PUBLISHED
13:38 02 July 2012
By Club reporter
1878 - Club formed by workers from Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich. Won first game 1-0 versus Hudsons.
1879 - Took name of West Bromwich Strollers after walking to Wednesbury to buy a ball.
1880 - Changed name from Strollers to Albion.
1882 - Beat Coseley 26-0 in Birmingham Cup - highest score ever recorded by an Albion first team.
1883 - Won first trophy, the Staffordshire Senior Cup, beating Stoke 3-2 in the Final. Entered the FA Cup for the first time, losing 2-0 to rivals Wednesbury Town.
1886 - Lost in the FA Cup Final to Blackburn Rovers after a replay.
1887 - Lost again in the FA Cup Final, this time to Aston Villa 2-0.
1888 - Became founder member of the Football League, winning first game at Stoke City, 2-0, on September 8.
Albion won the FA Cup for the first time, beating Preston North End 2-1 at The Oval before a then-record crowd of almost 19,000. Albion then lost 4-1 to Scottish Cup winners Renton in the 1888 Championship of the World game at Hampden Park.
1889 - Albion lost to Preston in the FA Cup semi-final after winning 10-1 at Chatham in an earlier round.
1892 - Albion won the FA Cup for second time, defeating Aston Villa 3-0 at The Crystal Palace before a record 32,700 crowd. Albion beat Darwen 12-0 at home - a record score in Division One, shared with Nottingham Forest.
1893 - Albion beat Wolves 8-0 at Molineux in League game - their best-ever win over the Wanderers.
1895 - Albion lost 1-0 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final, the only goal coming after 39 seconds. The crowd at The Crystal Palace was a record 42,652.
1896 - Fred Everiss joined Albion's office staff. He was to remain at the club until 1951 as assistant secretary, secretary/manager and then director.
1900 - Albion moved to The Hawthorns, the highest ground above sea level in the UK at 551 feet. The first game to be staged at the ground saw Albion draw 1-1 with Derby in a Division One encounter. County's England international Steve Bloomer scored the first goal at The Hawthorns, with Charlie Simmons equalising.
1901 - Albion were relegated for the first time at the end of 1900/01. They also lost 4-0 to Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final.
1902 - Albion won promotion at the first attempt as champions of Division Two.
1903 - Jesse Pennington joined Albion. He played for the club until 1922, making almost 500 appearances.
1904 - Albion were relegated from the First Division.
1905 - Albion were called the Baggies for the first time.
1907 - Albion were beaten in the FA Cup semi-final by Everton.
1911 - Won the Division Two title with a last-match, 1-0 win over Huddersfield thanks to Fred Buck's penalty.
1912 - Albion lost 1-0 in an FA Cup Final replay to Barnsley, the goal coming in the last minute of extra-time.
1919 - Albion won the Midland Victory League.
1920 - Albion won the Division One championship for the first time with a record 60 points, 104 goals and 28 wins. Fred Morris top-scored with 37 League goals. Albion beat Spurs 2-0 to win the Charity Shield.
1922 - First international played at The Hawthorns: England 2 Ireland 0.
1924 - Second international staged at ground - England 4 Belgium 0.
1925 - Albion finished runners-up to Huddersfield in the First Division.
1927 - Albion relegated to Division Two. Jimmy Cookson scored all six goals as Albion beat Blackpool 6-3 at home in a League game to set a new club individual scoring record.
1930 - Albion netted a record 105 League goals in the 1929/30 season.
1931 - Albion won the FA Cup beating Birmingham 2-1 in Final. They also gained promotion from Division Two to wrap up a unique double, never achieved before or since. Arsenal beat Albion 1-0 to win Charity Shield.
1933 - Fred Everiss's son, Alan, joined the Albion staff. He was associated with the club for 66 years before his death in 1999. He served as clerk, assistant-secretary, secretary, director and life member.
1935 - Albion lost 4-2 to Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup Final. Albion won 7-0 at Aston Villa in the league.
1936 - WG Richardson scored a record 40 goals in 1935-36 (39 in the league).
1937 - A record crowd of 64,815 saw the Albion-Arsenal FA Cup-tie at The Hawthorns. Albion lost 10-3 at Stoke in a league game - their heaviest defeat in this competition.
1944 - Albion beat Nottingham Forest 6-5 over two legs to win the Midland Wartime Cup.
1945 - Third international played at The Hawthorns: England 0 Wales 1.
1948 - Albion appointed their first team manager, Jack Smith, who replaced secretary/manager Fred Everiss.
1949 - With Jack Vernon skippering the side, Albion won promotion from the Second Division.
1950 - Ronnie Allen signed from Port Vale for £20,000. He scored on his debut against Wolves in front of a record league crowd at The Hawthorns of 60,946.
1954 - Albion finished runners-up to Wolves in Division One and won the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3-2 in the final. Albion also drew 4-4 with Wolves in the FA Charity Shield at Molineux, with Ronnie Allen scoring a hat-trick.
1957 - Floodlights were installed at The Hawthorns at a cost of £18,000. Albion lost to Aston Villa in an FA Cup semi-final replay. The Baggies became the first professional club to win in Soviet Russia. Albion also beat Manchester City 9-2 at home - their best-ever league win at The Hawthorns.
1958 - Albion beat Leicester 6-2 at home, Birmingham 6-0 at St Andrews and Portsmouth 6-2 at Fratton Park in early-season league games.
1961 - Albion players' wages went up to £30 per week (from £20).
1963 - Derek Kevan left Albion after ten years' service. Tony Brown scored on his league debut in 2-1 win at Ipswich.
1964 - Albion signed Jeff Astle from Notts County for £25,000. The Rainbow Stand was built at a cost of £40,000.
1966 - Albion won the League Cup at the first attempt, beating West Ham 5-3 on aggregate in the last two-legged final.
1967 - Albion played in Europe for the first time, in the Fairs Cup, and beat Utrecht of Holland, 6-3 on aggregate. Albion lost to QPR 3-2 in the League Cup Final at Wembley after holding a 2-0 half-time lead.
1968 - Jeff Astle scored an extra-time winner - the only goal of the game - against Everton to earn Albion their fifth FA Cup win.
1969 - Albion were knocked out of the European Cup Winners' Cup by Dunfermline, 1-0 on aggregate. Colin Suggett is Albion's first six-figure buy, costing £100,000 from Sunderland.
1970 - Albion were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City after extra-time in the League Cup Final. Astle scored again.
1972 - Albion pay a record £138,000 for left-winger Willie Johnston from Glasgow Rangers.
1973 - Under manager and ex-player Don Howe, Albion are relegated to Division Two.
1974 - Jeff Astle leaves Albion after ten years' service with the club.
1975 - Albion appointed the club's first player/manager, Johnny Giles, from Leeds. He signed Paddy Mulligan, Mick Martin and England's 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst. Bryan Robson played his first game for Albion.
1976 - Albion gain promotion from Division Two with a 1-0 win at Oldham on the last day of the season, with Tony Brown getting the goal.
1977 - Albion gave debuts to Tony Godden, Laurie Cunningham, a £110,000 signing from Orient, and Cyrille Regis. Giles quit as manager and was replaced by former Albion forward Ronnie Allen.
1978 - Ron Atkinson replaces Ronnie Allen as manager. Albion were beaten 3-1 by Ipswich in an FA Cup Semi-final. They became the first British club to play in China.
1979 - Albion lost to Red Star Belgrade - 2-1 on aggregate - in the UEFA Cup. Albion signed Peter Barnes from Manchester City for record fee of £748,000. Laurie Cunningham joined Real Madrid for £995,000.
1980 - Work started on the new Halfords Lane stand. Tony Brown left Albion for Torquay after scoring 218 League goals in 574 games - both club records.
1981 - Bryan Robson was sold to Manchester United for £1.5 million, with Remi Moses also going to Old Trafford for £500,000 to team up with Ron Atkinson.
1982 - Albion are beaten in both the FA Cup and League Cup semi-finals to QPR and Tottenham respectively. The Halfords Lane stand is completed at a cost £2.56 million.
1986 - Albion were relegated to Division Two after the worst season in their history: four league wins, 26 defeats and 24 points.
1991 - Albion were relegated to the 'old' Third Division for the first time, under Bobby Gould's management. Striker Bob Taylor signed from Bristol City for £300,000.
1993 - Albion at Wembley for the first time since 1970 and win promotion to Division Two by beating Port Vale 3-0 in the play-off final. Taylor finished top scorer and became the first player to net 35 goals for the club since Jeff Astle in 1968. Work commenced on the redevelopment of the Brummie Road and Smethwich ends, aimed at creating an all-seater stadium (then capacity 26,000).
1994 - The 'new-look' Hawthorns opened with a game against Bristol City on Boxing Day. Some 21,000 fans saw Albion win 1-0. Total cost of building new ground is £7.2 million.
1995 - Museum opened at The Hawthorns. Albion bank record receipts of over £240,000 from their home FA Cup replay with Coventry. Andy Hunt finished as Albion's top scorer with 13 goals.
1996 - Albion lost 11 League games on the trot, a club record. The club also took record gate receipts for a home League game against Wolves of £218,535.85, from a 21,761 crowd. Goalkeeper Nigel Spink signed from Aston Villa to become the oldest player ever to join the club at 37. Albion became a Public Limited Company, issuing shares to fans at £500 and £3,000 each. Paul Thompson joined the Board, replacing chairman Trevor Summers.
1997 - Ray Harford was appointed manager in succession to Alan Buckley. Cyrille Regis and John Trewick joined his back-up team. Irish under-21 star Kevin Kilbane arrived from Preston North End for a record £1.25 million. In December, Albion changed managers again after Ray Harford walked out, being replaced by Denis Smith from Oxford.
1998 - Matt Carbon became Albion's costliest defender at £800,000 from Derby County. A crowd of 23,013 against Nottingham Forest realised record gate receipts of £270,000.Bob Taylor joined Bolton and Andy Hunt signed for Charlton.
1999 - Following a summer of internal strife, Tony Hale retained his position as chairman at an EGM and then appointed Brian Little as manager. Kevin Kilbane was sold to Sunderland for £2.5 million in December, a move which led to the departure of Tony Hale and his replacement as chairman by Paul Thompson.
2000 - In January, Enzo Maresca was sold to Juventus for a club record £4.3million. Brian Little left the club in March and was replaced by Gary Megson. Five deadline-day loan and permanent signings, including the return of Bob Taylor, saw Albion stave off relegation. Albion signed Jason Roberts for a record £2million from Bristol Rovers.
2001 - The Rainbow Stand was demolished after 37 years to make way for the new East Stand. Albion qualified for the end of season play-offs but lost 5-2 on aggregate to Bolton Wanderers. In August, Lee Hughes became Albion's record sale when he moved to Coventry City for £5,000,001.
2002 - On March 16, Albion led Sheffield United 3-0 at Bramall Lane with 82 minutes gone when the referee was forced to abandon the game as the Blades were down to six men - three were sent off and two left the pitch, unable to continue because of 'injury'. On April 21, Albion beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to secure promotion to the Premiership for the first time. Paul Thompson resigned as chairman on May 20. After Clive Stapleton took on the role in an acting capacity, Jeremy Peace became chairman on June 13.
Albion broke their transfer record with the £2,250,000 signing of Jason Koumas from Tranmere Rovers and then smashed it again, by bringing Lee Hughes back to The Hawthorns for £2,500,000.
2003 - Albion were relegated from the Premier League and endured their worst ever home defeat, losing 6-0 to Liverpool.
2004 - Albion bounced back to the top flight at the first attempt, finishing second in the First Division. The club bought Martin Albrechtsen for a record £2.7million then broke the record again by signing Robert Earnshaw from Cardiff City for £3.5million.
On October 28, Gary Megson's four-and-a-half year reign as Albion boss came to an end, with Frank Burrows installed as caretaker manager, Bryan Robson then taking permanent charge.
In December, the club changed from a Public Limited Company to a private company - 'WBA Holdings Ltd'.
2005 - Albion became the first-ever side in Premiership history to be bottom at Christmas and beat the drop. The Baggies were even bottom heading into the final day but survived thanks to a 2-0 win against Portsmouth at The Hawthorns. Off the pitch, the Baggies moved from Centre of Excellence to Academy status.
2006 - Albion took just four points from the last 42 to be relegated to the Championship. Bryan Robson left in September to be replaced by Tony Mowbray. The summer had seen the completion of Albion's £1.7million indoor facility, featuring a full-size pitch, on Halfords Lane.
2007 - Albion played at the new Wembley for the first time, losing 1-0 to Derby County in the play-off final after beating Wolves over two legs in the semi-final.
2008 - Albion were back at Wembley, but were 1-0 losers again, this time to Portsmouth in the FA Cup semi-final. Compensation came with promotion as they clinched the League Championship with a win at QPR. The transfer record was broken with the arrival of Borja Valero from Real Mallorca for £4.7million. The newly-refurbished West Stand opened to supporters for the first home game of the 2008/09 Premier League season against Everton on Saturday, August 23.
2009 - Narrow relegation to the Championship was followed by manager Tony Mowbray's departure for Celtic. Albion replaced him with the club's first Head Coach, Roberto Di Matteo.
2010 - Di Matteo led Albion to promotion, the club repeating the feat of 2007/08 by scoring over 100 goals in the season. Albion achieved a first-ever win at the Emirates Stadium early in the Premier League season.
2011 - Di Matteo left the club in February to be replaced by Roy Hodgson. A run of 20 points from the last 12 games saw Albion finish 11th, the best top flight finish since 1983.