Albion open a Premier League season with a victory for only the second time, and the first time that the Baggies have won their opening away game of a Premier League season.
The last time Albion won their opening game, it was 3-0 at home to Liverpool in 2012, a season that Albion went on to finish in 8th position, and that was the only time since 2006 that the Baggies won on the opening day. That year, Albion beat Hull City 2-0 at the Hawthorns as they embarked on a Championship campaign that ended in a play-off final defeat to Derby County.
Opening day victories have been extraordinarily rare for the Baggies, with the win at Palace being just the 7th time it has happened in the 37 attempts since the great Albion side of 1978/9 won their opening fixture at home to Ipswich by two goals to one with the Brown boys, Ally and Tony, grabbing a goal each.
You have to go back even further for the last time that Albion won away from home on the first day of the season; that was in 1973 when Don Howe’s Baggies won 3-2 at Blackpool in a Division Two fixture thanks to a brace from Bomber Brown. The last time it happened in the top flight was also in London, a 1-0 at West Ham in 1971 with Bomber the scorer once again.
| Home | Away | Season End | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Posn | Pts | |
| 2002/2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19th | 26 |
| 2004/2005 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17th | 34 |
| 2005/2006 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19th | 30 |
| 2008/2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20th | 32 |
| 2010/2011 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 20th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11th | 47 |
| 2011/2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 19th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10th | 47 |
| 2012/2013 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3rd | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8th | 49 |
| 2013/2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17th | 36 |
| 2014/2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9th | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13th | 44 |
| 2015/2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20th | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14th | 43 |
| 2016/2017 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| 2015/2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015/2016 Results | Crystal Palace (A) | L | 0-2 | ||||
| Everton (H) | L | 2-3 | |||||
Results
| 2002/2003 | 17/08/2002 | Manchester United (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2004/2005 | 14/08/2004 | Blackburn Rovers (A) | D | 1-1 | Clement |
| 2005/2006 | 13/08/2005 | Manchester City (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2008/2009 | 16/08/2008 | Arsenal (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2010/2011 | 14/08/2010 | Chelsea (A) | L | 0-6 | |
| 2011/2012 | 14/08/2011 | Manchester United (H) | L | 1-2 | Long |
| 2012/2013 | 18/08/2012 | Liverpool (H) | W | 3-0 | Gera, Odemwingie (pen), Lukaku |
| 2013/2014 | 17/08/2013 | Southampton (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2014/2015 | 16/08/2014 | Sunderland (H) | D | 2-2 | Berahino (2, 1 pen) |
| 2015/2016 | 10/08/2015 | Manchester City (H) | L | 0-3 | |
| 2016/2017 | 13/08/2016 | Crystal Palace (A) | W | 1-0 | Rondón |
Next Matches
| 2002/2003 | 24/08/2002 | Leeds United (H) | L | 1-3 | Marshall |
| 2004/2005 | 22/08/2004 | Aston Villa (H) | D | 1-1 | Clement |
| 2005/2006 | 20/08/2005 | Portsmouth (H) | W | 2-1 | Horsfield (2) |
| 2008/2009 | 23/08/2008 | Everton (H) | L | 1-2 | Bednar (pen) |
| 2010/2011 | 21/08/2010 | Sunderland (H) | W | 1-0 | Odemwingie |
| 2011/2012 | 20/08/2011 | Chelsea (A) | L | 1-2 | Long |
| 2012/2013 | 25/08/2012 | Tottenham Hotspur (A) | D | 1-1 | Morrison |
| 2013/2014 | 24/08/2013 | Everton (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2014/2015 | 23/08/2014 | Southampton (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2015/2016 | 15/08/2015 | Watford (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2016/2017 | 20/08/2016 | Everton (H) |
