Albion continued to celebrate the 125th anniversary of The Hawthorns with its ‘Clash of the Legends: Home Nations vs Rest of the World’ in aid of The Albion Foundation.
Previously held in 2022 in honour of Chris Brunt and James Morrison, the Baggies faithful were taken on another trip down memory lane as they welcomed back more heroes from the past.
Brunt, Claudio Yacob, Morrison, Gareth McAuley and many other fan favourites were welcomed back to the Shrine to raise money for the club’s charity partner.
The Rest of the World team began the first half brightly, and Argentinian Yacob finally broke the deadlock after a number of brilliant shots, stroking into the bottom corner past returning goalkeeper Chris Adamson.
A superb strike from Shane Long advanced their lead a few minutes later, he chested down a lofted pass, before sliding into the bottom corner – rolling back the years for the Irish international.
Welshman Robert Earnshaw pulled a goal back for the Home Nations with a typical poacher’s finish inside the penalty area, but it was left to Rest of the World substitute Leigh Downing to put the result beyond doubt. The Senior Professional Development Phase Coach flew beyond the Home Nations defence to seal a memorable victory at The Hawthorns.
The fans were delighted to see their former favourites bring back a flood of memories, including the tough tackling from Jonas Olsson, Earnie’s somersault celebration and the strong competitive qualities of Yacob.
The former Argentinian midfielder couldn’t hide his excitement of making his return to the Hawthorns.
“It was an amazing feeling” he described. “I’m so happy to be back and it was fantastic to reunite with my former teammates as I shared some really memorable experiences with them during my time at West Brom.
“It was a brilliant game, as our team was strong and we had a lot of good chances where we could have scored more goals, but today was all about having fun and seeing our fans again who came to support us for such a good cause.”
Home Nations: Adamson, Jones, Chambers, Barnett, McAuley, Carter, Morrison, Livermore, Quashie, Hunt, Brunt, Quashie, Dyer, Earnshaw, Ellington, Ellington.
Rest of the World: Kuszczak, Albrechtsen, Olsson, Hill, Pelé, Abella, Yacob, Scharner, Koren, Long, Bednář, Downing, Cox, Gera.
Report written by Dan Whitehouse
