Club News

Your guide to 2017/18 Premier League newcomers

FIXTURES for the 2017/18 Premier League season have been released today - and Albion fans can look forward to facing three new opponents promoted from the Championship. Here's everything you need to know about the newcomers.

Newcastle United - Tuesday, November 28 (H) / Saturday, April 28 (A)

Albion are no strangers to Newcastle having been in the same divison as the Magpies for seven of the last eight seasons. And Baggies fans are more than familiar with the 342-mile round trip.

Both sides were relegated to the Championship in 2009 and have since met 15 times with the Baggies winning five, drawing five and losing five in that period.

Newcastle and Albion were both promoted back to the Premier League the following season with the Geordie outfit winning the title and Albion promoted as runners-up. And that phenomenon was repeated last season with Brighton and Hove Albion finishing in second place behind Rafa Benitez's side.

It was the second time Newcastle had bounced back at the first opportunity - winning the title by a single point.

Dwight Gayle lead the charge, netting 23 times in the league - a feat which earned him a place in the PFA Championship Team of the Year alongside colleagues Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey.

Brighton & Hove Albion - Saturday, September 9 (A) / Saturday, January 13 (H)

Not since 1993 have the two Albions locked horns. That - a Division Two contest at The Hawthorns - ended 3-1 to the Baggies.

Indeed, so infrequent are meetings between the two sides that Brighton have only beaten WBA four times in their history. Another chance to take on the 364-mile round trip awaits this season.

Chris Hughton's side will embark on their first ever Premier League campaign this season, their promotion coming 20 years to the day that they were less than half an hour from dropping out of the Football League.

And promotion came after playoff heartache in the previous season. This time out the Seagulls won 17 of 22 home games at the Amex Stadium, picking up 54 points.

Glenn Murray (22), Anthony Knockaert (15), Sam Baldock (11) and Tomer Hemed (11) all played their part, scoring 59 of their side's 73 goals.

Huddersfield Town - Saturday, November 4 (A) / Saturday, February 24 (H)

Huddersfield provided the latest footballing fairytale with their playoff victory over Reading at Wembley securing Premier League football at the Kirklees Stadium for the first time.

A League One club as recently as 2012, the Terriers are the latest side to mount a successful Premier League promotion challenge.

The Baggies and Huddersfield have only met four times since the turn of the Milennium - the latest encounter coming in an FA Cup tie in 2010 which saw Albion run out 2-0 winners. A 230-mile round trip awaits again this season.

David Wagner's side finished fifth in the Championship table, but penalty shootout victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Reading meant Town returned to the top-flight for the first time in 43 years.

Elias Kachunga and Nakhi Wells took on the goalscoring burden - bagging 13 and ten respectively - but former Baggie Izzy Brown also chipped in with five.