Albion's timeline
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 a 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 replaced 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. Albion lost 5-2 at home to Swindon after leading 2-1 with 16 minutes left. 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 and 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 and striker Lee Hughes was signed from Kidderminster Harriers.
Former Baggies player John Wile was opted onto the Albion board as chief executive. Canadian Paul Peschisolido was sold to Fulham for £1million.
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 £4.3 million.
Brian Little left the club following a home defeat against Birmingham 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.
Aston Villa played two InterToto Cup games at The Hawthorns during the summer.
Albion signed their first Portuguese player - Jordao from Sporting Braga. Derek McInnes, signed from Toulouse, was made captain and striker Jason Roberts was snapped up for a record £2 million from Bristol Rovers.
2001 - The Rainbow Stand was demolished after 37 years - to make way for the new East Stand.
Goalkeeper Russell Hoult was recruited as cover for Brian Jensen from Portsmouth and Michael Appleton joined from Preston for £750,000.
Phil Gilchrist joined on transfer deadline day, moving from Leicester City for £500,000, as Albion reached sixth place in Division One, qualifying for the end of season play-offs.
Albion led Bolton 2-0 in the home leg thanks to goals from Jason Roberts and Lee Hughes, but Bolton scored twice in the last ten minutes to nick a draw, before winning the return leg 3-0.
In the aftermath of the game, Albion released Richard Sneekes, Jason Van Blerk, Daryl Burgess and Matt Carbon.
In July, Albion signed Scott Dobie for £150,000 from Carlisle United.
In August, Lee Hughes became Albion's record sale when he moved to Coventry City for £5,000,001.
The £7.5 million East Stand opened in time for the first home game of the 2001/02 season against Grimsby Town.
The visit of Manchester City on September 8 saw Albion take record receipts of £246,722. The club also signed Portsmouth's Darren Moore, for £750,000, and Andy Johnson, from Nottingham Forest, in a deal worth £200,000.
Further evidence of Albion's ambition came with the £1.25 million signing of Danny Dichio from Sunderland in December.
2002 - Albion defeated a top flight side in the FA Cup for the first time in 12 years when they came back from a goal behind to win 2-1 at Sunderland.
Premiership Leicester were also beaten 1-0 in the fourth round in a game generating new record receipts. That figure was topped again when Cheltenham Town visited in the fifth round, with the club bringing in gross receipts of £375,272 from another 1-0 win.
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, apparently 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. They had overhauled an eleven-point deficit over the last 42 days of the season to steal the runners-up berth off Wolves.
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.
In July, Albion signed Ronnie Wallwork from Manchester United on a Bosman and completed the signing of Sean Gregan for £1.5million, making him the second most expensive signing in the club's history. Lee Marshall was also added to the squad in mid-August, coming from Leicester City for £700,000.
On August 17, the Baggies played their first ever Premier League match at Manchester United, losing 1-0. Seven days later, Lee Marshall registered the club's first-ever Premiership goal in the 3-1 defeat at home to Leeds.
Albion broke their transfer record on August 29 with the £2,250,000 signing of Jason Koumas from Tranmere Rovers. Within a matter of hours, the club smashed it again, by bringing Lee Hughes back to The Hawthorns for £2,500,000.
Albion's first Premier League win came on August 31 when Fulham were beaten 1-0 with a Darren Moore goal.
2003 - In January 2003, Ifeanyi Udeze became the first Nigerian to play for the club, but it wasn't enough to prevent Albion being relegated, confirmation coming on April 19 - despite a 2-1 win at Sunderland.
Seven days later, the Baggies endured their worst ever home defeat, losing 6-0 to Liverpool, for whom Michael Owen scored four times. The season ended with Albion in 19th place, one above Sunderland.
The summer of 2003 saw a slew of new signings at the club, Artim Sakiri, Rob Hulse, Bernt Haas, James O'Connor, Joost Volmer, Sekou Berthe and Alassane N'Dour coming to West Bromwich, to be joined later in the season by Paul Robinson, Mark Kinsella and Geoff Horsfield along with loanees Delroy Facey and Morten Skoubo, while Jason Roberts and Danny Dichio both left during the season and Michael Appleton finally had to admit defeat in his fight against injury.
2004 - The strength in depth proved crucial over a long, hard season back in Division One as Albion fought against the weight of expectation. As tring of wins through March and April finally took them clear of the pack, promotion sealed when Sunderland couldn't win their lunchtime fixture at Wigan, Albion's fans watching on the big screens prior to the game with Bradford. The Baggies ended the season second and back in the big time a t the first attempt.
Preparations for the Premiership proceeded quickly with the signing of Riccardo Scimeca from Leicester and then Martin Albrechtsen for a then-record £2.7million from FC Copenhagen at the start of June 2004.
Albion again broke their transfer record in August when they signed Wales striker Robert Earnshaw from Cardiff City for £3.5 million.
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.
Former Baggies ace Bryan Robson was appointed Albion's new manager on November 9 and immediately appointed Nigel Pearson as his assistant.
In December the club changed from a Public Limited Company to a private company - 'WBA Holdings Ltd'.
2005 - Robson made his first signings in the January transfer window with Kevin Campbell and Richard Chaplow putting pen to paper on Hawthorns deals and Kieran Richardson joining on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season.
On March 19 Albion recorded their biggest Premiership win as they beat ten-man Charlton 4-1 at The Valley, scoring more than two goals in a Premiership game for the first time. Earnshaw fired Albion's first ever Premiership hat-trick in just 16minutes after coming on as a substitute.
On May 15 Robson's men 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 leapfrogged Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich thanks to a 2-0 win against Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
The summer of 2005 saw the arrival of Steve Watson, Darren Carter, Nathan Ellington plus Chris Kirkland on a season-long loan from Liverpool. On August transfer deadline day Curtis Davies became Albion's most expensive defender ever after signing from Luton for £3million.
Off the pitch the Baggies moved from Centre of Excellence to Academy status, with their youth teams competing in the FA Premier Academy League for the first time.
2006 - In January Robert Earnshaw joined Norwich in a £3.5million deadline-day deal following Geoff Horsfield, who moved to Sheffield United for £1.2million, out of The Hawthorns exit door. Nigel Quashie signed for Albion from Southampton for £1.2million.
Slovakian Jan Kozak and Uruguayan Williams Martinez also signed on loan from Artmedia Bratislava and Defensor respectively, with both returning to their clubs at the end of the season.
But from February onwards the Baggies failed to win another game and took just four points from a possible 42 to be relegated to the Championship.
Robson released fans' favourite Andy Johnson, Kevin Campbell, Kanu and Junichi Inamoto in the summer and other players who departed during the 2005/06 season were Rob Hulse, Darren Purse, Joe Murphy, Riccardo Scimeca, Darren Moore and Lloyd Dyer.
He brought in experienced quartet John Hartson, Chris Perry, Pascal Zuberbuhler and Kevin Phillips ahead of the new campaign.
Tomasz Kuszczak, meanwhile, joined Manchester United with Paul McShane and Luke Steele coming the other way as part of the deal.
Off the pitch the summer saw the completion of Albion's £1.7million indoor facility - the T-Mobile Football Centre - on Halfords Lane, as well as over £1million being spent on major improvments to their Walsall training ground base.
After taking 12 from the first 24 points of the new season, Robson left the club by mutual consent on September 18.
His assistant Nigel Pearson took charge for four games, including Albion's first league away win in nine months - a 5-1 drubbing of Ipswich - watched by manager in waiting Tony Mowbray on his old Portman Road stomping ground on October 14.
Reserves boss Craig Shakespeare oversaw the following 2-0 mid-week victory at Crystal Palace before Mowbray officially took the reins on October 18 - beating fierce local rivals Wolves 3-0 in his first game at the helm four days later.
Mowbray came from SPL outfit Hibernian and immediately appointed his assistant at Easter Road, Mark Venus, as his Hawthorns No.2.
2007 - The Baggies were to meet Wolves a further four times that term, losing the return league fixture but beating them in the FA Cup and both Championship play-off semi-final games.
January saw the official opening of the club's new Community Sports Hall on behalf of Barclays Spaces for Sports.
The new facility, based on the Tom Silk site, Halfords Lane, opposite The Hawthorns, was built thanks to a generous £600,000 cash injection from Barclays and the Football Foundation.
On the pitch that month, Mowbray sold Nigel Quashie to West Ham for £1.75million and added new face Robert Koren from Lillestrom.
Portsmouth's Dean Kiely also arrived as a replacement for Russell Hoult, who left for Stoke, and Zuberbuhler, who returned to Swiss football in February.
And Mowbray drafted in Sherjill MacDonald and Sam Sodje on loan to help the Black Country club finish fourth.
Unfortunately, Albion's season ended in agony as they suffered a harsh 1-0 defeat to Derby in the first-ever Championship play-off final at the new Wembley on May 28.
That sparked a reshape of Mowbray's squad as names like Jason Koumas, Diomansy Kamara, Paul McShane and Curtis Davies left the club for significant sums of money during the summer.
A host of new new faces - Carl Hoefkens, Leon Barnett, Roman Bednar (loan), Ishmael Miller, Chris Brunt, Craig Beattie, Pele, Filipe Teixieira, Sherjill MacDonald (loan), Bartosz Slusarski and James Morrison - arrived in thier place and took little time to gel into a side that played free-flowing football.
2008 - The squad was bolstered by the January arrivals of Luke Moore (loan) and Do-heon Kim (loan), and the permanent signing of MacDonald.
In May the Baggies were back at the new Wembley but again suffered an unfortunate 1-0 defeat - this time in the FA Cup semi-final against Premier League Portsmouth.
But Albion held their nerve in the league and won their third promotion in seven seasons - clinching the Championship trophy with a 2-0 win at QPR on the final day of the season.
During the summer Kevin Phillips, Zoltan Gera and Martin Albrechtsen all left on Bosmans for Blues, Fulham and Derby respectively.
As well as making the loan moves of Moore, Roman Bednar and Kim permanent, Mowbray added new signings Scott Carson, Marek Cech, Graham Dorrans, Gianni Zuiverloon, Abdoulaye Meite, Jonas Olsson and Ryan Donk.
Albion also broke their transfer record with the purchase of Spanish midfielder Borja Valero from Real Mallorca for £4.7million.
There was also a change in Mowbray's backroom staff, with the departure of coach Craig Shakespeare to become assistant manager at Leicester.
Former Norwich manager Peter Grant was appointed first-team coach at The Hawthorns and Michael Appleton was put in charge of the reserves as well as the Academy sides.
Off the pitch Albion opened the newly-refurbished West Stand to supporters for their first home game of the 2008/09 Premier League season against Everton on Saturday, August 23.
