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.
