Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 30 games

Albion’s sixth defeat of the season leaves them hanging on to a top six spot and has somewhat blunted the optimism felt after last weekend’s victory over Portsmouth. For me, the Baggies played OK but struggled to break down a resolute Plymouth defence – having found the breakthrough, the game turned on a controversial penalty decision and the visitors can count themselves unfortunate to have come away with nothing.

With 16 games left, the Baggies are five points worse off than they were at the same time last season and will probably need to average around 1.8 points per game if they are to be sure of a top six spot – they are currently averaging less than 1.5. No Albion side in our comparison seasons has made the top six with as few points as this year’s team at the same stage.

Looking ahead to game 31, it has been pretty successful for the Baggies over the years – they haven’t been beaten in the 31st match of a second tier season since Mowbray was last in charge in 2008, and they haven’t been beaten at home in game 31 since February 1994 when goals from Iwan Roberts and Ian Ormondroyd cancelled out Graham Fenton’s opener for the Baggies to send Brian Little’s Leicester City home with all three points despite them having Simon Grayson sent off with the game at 1-1.

One memorable game 31 came in February 2020 just a few weeks before lockdown when Storm Ciara was ravaging the country – Albion’s game at Millwall survived the weather and Slaven Bilić’s team adapted to the conditions superbly to defeat the Lions 2-0 thanks to goals from Filip Krovinović and Dara O’Shea.

    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 30 12 11 7 46 29 47 5th 8 5 2 28 11 29 4 6 5 18 18 18 9th 72
1989/1990 30 8 10 12 47 49 34 17th 4 5 6 28 27 17 4 5 6 19 22 17 20th 51
1990/1991 30 8 10 12 38 41 34 16th 5 7 3 18 13 22 3 3 9 20 28 12 23rd 48
1993/1994 30 8 9 13 42 47 33 19th 6 6 3 27 20 24 2 3 10 15 27 9 21st 51
1994/1995 30 9 7 14 25 36 34 18th 8 2 4 14 10 26 1 5 10 11 26 8 19th 58
1995/1996 30 9 5 16 36 50 32 21st 6 3 6 19 18 21 3 2 10 17 32 11 11th 60
1996/1997 30 7 14 9 46 52 35 17th 3 7 5 25 24 16 4 7 4 21 28 19 16th 57
1997/1998 30 14 6 10 32 28 48 7th 8 2 5 16 13 26 6 4 5 16 15 22 10th 61
1998/1999 30 13 7 10 53 45 46 8th 9 1 5 31 21 28 4 6 5 22 24 18 12th 59
1999/2000 30 5 15 10 25 34 30 19th 2 9 4 13 16 15 3 6 6 12 18 15 21st 49
2000/2001 30 16 6 8 41 34 54 4th 10 2 3 25 15 32 6 4 5 16 19 22 6th 74
2001/2002 30 15 6 9 34 23 51 4th 9 2 4 18 7 29 6 4 5 16 16 22 2nd 89
2003/2004 30 15 9 6 42 27 54 2nd 8 5 2 22 11 29 7 4 4 20 16 25 2nd 86
2006/2007 30 15 7 8 56 36 52 4th 12 2 1 37 13 38 3 5 7 19 23 14 4th 76
2007/2008 30 16 6 8 65 38 54 1st 10 4 1 39 15 34 6 2 7 26 23 20 1st 81
2009/2010 30 17 8 5 61 31 59 1st 9 2 4 31 15 29 8 6 1 30 16 30 2nd 91
2018/2019 30 15 8 7 60 38 53 4th 7 5 3 35 21 26 8 3 4 25 17 27 4th 80
2019/2020 30 15 11 4 53 33 56 1st 7 6 2 32 20 27 8 5 2 21 13 29 2nd 83
2021/2022 30 12 9 9 34 26 45 9th 8 5 1 21 8 29 4 4 8 13 18 16 10th 67
2022/2023 30 12 8 10 39 32 44 6th 7 4 4 21 14 25 5 4 6 18 18 19 9th 66
2023/2024 30 14 7 9 43 29 49 5th 10 3 2 25 11 33 4 4 7 18 18 16 5th 75
2024/2025 30 10 14 6 39 27 44 6th 6 7 1 19 8 25 4 7 5 20 19 19    
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

1988/1989 25/02/1989 Birmingham City (H) D 0-0  
1989/1990 21/02/1990 Leicester City (H) L 0-1  
1990/1991 23/02/1991 Notts County (H) D 2-2 Bannister (2)
1993/1994 12/02/1994 Watford (A) W 1-0 Burgess
1994/1995 11/02/1995 Port Vale (A) L 0-1  
1995/1996 20/02/1996 Sheffield United (A) W 2-1 Burgess, Hunt
1996/1997 01/02/1997 Port Vale (A) D 2-2 Peschisolido (2)
1997/1998 07/02/1998 Swindon Town (A) W 2-0 Carbon, Evans
1998/1999 30/01/1999 Grimsby Town (H) D 1-1 Hughes
1999/2000 05/02/2000 Fulham (A) L 0-1  
2000/2001 03/02/2001 Crystal Palace (A) D 2-2 Sneekes, Hughes
2001/2002 20/01/2002 Walsall (H) W 1-0 Roberts
2003/2004 07/02/2004 Preston North End (A) L 0-3  
2006/2007 31/01/2007 Plymouth Argyle (H) W 2-1 Kamara (2, 1 pen)
2007/2008 02/02/2008 Burnley (H) W 2-1 Cesar, Bednár
2009/2010 09/02/2010 Scunthorpe United (H) W 2-0 Bednár, Zuiverloon
2018/2019 09/02/2019 Stoke City (A) W 1-0 Gayle
2019/2020 01/02/2020 Luton Town (H) W 2-0 Daniels (o.g.), Ajayi
2021/2022 09/02/2022 Sheffield United (A) L 0-2  
2022/2023 10/02/2023 Birmingham City (A) L 0-2  
2023/2024 10/02/2024 Ipswich Town (A) D 2-2 Fellows, Swift
2024/2025 01/02/2025 Plymouth Argyle (A) L 1-2 Molumby

Next Matches

1988/1989 01/03/1989 Manchester City (A) D 1-1 Whyte
1989/1990 24/02/1990 Leeds United (A) D 2-2 Goodman, Bartlett
1990/1991 02/03/1991 West Ham United (H) D 0-0  
1993/1994 19/02/1994 Leicester City (H) L 1-2 Fenton
1994/1995 18/02/1995 Notts County (H) W 3-2 Mardon, Hunt (2)
1995/1996 27/02/1996 Oldham Athletic (H) W 1-0 Taylor
1996/1997 04/02/1997 Birmingham City (A) W 3-2 Taylor (2), Sneekes
1997/1998 14/02/1998 Queen’s Park Rangers (H) D 1-1 Hughes
1998/1999 06/02/1999 Sheffield United (A) L 0-3  
1999/2000 12/02/2000 Crewe Alexandra (H) W 1-0 Hughes
2000/2001 10/02/2001 Stockport County (H) D 1-1 Roberts
2001/2002 29/01/2002 Birmingham City (H) W 1-0 Roberts
2003/2004 14/02/2004 Cardiff City (H) W 2-1 Clement, Hughes
2006/2007 03/02/2007 Hull City (A) W 1-0 Kamara
2007/2008 09/02/2008 Barnsley (A) L 1-2 Morrison
2009/2010 16/02/2010 Cardiff City (A) D 1-1 Zuiverloon
2018/2019 12/02/2019 Nottingham Forest (H) D 2-2 Murphy, Rodriguez (pen)
2019/2020 09/02/2020 Millwall (A) W 2-0 Krovinović, O’Shea
2021/2022 14/02/2022 Blackburn Rovers (H) D 0-0  
2022/2023 15/02/2023 Blackburn Rovers (H) D 1-1 Molumby
2023/2024 13/02/2024 Cardiff City (H) W 2-0 Johnston, Weimann
2024/2025 08/02/2025 Sheffield Wednesday (H)      

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