Albion bowed of the Premier League after an eight year stay with a rather limp defeat to Crystal Palace that was somewhat at odds with the performances of the last few weeks.
I’m not sure why Big Dave decided to play Kyrchowiak as a number ten in Matt Phillips’ absence, but it obviously didn’t work and Rondón’s isolation was reminiscent of the early season form when Pulis played a similar line-up, and I’m sure he will be disappointed to lose his unbeaten record.
For the fans, the football seemed to be largely a sideshow as the opposing sides found plenty of common ground in praising Roy Hodgson and hating both Pulis and Pardew.
We now wait for the news on the next Head Coach, with rumours suggesting that Dean Smith will get the nod this week, with Moore as his assistant.
Back in 2005, the story of the final day is Albion folklore. Despite not having won in six games, a home win for Albion was expected, particularly with Portsmouth as the opponents – all four sides of the ground were supporting the Baggies as Southampton were one of the sides that could go down.
Second half goals from Geoff Horsfield and Kieran Richardson secured the points, while Norwich were thumped at Fulham and Southampton went down at home to Manchester United. The problem were Crystal Palace who were 2-1 up at Charlton entering the latter stages – and then Jonathan Fortune became an unlikely Baggies hero as he equalised for the Addicks and the Great Escape was complete.
The final table was as follows:
| Premier League Relegation Battle – 15th May 2005 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 17. | West Brom | 38 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 36 | 61 | -26 | 34 |
| 18. | Crystal Palace | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 41 | 62 | -21 | 33 |
| 19. | Norwich City | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 43 | 77 | -35 | 33 |
| 20. | Southampton | 38 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 45 | 66 | -21 | 32 |
Here are the full season by season comparisons.
| 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 | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 29 | 65 | 26 | 19th | 3 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 34 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 31 | 12 | 19th | 26 |
| 2004/2005 | 38 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 36 | 61 | 34 | 17th | 5 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 37 | 11 | 17th | 34 |
| 2005/2006 | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 58 | 30 | 19th | 6 | 2 | 11 | 21 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 34 | 10 | 19th | 30 |
| 2008/2009 | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 36 | 67 | 32 | 20th | 7 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 33 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 34 | 8 | 20th | 32 |
| 2010/2011 | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 56 | 71 | 47 | 11th | 8 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 41 | 17 | 11th | 47 |
| 2011/2012 | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 52 | 47 | 10th | 6 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 30 | 26 | 10th | 47 |
| 2012/2013 | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 53 | 57 | 49 | 8th | 9 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 31 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 18 | 8th | 49 |
| 2013/2014 | 38 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 36 | 17th | 4 | 9 | 6 | 24 | 27 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 32 | 15 | 17th | 36 |
| 2014/2015 | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 51 | 44 | 13th | 7 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 26 | 25 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 19 | 13th | 44 |
| 2015/2016 | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 34 | 48 | 43 | 14th | 6 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 26 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 20 | 14th | 43 |
| 2016/2017 | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 43 | 51 | 45 | 10th | 9 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 22 | 29 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 29 | 16 | 10th | 45 |
| 2017/2018 | 38 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 31 | 56 | 31 | 20th | 3 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 29 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 13 | 20th | 31 |
| Comparison of Equivalent Fixtures^ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| 2016/2017 | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 43 | 51 | 45 |
| 2016/2017 Results | Crystal Palace (A) | W | 1-0 | ||||
Results
| 2002/2003 | 11/05/2003 | Newcastle United (H) | D | 2-2 | Dobie (2) |
| 2004/2005 | 15/05/2005 | Portsmouth (H) | W | 2-0 | Horsfield, Richardson |
| 2005/2006 | 07/05/2006 | Everton (A) | D | 2-2 | Gera, Martinez |
| 2008/2009 | 24/05/2009 | Blackburn Rovers (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2010/2011 | 22/05/2011 | Newcastle United (A) | D | 3-3 | Tchoyi (3) |
| 2011/2012 | 14/05/2012 | Arsenal (H) | L | 2-3 | Long, Dorrans |
| 2012/2013 | 19/05/2013 | Manchester United (H) | D | 5-5 | Morrison, Lukaku (3), Mulumbu |
| 2013/2014 | 11/05/2014 | Stoke City (H) | L | 1-2 | Sessègnon |
| 2014/2015 | 24/05/2015 | Arsenal (A) | L | 1-4 | McAuley |
| 2015/2016 | 15/05/2016 | Liverpool (H) | D | 1-1 | Rondón |
| 2016/2017 | 21/05/2017 | Swansea City (A) | L | 1-2 | Evans |
| 2017/2018 | 13/05/2018 | Crystal Palace (A) | L | 0-2 |
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the Premier League table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
^ Fixtures against promoted clubs are compared against fixtures against the relegated clubs from last season with the club finishing 1st in the Championship compared against the club finishing 18th in the Premier League, 2nd compared with 19th and the play-off winners compared against the club who finished bottom.
