Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 24 games

The opening day of 2026 saw Ryan Mason’s team fall to a ninth successive away league defeat, the worst run by any Albion side outside the top flight, and the club’s worst run since the 1972/73 campaign which ended in relegation for Don Howe’s team.

A similar away run for Albion in the 1937/38 season also ended in relegation, while we have to go back a further decade for a worse series of away league defeats. In 1926/27, the Baggies lost ten away league games in succession between the end of September and the beginning of February, a campaign that also ended in relegation. The club record for successive away league defeats was set in the 19th century but was spread across two campaigns – between November 1890 and November 1891, Louis Ford’s Albion team lost eleven successive away league games and only survived relegation in the summer of 1891 because there was no Division Two and the club was successfully re-elected to the Football League.

In the midst of the 1926/27 campaign, Albion also lost their only FA Cup tie that season away at Hull City making it a run of eleven successive away defeats in all competitions which has not been “bettered” by any Baggies team before or since.

The Baggies have not been as low as 18th at this stage of the season since the 1999/2000 campaign which saw Gary Megson replacing Brian Little in early March and guiding the club to a final day salvation. That is also the last time that the Baggies had fewer points at this stage of a second tier campaign.

The last time Albion lost ten of their first thirteen away games of a season was in Tony Mowbray’s Premier League campaign in 2008/09. For a second tier equivalent, we have to go back to Keith Burkinshaw’s 1994/95 season, another that ended in a final day escape from the drop.

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 25 12 8 5 43 23 44 2nd 8 2 2 26 9 26 4 6 3 17 14 18 9th 72
1989/1990 25 7 8 10 41 42 29 16th 4 4 4 24 21 16 3 4 6 17 21 13 20th 51
1990/1991 25 6 9 10 29 34 27 18th 4 6 3 14 11 18 2 3 7 15 23 9 23rd 48
1993/1994 25 6 7 12 37 42 25 20th 5 5 3 25 19 20 1 2 9 12 23 5 21st 51
1994/1995 25 8 6 11 22 32 30 17th 8 2 2 14 8 26 0 4 9 8 24 4 19th 58
1995/1996 25 7 4 14 28 41 25 21st 5 2 6 15 16 17 2 2 8 13 25 8 11th 60
1996/1997 25 7 12 6 42 40 33 11th 3 6 4 23 21 15 4 6 2 19 19 18 16th 57
1997/1998 25 12 5 8 27 24 41 6th 8 2 3 14 9 26 4 3 5 13 15 15 10th 61
1998/1999 25 11 4 10 46 42 37 10th 8 0 5 28 20 24 3 4 5 18 22 13 12th 59
1999/2000 25 5 12 8 24 30 27 18th 2 7 3 12 13 13 3 5 5 12 17 14 21st 49
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 10th 67
2022/2023 25 9 8 8 33 26 35 9th 5 4 4 19 14 19 4 4 4 14 12 16 9th 66
2023/2024 25 12 6 7 36 23 42 5th 8 3 2 20 10 27 4 3 5 16 13 15 5th 75
2024/2025 25 9 12 4 31 20 39 6th 5 6 1 13 6 21 4 6 3 18 14 18 9th 64
2025/2026 25 9 4 12 28 33 31 18th 6 4 2 16 11 22 3 0 10 12 22 9
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

1988/1989 14/01/1989 Watford (A) L 0-2
1989/1990 01/01/1990 Brighton & Hove Albion (H) W 3-0 Robson, Bartlett, West
1990/1991 12/01/1991 Ipswich Town (A) L 0-1
1993/1994 12/01/1994 Leicester City (A) L 2-4 Strodder, Mellon
1994/1995 31/12/1994 Bolton Wanderers (H) W 1-0 Hunt
1995/1996 13/01/1996 Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) D 0-0
1996/1997 28/12/1996 Queen’s Park Rangers (H) W 4-1 Sneekes, Smith, Hunt, Peschisolido
1997/1998 28/12/1997 Stoke City (H) D 1-1 Hunt
1998/1999 26/12/1998 Port Vale (H) W 3-2 Murphy, Bortolazzi, Hughes (pen)
1999/2000 28/12/1999 Bolton Wanderers (A) D 1-1 Burgess
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
2022/2023 29/12/2022 Preston North End (H) W 2-0 Yokuslu (2)
2023/2024 29/12/2023 Leeds United (H) W 1-0 Diangana
2024/2025 01/01/2025 Preston North End (H) W 3-1 Maja (2), Styles
2025/2026 01/01/2026 Swansea City (A) L 0-1

Next Matches

1988/1989 21/01/1989 Leicester City (H) D 1-1 Robson
1989/1990 13/01/1990 Port Vale (H) L 2-3 Goodman, Ford
1990/1991 19/01/1991 Oxford United (H) W 2-0 Bannister, Shakespeare
1993/1994 15/01/1994 Peterborough United (A) L 0-2
1994/1995 02/01/1995 Derby County (A) D 1-1 Hamilton
1995/1996 20/01/1996 Charlton Athletic (A) L 1-4 Hunt (pen)
1996/1997 01/01/1997 Tranmere Rovers (H) L 1-2 Burgess
1997/1998 09/01/1998 Tranmere Rovers (A) D 0-0
1998/1999 28/12/1998 Crystal Palace (A) D 1-1 Hughes
1999/2000 03/01/2000 Barnsley (H) L 0-2
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) L 0-1
2022/2023 02/01/2023 Reading (H) W 1-0 Dike
2023/2024 01/01/2024 Swansea City (A) L 0-1
2024/2025 04/01/2025 Swansea City (A) D 1-1 Fellows
2025/2026 05/01/2026 Leicester City (A)

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