An incident-packed but ultimately frustrating afternoon at the Hawthorns leaves Valérien Ismaël’s Albion team somewhat off the pace in comparison to their previous 21st century promotion campaigns. Only in Tony Mowbray’s first season at the helm did the Baggies have a worse record at this stage of the season.
However, the draw does mean that this campaign has now matched the club record of home games unbeaten from the start of the season, equalling the tally set by Frank Heaven’s team in 1897/98 who also had a record of seven wins and five draws from their opening dozen home league games.
The red card for Sam Johnstone was the first for an Albion goalkeeper since Russell Hoult was sent off at Anfield in 2002 in conceding a penalty. Joe Murphy replaced him and subsequently saved Michael Owen’s spot kick. Albion statistician, Tony Matthews, dug out that fact that Johnstone is only the third Baggies stopper to be sent off in the club’s history, Joe Reader being the other back in 1895 at Pikes Lane, Bolton, a game that Albion ultimately lost 5-0.
With Alex Mowatt having also seen red, it is the first time Albion have had two players sent off in a match since Pablo Ibáñez and Gonzalo Jara were both dismissed inside the first half an hour in the 2-1 defeat at Bloomfield Road in 2010.
| 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 | 25 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 35 | 29 | 44 | 5th | 8 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 14 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 25 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 21 | 43 | 5th | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 20 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 36 | 22 | 46 | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 23 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 45 | 28 | 40 | 6th | 9 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 25 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 56 | 29 | 47 | 1st | 9 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 11 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 51 | 27 | 46 | 3rd | 7 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 14 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 13 | 23 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 53 | 32 | 46 | 3rd | 7 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 17 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 15 | 21 | 4th | 80 |
| 2019/2020 | 25 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 47 | 27 | 51 | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 18 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 28 | 2nd | 83 |
| 2021/2022 | 25 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 31 | 19 | 42 | 4th | 7 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 16 | ||
| * Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results
| 2000/2001 | 26/12/2000 | Sheffield United (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2001/2002 | 22/12/2001 | Sheffield Wednesday (H) | D | 1-1 | Fox |
| 2003/2004 | 26/12/2003 | Derby County (H) | D | 1-1 | Gaardsøe |
| 2006/2007 | 26/12/2006 | Preston North End (H) | W | 4-2 | Koumas, Kamara, Ellington (2) |
| 2007/2008 | 29/12/2007 | Scunthorpe United (H) | W | 5-0 | Phillips (2), Koren, Gera, Beattie |
| 2009/2010 | 18/01/2010 | Newcastle United (A) | D | 2-2 | Olsson, Bednár |
| 2018/2019 | 29/12/2018 | Sheffield Wednesday (H) | D | 1-1 | Jones (o.g.) |
| 2019/2020 | 29/12/2019 | Middlesbrough (H) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2021/2022 | 02/01/2022 | Cardiff City (H) | D | 1-1 | Robinson |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 30/12/2000 | Bolton Wanderers (A) | W | 1-0 | Roberts |
| 2001/2002 | 26/12/2001 | Manchester City (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2003/2004 | 30/12/2003 | Wimbledon (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2006/2007 | 30/12/2006 | Ipswich Town (H) | W | 2-0 | Kamara, Koumas |
| 2007/2008 | 01/01/2008 | Ipswich Town (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| 2009/2010 | 26/01/2010 | Ipswich Town (A) | D | 1-1 | Brunt |
| 2018/2019 | 01/01/2019 | Blackburn Rovers (A) | L | 1-2 | Rodriguez (pen) |
| 2019/2020 | 01/01/2020 | Leeds United (H) | D | 1-1 | Ajayi |
| 2021/2022 | 15/01/2022 | Queen’s Park Rangers (A) |
If you cannot see the tables, click here.
