A hard earned three points on Friday night moved Albion back to the top of the Championship table once again, albeit another win for Bournemouth saw them regain top spot on Saturday.
Nonetheless, no Albion side this century has had more points from their opening dozen league games of a campaign and even Gary Megson’s famously stingy defence had conceded more goals than Ismaël’s team at the same stage.
The last Baggies team to have more points at this stage was, surprisingly enough, Bobby Gould’s team from 1991/92 who led the table after 12 games with eight wins and two draws – I guess that is a sober warning given that season finished with a coffin being paraded around Gary Meadow after the club’s lowest ever league finish, seventh in the third tier, and Gould found himself out of a job.
The previous Baggies team to have a better record from 12 games was the 1947/48 team who also ultimately failed. In what proved to be the last of Fred Everiss’s near 50-year reign as secretary-manager, the team won eight and drew three of their opening dozen games to top the second division table but also finished in seventh place and missed out on promotion.
On a brighter note, the only other Albion side to have a better record at this stage was the title-winning season of 1919/20. Nine wins and three defeats from their initial dozen left them in second place behind Newcastle United albeit with a game in hand.
| 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 | |
| 2000/2001 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 20 | 6th | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 22 | 4th | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 25 | 3rd | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 11 | 22 | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 15 | 20 | 2nd | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 24 | 1st | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 17 | 24 | 2nd | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 4th | 80 |
| 2019/2020 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 25 | 1st | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 2nd | 83 |
| 2021/2022 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 25 | 1st | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 11 | ||
| * Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results
| 2000/2001 | 14/10/2000 | Norwich City (H) | L | 2-3 | Clement, Hughes (pen) |
| 2001/2002 | 16/10/2001 | Stockport County (A) | W | 2-1 | Taylor (2) |
| 2003/2004 | 14/10/2003 | Sheffield United (H) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2006/2007 | 17/10/2006 | Crystal Palace (A) | W | 2-0 | Gera, Kamara |
| 2007/2008 | 23/10/2007 | Blackpool (H) | W | 2-1 | Miller, Morrison |
| 2009/2010 | 17/10/2009 | Reading (H) | W | 3-1 | Thomas (2), Mulumbu |
| 2018/2019 | 06/10/2018 | Reading (H) | W | 4-1 | Gayle (2), Barnes, Bartley |
| 2019/2020 | 19/10/2019 | Middlesbrough (A) | W | 1-0 | Robson-Kanu |
| 2021/2022 | 15/10/2021 | Birmingham City (H) | W | 1-0 | Grant |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 17/10/2000 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) | W | 1-0 | Hughes (pen) |
| 2001/2002 | 19/10/2001 | Norwich City (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2003/2004 | 18/10/2003 | Norwich City (H) | W | 1-0 | Koumas |
| 2006/2007 | 22/10/2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) | W | 3-0 | Greening, Kamara, Hartson (pen) |
| 2007/2008 | 27/10/2007 | Norwich City (H) | W | 2-0 | Miller, Phillips |
| 2009/2010 | 20/10/2009 | Swansea City (H) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2018/2019 | 20/10/2018 | Wigan Athletic (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2019/2020 | 22/10/2019 | Barnsley (H) | D | 2-2 | Diaby (o.g.), Pereira |
| 2021/2022 | 20/10/2021 | Swansea City (A) |
