Albion’s Promotion Challenge Season Comparison – 2 games

An excellent performance from the Baggies did not result in the three points it deserved but Steve Bruce’s have negotiated two very difficult opening fixtures against sides expected to be challenging at the end of the season and remain unbeaten.

The last time that an Albion side opened a league campaign with two draws was under Alan Irvine in 2014 when a 2-2 home draw with Sunderland was followed by a goalless draw at Southampton. Ten years earlier, Gary Megson’s side opened with a draw at Blackburn followed by home draws with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur (all 1-1), while the club record for draws from the start of a season was in defence of the league title in 1920. On that occasion, Albion played Newcastle United and Liverpool home and away in the first four games with two games finishing 1-1 and the other two 0-0. Before this season, no Albion side had ever opened a second tier campaign with two draws.

Game 3 of a campaign in the second tier has proved to be successful for Albion sides in recent years – they have won the third match on their last four seasons in the Championship with three of those coming away from the Hawthorns at Peterborough (2009), Norwich City (2018) and Luton Town (2020).

    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 2 0 0 2 0 3 0 24th 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 6th 74
2001/2002 2 0 0 2 1 3 0 22nd 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 2nd 89
2003/2004 2 1 0 1 5 5 3 10th 1 0 0 4 1 3 0 0 1 1 4 0 2nd 86
2006/2007 2 1 1 0 3 1 4 4th 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 4th 76
2007/2008 2 1 0 1 3 2 3 10th 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 1st 81
2009/2010 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 8th 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 2nd 91
2018/2019 2 0 1 1 2 3 1 17th 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 4th 80
2019/2020 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 5th 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 2nd 83
2021/2022 2 1 1 0 5 4 4 4th 1 0 0 3 2 3 0 1 0 2 2 1 10th 67
2022/2023 2 0 2 0 2 2 2 14th 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1    
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

2000/2001 19/08/2000 Bolton Wanderers (H) L 0-2  
2001/2002 18/08/2001 Grimsby Town (H) L 0-1  
2003/2004 16/08/2003 Burnley (H) W 4-1 Šakiri, Hulse, Hughes (2)
2006/2007 08/08/2006 Cardiff City (A) D 1-1 Gera
2007/2008 18/08/2007 Preston North End (H) W 2-0 Phillips, Miller
2009/2010 15/08/2009 Nottingham Forest (A) W 1-0 Cohen (o.g.)
2018/2019 07/08/2018 Nottingham Forest (A) D 1-1 Phillips
2019/2020 10/08/2019 Millwall (H) D 1-1 Bartley
2021/2022 14/08/2021 Luton Town (H) W 3-2 Naismith (o.g.), Robinson, Grant
2022/2023 08/08/2022 Watford (H) D 1-1 Grant

Next Matches

2000/2001 26/08/2000 Barnsley (A) L 1-4 Hughes
2001/2002 25/08/2001 Sheffield Wednesday (A) D 1-1 Dichio
2003/2004 23/08/2003 Watford (A) W 1-0 Hughes
2006/2007 12/08/2006 Southampton (A) D 0-0  
2007/2008 25/08/2007 Sheffield United (A) L 0-1  
2009/2010 18/08/2009 Peterborough United (A) W 3-2 Moore (2), Brunt
2018/2019 11/08/2018 Norwich City (A) W 4-3 Rodriguez (2, 1 pen), Barnes, Robson-Kanu
2019/2020 17/08/2019 Luton Town (A) W 2-1 Diangana (2)
2021/2022 18/08/2021 Sheffield United (H) W 4-0 J. Robinson (o.g.), O’Shea, Mowatt, Robinson
2022/2023 14/08/2022 Blackburn Rovers (A)      

If you cannot see the tables, click here.

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