Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 45 games

For the first time in Carlos Corberán’s tenure, Albion have lost three games in succession and, while they still have a good chance to extend their season, it could hardly have happened at a worst time. The more worrying aspect of the defeat at Hillsborough was the performance, such a contrast to the one given at Leicester the week before.

The last time the Baggies lost three in a row was under two managers – the last two games of Steve Bruce’s reign and the first of Corberán’s in October 2022. Bruce actually lost four of his first five matches in charge in February of the same year, including three in a row against Luton, Middlesbrough and Swansea, with the last two matches of Ismaël’s tenure also ending in defeat.

A top six spot remains in Albion’s hands, however, with a draw against Preston North End next week almost certainly enough to finish above Hull City – the Tigers would need an eleven-goal victory to overhaul the Baggies’ goal difference advantage.

Last season was the first time since 1991 that the Baggies have not achieved their aim when they have gone into the final day of the season with something riding on it. Back in 1991, Albion needed to match Leicester City’s result on the final day to avoid the drop to Division Three, but could only draw away to Bristol Rovers at Twerton Park. Since then, they won at Portsmouth in 1994, at home to Charlton Athletic in 2000, Crystal Palace in 2002, Portsmouth in 2005, Barnsley in 2007 and, of course, at QPR in 2008. QPR were again the opponents in 2020 when a point turned out to be enough.

Last season was always something of a long shot by the final day and, even if they had beaten Swansea City, it would not have been enough to snatch a top six spot, so it’s fair to say that Albion have a pretty good final day record when it has mattered. Let’s hope that continues!

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 45 17 18 10 64 41 69 9th 13 7 3 43 18 46 4 11 7 21 23 23 9th 72
1989/1990 45 12 15 18 66 68 51 19th 6 8 8 34 34 26 6 7 10 32 34 25 20th 51
1990/1991 45 10 17 18 51 60 47 22nd 7 11 5 26 21 32 3 6 13 25 39 15 23rd 48
1993/1994 45 12 12 21 59 69 48 21st 9 7 7 38 31 34 3 5 14 21 38 14 21st 51
1994/1995 45 16 9 20 49 55 57 19th 13 3 7 33 24 42 3 6 13 16 31 15 19th 58
1995/1996 45 15 12 18 57 66 57 14th 10 5 7 31 27 35 5 7 11 26 39 22 11th 60
1996/1997 45 14 15 16 67 70 57 16th 7 7 9 37 33 28 7 8 7 30 37 29 16th 57
1997/1998 45 16 12 17 49 55 60 10th 9 7 6 26 25 34 7 5 11 23 30 26 10th 61
1998/1999 45 16 11 18 68 73 59 12th 12 4 7 43 33 40 4 7 11 25 40 19 12th 59
1999/2000 45 9 19 17 41 60 46 21st 5 11 6 23 26 26 4 8 11 18 34 20 21st 49
2000/2001 45 21 11 13 59 50 74 6th 13 5 5 37 23 44 8 6 8 22 27 30 6th 74
2001/2002 45 26 8 11 59 29 86 2nd 14 4 4 34 11 46 12 4 7 25 18 40 2nd 89
2003/2004 45 25 11 9 64 40 86 2nd 14 5 3 34 14 47 11 6 6 30 26 39 2nd 86
2006/2007 45 21 10 14 74 55 73 4th 13 4 5 44 24 43 8 6 9 30 31 30 4th 76
2007/2008 45 22 12 11 86 55 78 1st 12 8 3 51 27 44 10 4 8 35 28 34 1st 81
2009/2010 45 26 12 7 88 47 90 2nd 16 2 4 47 20 50 10 10 3 41 27 40 2nd 91
2018/2019 45 23 11 11 86 59 80 4th 12 7 4 53 31 43 11 4 7 33 28 37 4th 80
2019/2020 45 22 16 7 75 43 82 2nd 10 9 3 42 25 39 12 7 4 33 18 43 2nd 83
2021/2022 45 17 13 15 48 45 64 10th 11 8 3 29 16 41 6 5 12 19 29 23 10th 67
2022/2023 45 18 12 15 57 50 66 8th 11 7 5 31 20 40 7 5 10 26 30 26 9th 66
2023/2024 45 20 12 13 67 47 72 6th 14 4 4 35 17 46 6 8 9 32 30 26
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.

Results

1988/1989 06/05/1989 Sunderland (H) D 0-0
1989/1990 28/04/1990 Barnsley (A) D 2-2 Tiler (o.g.), Bradley
1990/1991 04/05/1991 Newcastle United (H) D 1-1 Goodman
1993/1994 03/05/1994 Luton Town (A) L 2-3 Taylor, Ashcroft
1994/1995 30/04/1995 Tranmere Rovers (H) W 5-1 Donovan, Ashcroft (3, 1 pen), Taylor
1995/1996 30/04/1996 Barnsley (A) D 1-1 Gilbert
1996/1997 26/04/1997 Grimsby Town (H) W 2-0 Hunt, Coldicott
1997/1998 25/04/1998 Sheffield United (A) W 4-2 Hunt, Hughes (2), Kilbane
1998/1999 01/05/1999 Bury (H) W 1-0 De Freitas
1999/2000 29/04/2000 Queen’s Park Rangers (A) D 0-0
2000/2001 28/04/2001 Huddersfield Town (H) D 1-1 Roberts
2001/2002 13/04/2002 Bradford City (A) W 1-0 Bališ (pen)
2003/2004 04/05/2004 Stoke City (A) L 1-4 Dobie
2006/2007 28/04/2007 Coventry City (A) W 1-0 Robinson
2007/2008 28/04/2008 Southampton (H) D 1-1 Brunt
2009/2010 26/04/2010 Crystal Palace (A) D 1-1 Tamas
2018/2019 27/04/2019 Rotherham United (H) W 2-1 Rodriguez (pen), Harper
2019/2020 17/07/2020 Huddersfield Town (A) L 1-2 O’Shea
2021/2022 30/04/2022 Reading (A) W 1-0 Grant
2022/2023 29/04/2023 Norwich City (H) W 2-1 Townsend, Wallace
2023/2024 27/04/2024 Sheffield Wednesday (A) L 0-3

Next Matches

1988/1989 13/05/1989 Hull City (A) W 1-0 Bartlett
1989/1990 05/05/1990 Ipswich Town (H) L 1-3 Bannister
1990/1991 11/05/1991 Bristol Rovers (A) D 1-1 Ampadu
1993/1994 08/05/1994 Portsmouth (A) W 1-0 Ashcroft
1994/1995 07/05/1995 Sunderland (A) D 2-2 Hunt, Agnew
1995/1996 05/05/1996 Derby County (H) W 3-2 Hunt, Sneekes, Taylor
1996/1997 04/05/1997 Stoke City (A) L 1-2 Hunt (pen)
1997/1998 03/05/1998 Nottingham Forest (H) D 1-1 Hughes (pen)
1998/1999 09/05/1999 Tranmere Rovers (A) L 1-3 De Freitas
1999/2000 07/05/2000 Charlton Athletic (H) W 2-0 Sneekes, Taylor
2000/2001 06/05/2001 Preston North End (A) L 1-2 Clement
2001/2002 21/04/2002 Crystal Palace (H) W 2-0 Moore, Taylor
2003/2004 09/05/2004 Nottingham Forest (H) L 0-2
2006/2007 06/05/2007 Barnsley (H) W 7-0 Phillips (3), Ellington (2, 1 pen), Koren, Gera
2007/2008 04/05/2008 Queen’s Park Rangers (A) W 2-0 Kim, Brunt
2009/2010 02/05/2010 Barnsley (H) D 1-1 Dorrans
2018/2019 05/05/2019 Derby County (A) L 1-3 Johansen
2019/2020 22/07/2020 Queen’s Park Rangers (H) D 2-2 Diangana, Robinson
2021/2022 07/05/2022 Barnsley (H) W 4-0 Grant (2, 1 pen), Reach, Clarke
2022/2023 08/05/2023 Swansea City (A) L 2-3 Yokuslu, Ajayi
2023/2024 04/05/2024 Preston North End (H)

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