Albion’s Second Tier Season Comparison – 45 games

It’s not very often you get to celebrate securing safety twice in the same season but, after apparently securing Championship survival with a victory on Tuesday evening, a two-point deduction from the EFL left the Baggies needing another point. With promotion-chasing Ipswich Town the visitors for the final home match of the season, James Morrison’s Albion put in another excellent display to earn the point they needed.

Overall, it has not been a season for celebration but, with ten matches unbeaten and seven clean sheets from the last eight games, it is certainly finishing on a high, even if that high is mere survival in the second tier.

Another clean sheet made it five in succession, edging Mozza’s team closer to the club record of six consecutive league shutouts set by Gary Megson’s team at the start of 2002. The ten match unbeaten run has only been bettered twice in the last fifteen years – Carlos Corberán’s team went twelve games without defeat in the autumn of 2024, but registered only 16 points compared to the 18 recorded by Mozza’s team in the last ten, while Slaven Bilić’s team had a run of fourteen matches unbeaten between October and December 2019 recording an impressive 32 points in the process. Corberán’s team recorded another 10-match unbeaten run in the spring of 2024 while Valérien Ismaël’s team started the 2021/22 season with 10 league games without defeat.

With or without the points deduction, this season’s final tally will be the worst since the 1999/2000 campaign which demonstrates what a desperate season it has been. Victory on the final day could see Albion finish as high as 18th should other results go their way, but that would still be their lowest finishing position since 2000 when they finished 21st.

Saturday’s result was the Baggies’ tenth home draw of the season, the most since the 2019/20 campaign when they also recorded ten draws at the Hawthorns. In the entire club’s history that has only been bettered by the 1999/2000 and 1990/91 campaigns when they recorded eleven home draws.

Albion have finished their home campaign with just eight victories which is the lowest in the second tier since the 1999/2000 campaign when they finished with six wins at the Hawthorns. The Baggies also won just six home games in the 1989/90 campaign, and managed just seven in the 1996/97 and 1990/91 seasons.

With one away game left, the Baggies have lost 13 games on the road. Only twice in the second tier have they lost more in a single campaign – in 1987/88 and 1994/95 they were beaten 14 times away from the Hawthorns in league matches.

    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 5th 75
2024/2025 45 14 19 12 52 44 61 10th 10 8 4 28 17 38 4 11 8 24 27 23 9th 64
2025/2026 45 13 14 18 47 56 51¹ 21st 8 10 5 28 25 34 5 4 13 19 31 19    
* Positions are recorded as Albion’s position in the table after all fixtures for that day have been completed.
¹ 2 points deducted on 24th April 2026.

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 Tamaş
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  
2024/2025 26/04/2025 Cardiff City (A) D 0-0  
2025/2026 25/04/2026 Ipswich Town (H) D 0-0  

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 Yokuşlu, Ajayi
2023/2024 04/05/2024 Preston North End (H) W 3-0 Mowatt (pen), Bartley, Furlong
2024/2025 03/05/2025 Luton Town (H) W 5-3 Fellows (2), Dike, Styles (2)
2025/2026 02/05/2026 Sheffield Wednesday (A)      

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