenal
12th Feb 1969
FA Cup 6th Rd
Chelsea 1 - 2 West Brom
1st March 1969
FA Cup Semi Final
Hillsborough
West Brom 0 - 1 Leicester City
22nd March 1969
03-08-1968
FA Community Shield
Man City
6-1
West Brom
10-08-1968
West Brom
0-0
Sheff Wed
14-08-1968
West Brom
3-1
Man Utd
17-08-1968
Chelsea
3-1
West Brom
21-08-1968
Tottenham
1-1
West Brom
24-08-1968
West Brom
3-2
Burnley
27-08-1968
Coventry
4-2
West Brom
31-08-1968
West Ham
4-0
West Brom
03-09-1968
League Cup 2nd Rd
Nottm Forest
2-3
West Brom
07-09-1968
West Brom
2-5
Nottm Forest
14-09-1968
Newcastle
2-3
West Brom
18-09-1968
European Cup Winners Cup 1st Rd 1ST Leg
FC Bruges
3-1
West Brom
21-09-1968
West Brom
0-0 Wolves
25-09-1968
League Cup 3rd Rd
Peterborough
2-1
West Brom
28-09-1968
Everton
4-0
West Brom
02-10-1968
European Cup Winners Cup 1st Rd 2nd Leg
West Brom
2-0
FC Bruges
05-10-1968
West Brom
3-1
QPR
09-10-1968
West Brom
6-1
Coventry
12-10-1968
Leicester
0-2
West Brom
19-10-1968
West Brom
1-0
Arsenal
26-10-1968
Leeds
0-0
West Brom
02-11-1968
West Brom
0-0
Liverpool
09-11-1968
Southampton
2-0
West Brom
13-11-1968
European Cup Winners Cup 2nd Rd 1st Leg
Din. Bucharest
1-1
West Brom
16-11-1968
West Brom
2-1
Stoke
23-11-1968
Man City
5-1
West Brom
27-11-1968
European Cup Winners Cup 2nd Rd 2nd Leg
West Brom
4-0
Din. Bucharest
30-11-1968
West Brom
3-0
Sunderland
07-12-1968
Ipswich
4-1
West Brom
14-12-1968
West Brom
1-1
Leicester
21-12-1968
Arsenal
2-0
West Brom
26-12-1968
QPR
0-4
West Brom
28-12-1968
Match Postponed
West Brom
Leeds United
04-01-1969
FA Cup 3Rd Rd
West Brom
3-0
Norwich
11-01-1969
Liverpool
1-0
West Brom
15-01-1969
European Cup Winners Cup 3rd Rd 1st Leg
Dunfermline
0-0
West Brom
18-01-1969
West Brom
1-2
Southampton
25-01-1969
FA Cup 4th Rd
Fulham
1-2
West Brom
01-02-1969
Stoke
1-1
West Brom
12-02-1969
FA Cup 5th Rd
1-0
Arsenal
19-02-1969
European Cup Winners Cup 3Rd Rd 2nd Leg
West Brom
0-1
Dunfermline
01-03-1969
FA Cup 6th Rd
Chelsea
1-2
West Brom
05-03-1969
Sheff Wed
1-0
West Brom
08-03-1969
West Brom
0-3
Chelsea
10-03-1969
Sunderland
0-1
West Brom
15-03-1969
Burnley
2-2
West Brom
22-03-1969
Nottm Forest
3-0
West Brom
29-03-1969
FA Cup Semi Final
Leicester
1-0
West Brom
02-04-1969
Man Utd
2-1
West Brom
05-04-1969
West Brom
1-1
Everton
07-04-1969
West Brom
4-3
Tottenham
09-04-1969
West Brom
1-1
Leeds
12-04-1969
Wolves
0-1
West Brom
14-04-1969
West Brom
3-1
West Ham
16-04-1969
West Brom
2-0
Man City
19-04-1969
West Brom
5-1
Newcastle
23-04-1969
West Brom
2-2
Ipswich
18-12-1968
League Cup Semi Final Replay @ Hawthorns
Burnley
2-3
Swindon
DIVISION 0NE 1968 - 69
P
W
D
L
F
A
GA
Pts
1
Leeds United
42
27
13
2
66
26
2.538
67
2
Liverpool
42
25
11
6
63
24
2.625
61
3
Everton
42
21
15
6
77
36
2.139
57
4
Arsenal
42
22
12
8
56
27
2.074
56
5
Chelsea
42
20
10
12
73
53
1.377
50
6
Tottenham Hotspur
42
14
17
11
61
51
1.196
45
7
Southampton
42
16
13
13
57
48
1.188
45
8
West Ham United
42
13
18
11
66
50
1.320
44
9
Newcastle United
42
15
14
13
61
55
1.109
44
10
West Bromwich Albion
42
16
11
15
64
67
0.955
43
11
Manchester United
42
15
12
15
57
53
1.075
42
12
Ipswich Town
42
15
11
16
59
60
0.983
41
13
Manchester City
42
15
10
17
64
55
1.164
40
14
Burnley
42
15
9
18
55
82
0.671
39
15
Sheffield Wednesday
42
10
16
16
41
54
0.759
36
16
Wolverhampton Wanderers
42
10
15
17
41
58
0.707
35
17
Sunderland
42
11
12
19
43
67
0.642
34
18
Nottingham Forest
42
10
13
19
45
57
0.789
33
19
Stoke City
42
9
15
18
40
63
0.635
33
20
Coventry City
42
10
11
21
46
64
0.719
31
21
Leicester City
42
9
12
21
39
68
0.574
30
22
Queens Park Rangers
42
4
10
28
39
95
0.411
18
1968-69
Sheppard
Wilson
Fraser
Clarke
Williams GE
Osborne
Brown T
Lovett
Talbot
Clark
Kaye
Colquhoun
Krzywicki
Merrick
Hartford
Potter
Astle
Hughes
Hope
Martin
Rees
Reed
Collard
Cantello
1969-70
West Bromwich Albion 1969 /70
THE season kicked of the same as the old one tour to the America's, but this time to the newer football areas of California, followed by a second tour, acting as a pre-season warm-up, in Norway. With games against SK Lyn Oslo and a Norwegian Under-23 Select. The tours served their purpose helping the three signings Albion had made in the summer to become acquainted with the rest of the squad. The most expensive of the three was Colin Suggett from Sunderland, Albion's first £100,000 buy, who came with a reputation as a goal-grabber although he only managed twelve in his first season for Albion
The other two players were Danny Hegan from Ipswich Town played only eighteen games after failing to turn up for training, staging walkouts. The third signing was Allan Glover, from Queens Park Rangers in a deal which saw Clive Clark move back to his old club but it was several years before Glover made the first team regularly, and even then he very rarely shone.
Both Hegan and Suggett were in the opening match at Southampton, and both turned in excellent performances, with Suggett scoring both goals in the 2-0 win. Unfortunately due to some poor performances, the club soon found itself at the bottom of the table. But for some good away results early on with wins at Crystal Palace and West Ham, draws at Sunderland and Arsenal. Albion could well have found itself in a battle against relegation, the first home win did not come until the eleventh week of the season, and that a completely unexpected wins over Manchester United after being one down and missing a penalty.
Jeff Astle was missing from all but one of the first nine games, due to a combination of injury and club suspension over a contractual dispute and quite clearly his presence was missing from the team. His return came just in time for the start of the League Cup tournament, and his first game back saw him head a great winner in the tie at Villa Park
Astle scores again and Albion are on the way to meet Carlisle in the semi final
League form had improved on the back of this cup run, the Hawthorns becoming a place where teams could not get an easy victory any more, runaway leaders Everton were beaten, as were Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday Jeff Astle score his hundredth league goal for the club in this game,
League Cup semi-final and, Albion had to make the long trek to Carlisle for the first leg, Carlisle, although a Second Division side proved a difficult opponent and deserved their 1-0 victory at Brunton Park.
The Cumbrian's came to The Hawthorns full of hope following Albion's form in previous seasons against lower league opposition. And there was nearly an early shock when Bob Hatton hit a post
The home side got their act together in the second half to win 4-1, and earn their fourth final appearance in five years.
Tony Brown scores against Sheffield Wednesday in 3rd rd 1970 FA Cup
final score 2 - 1 to Wednesday but probably the best Tony Brown goal ever.
The opponents at Wembley were Manchester City, Hopes of a win when a month before the final n City were beaten at the Hawthorns in the League, For the final, both teams were expected to show what attacking ability they had and sure enough Albion took a fifth minute lead when Astle to out jump Corrigan and head a superb goal from a cross from full-back Ray Wilson. That lead was held into the second half, until Mike Doyle equalized to send the game into extra-time City took the lead to win with a goal from Glyn Pardoe,
Astle puts Albion in front but couldn't hold on Manchester City 2 West Brom 1
Ray Wilson had taken over the left-back position from club skipper Graham Williams Len Cantello was in midfield, the Cup run had ended in defeat, which brought forth some very blunt comments from club Chairman Jim Gaunt, who told pressmen that "the whip would be out - knock-out competition success was all very well, but the team must prove itself over forty-two games; the League Championship must be Albion's goal.
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