As disappointing and frustrating as Albion fans will have felt on leaving the Hawthorns after the 1-1 draw with Millwall, they can be reassured by the knowledge that the result sent the Baggies back to the top of the table and it is the club’s best start to a season for 17 years.
A 4-1 win over Ipswich Town in September 2003 saw Gary Megson’s side consolidate their position of the top of the table with their fifth win from the opening six games putting them two points clear of Wigan Athletic.
Ismaël’s team has matched the start made by Roberto di Matteo’s 2009 side, although the class of ’21 have scored one more goal. That is still two goals behind Darren Moore’s team and some way short of the record goal tally for an Albion team in their opening six league games of 18. That has been achieved on three occasions – in 1919, 1929 and 1930.
It is only the eleventh time in Albion’s history that the team has gone undefeated in their opening six league games, and, on three of those occasions, the team has gone on to match the club record unbeaten start of nine matches, most recently under Slaven Bilić in 2019.
| 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 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6th | 74 |
| 2001/2002 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 9th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2nd | 89 |
| 2003/2004 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 1st | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2nd | 86 |
| 2006/2007 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 3rd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4th | 76 |
| 2007/2008 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 5th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1st | 81 |
| 2009/2010 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 1st | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2nd | 91 |
| 2018/2019 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 8th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4th | 80 |
| 2019/2020 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 4th | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2nd | 83 |
| 2021/2022 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 1st | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7 | ||
| * Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results
| 2000/2001 | 09/09/2000 | Stockport County (A) | D | 0-0 | |
| 2001/2002 | 15/09/2001 | Watford (A) | W | 2-1 | Dobie (2) |
| 2003/2004 | 13/09/2003 | Ipswich Town (H) | W | 4-1 | Gaardsøe, Hulse (2), Diallo (o.g.) |
| 2006/2007 | 09/09/2006 | Leicester City (H) | W | 2-0 | Kenton (o.g.), Phillips (pen) |
| 2007/2008 | 18/09/2007 | Bristol City (A) | D | 1-1 | Koren |
| 2009/2010 | 12/09/2009 | Plymouth Argyle (H) | W | 3-1 | Martis, Cech (2) |
| 2018/2019 | 01/09/2018 | Stoke City (H) | W | 2-1 | Gayle (2) |
| 2019/2020 | 31/08/2019 | Blackburn Rovers (H) | W | 3-2 | Phillips, Livermore, Diangana |
| 2021/2022 | 11/09/2021 | Millwall (H) | D | 1-1 | Bartley |
Next Matches
| 2000/2001 | 12/09/2000 | Crewe Alexandra (A) | W | 1-0 | Hughes |
| 2001/2002 | 18/09/2001 | Preston North End (H) | W | 2-0 | Dobie (2) |
| 2003/2004 | 16/09/2003 | Wigan Athletic (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2006/2007 | 12/09/2006 | Preston North End (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| 2007/2008 | 22/09/2007 | Scunthorpe United (A) | W | 3-2 | Barnett, Brunt, Teixeira |
| 2009/2010 | 15/09/2009 | Doncaster Rovers (H) | W | 3-1 | Olsson (2), Wood |
| 2018/2019 | 14/09/2018 | Birmingham City (A) | D | 1-1 | Phillips |
| 2019/2020 | 14/09/2019 | Fulham (A) | D | 1-1 | Ajayi |
| 2021/2022 | 14/09/2021 | Derby County (H) |
