Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 11 games

A third successive draw for the Baggies saw them move up a place in the table following Sheffield United’s defeat at Middlesbrough, but it extends their winless run to five games. That is the longest spell without a win under Carlos Corberán and the longest since the eight-game run (nine including the League Cup defeat to Derby Country) between August and October 2022 that led to the dismissal of Steve Bruce.

This season’s side have conceded only seven goals from their opening eleven games, bettered only by Don Howe’s team in 1974 that had conceded six at the same stage and had a similar record of five wins and four draws. Albion have conceded seven goals in their opening eleven league games twice before, both in the early twentieth century in Division Two – in 1905 and 1908. Fred Everiss’s 1908 team would end up being promoted as champions, while the 1905 and 1974 teams both finished in the top six.

It was the Baggies’ sixth clean sheet of the campaign which has not been done by an Albion side since Tony Pulis’s team earned six shutouts in the first eleven games of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign. No Albion side has earned more clean sheets from the opening eleven games but it was also matched in 1991, 1974, 1948 and 1906. A seventh shutout against Cardiff City on Saturday would be a new club record.

The draw also meant that Albion have earned eleven points from their opening six away games of the campaign, a total that has been bettered on only seven occasions (when applying three points for a win) in the club’s history. Incredibly, Brian Little’s team earned 12 points from their opening six away games in 1999 with three wins and three draws, but their dreadful home form (they failed to win any of their first eight at the Hawthorns) kept them in the lower reaches of the table. Before that, we have to go back to Vic Buckingham’s “Team of the Century” who won their first six games on the road in 1953.

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
1988/1989 11 3 5 3 13 10 14 13th 1 2 2 4 4 5 2 3 1 9 6 9 9th 72
1989/1990 11 4 3 4 18 18 15 13th 1 2 2 7 10 5 3 1 2 11 8 10 20th 51
1990/1991 11 3 5 3 13 15 14 13th 1 3 1 5 5 6 2 2 2 8 10 8 23rd 48
1993/1994 11 3 3 5 18 20 12 18th 3 2 1 13 10 11 0 1 4 5 10 1 21st 51
1994/1995 11 1 4 6 9 20 7 24th 1 1 2 3 6 4 0 3 4 6 14 3 19th 58
1995/1996 11 5 3 3 15 11 18 5th 4 1 1 8 3 13 1 2 2 7 8 5 11th 60
1996/1997 11 3 5 3 14 15 14 15th 1 2 3 7 11 5 2 3 0 7 4 9 16th 57
1997/1998 11 6 3 2 15 11 21 3rd 3 1 1 5 3 10 3 2 1 10 8 11 10th 61
1998/1999 11 5 2 4 23 20 17 9th 3 0 2 12 7 9 2 2 2 11 13 8 12th 59
1999/2000 11 2 7 2 10 10 13 17th 0 5 2 4 6 5 2 2 0 6 4 8 21st 49
2000/2001 11 6 2 3 10 10 20 5th 3 1 1 5 4 10 3 1 2 5 6 10 6th 74
2001/2002 11 6 1 4 14 9 19 3rd 4 0 3 8 4 12 2 1 1 6 5 7 2nd 89
2003/2004 11 8 1 2 19 10 25 1st 5 0 0 12 3 15 3 1 2 7 7 10 2nd 86
2006/2007 11 5 4 2 19 11 19 4th 4 1 0 11 4 13 1 3 2 8 7 6 4th 76
2007/2008 11 5 2 4 23 14 17 5th 4 1 0 14 2 13 1 1 4 9 12 4 1st 81
2009/2010 11 6 3 2 21 11 21 2nd 3 1 1 9 4 10 3 2 1 12 7 11 2nd 91
2018/2019 11 6 3 2 27 16 21 4th 4 0 1 16 6 12 2 3 1 11 10 9 4th 80
2019/2020 11 6 4 1 21 13 22 1st 3 2 0 13 8 11 3 2 1 8 5 11 2nd 83
2021/2022 11 6 4 1 20 9 22 1st 3 2 0 10 4 11 3 2 1 10 5 11 10th 67
2022/2023 11 1 7 3 17 17 10 21st 1 3 2 11 10 6 0 4 1 6 7 4 9th 66
2023/2024 11 4 4 3 18 14 16 7th 3 1 1 9 6 10 1 3 2 9 8 6 5th 75
2024/2025 11 5 4 2 13 7 19 4th 2 2 1 2 1 8 3 2 1 11 6 11
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

1988/1989 15/10/1988 Birmingham City (A) W 4-1 Hopkins (2), Phillips, Robson
1989/1990 15/10/1989 Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) L 1-2 Talbot
1990/1991 22/10/1990 Port Vale (A) W 2-1 Bannister, West (pen)
1993/1994 16/10/1993 Peterborough United (H) W 3-0 Taylor (2), Strodder
1994/1995 15/10/1994 Tranmere Rovers (A) L 1-3 Hunt
1995/1996 07/10/1995 Reading (H) W 2-0 Gilbert, Taylor
1996/1997 16/10/1996 Stoke City (H) L 0-2
1997/1998 18/10/1997 Portsmouth (A) W 3-2 Mardon, Hunt (2)
1998/1999 04/10/1998 Watford (H) W 4-1 Kilbane, Hughes (2), De Freitas
1999/2000 19/10/1999 Queen’s Park Rangers (H) L 0-1
2000/2001 08/10/2000 Sheffield Wednesday (A) W 2-1 Roberts (2)
2001/2002 11/10/2001 Millwall (H) L 0-2
2003/2004 04/10/2003 Gillingham (A) W 2-0 Clement, Dobie
2006/2007 14/10/2006 Ipswich Town (A) W 5-1 Kamara (2), Phillips (3)
2007/2008 20/10/2007 Colchester United (A) L 2-3 Phillips, Miller
2009/2010 03/10/2009 Preston North End (A) D 0-0
2018/2019 03/10/2018 Sheffield Wednesday (A) D 2-2 Pelupessy (o.g.), Barnes
2019/2020 05/10/2019 Cardiff City (H) W 4-2 Pereira, Diangana, Austin, Sawyers
2021/2022 01/10/2021 Stoke City (A) L 0-1
2022/2023 01/10/2022 Swansea City (H) L 2-3 Livermore, Diangana
2023/2024 07/10/2023 Birmingham City (A) L 1-3 Swift
2024/2025 23/10/2024 Blackburn Rovers (A) D 0-0

Next Matches

1988/1989 22/10/1988 Bradford City (H) W 1-0 Talbot
1989/1990 17/10/1989 Stoke City (A) L 1-2 Bartlett
1990/1991 27/10/1990 Newcastle United (A) D 1-1 Anderson
1993/1994 23/10/1993 Sunderland (A) L 0-1
1994/1995 18/10/1994 Sheffield United (H) W 1-0 Mellon
1995/1996 14/10/1995 Luton Town (A) W 2-1 Ashcroft, Hunt
1996/1997 19/10/1996 Grimsby Town (A) D 1-1 Sneekes
1997/1998 21/10/1997 Nottingham Forest (A) L 0-1
1998/1999 18/10/1998 Sunderland (H) L 2-3 Hughes (2)
1999/2000 23/10/1999 Charlton Athletic (A) D 0-0
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
2022/2023 05/10/2022 Preston North End (A) L 0-1
2023/2024 21/10/2023 Plymouth Argyle (H) D 0-0
2024/2025 26/10/2024 Cardiff City (H)

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