West Bromwich Albion v Pompey – Saturday 25th January 2025
Fresh from our 3-1 Championship home win over Stoke City last Wednesday night, John Mousinho’s Pompey arrived in the West Midlands in 19th place to take on 7th placed West Bromwich Albion in our first visit to The Hawthorns since our 1-1 draw in the Premier League in December 2008.
As someone who has lived in Birmingham for many years now, this is always one of the obvious away fixtures I go to. I have seen Pompey play there on six previous occasions which have rarely been a typical scoreline or occasion. My first visit was as a teenager when still at school in Portsmouth way back in November 1993 when Alan McLoughlin’s strike could do little to prevent a 4-1 defeat in (what is now) the Championship. It was in fact the last season of standing at The Hawthorns with large terraces still at each end. Little did I realise that day when stood on the old Smethwick End and seeing the Albion fans bouncing up and down to ‘Boing Boing’ on the old Birmingham Road End that just a few years later I would end up relocating to the second city.
Amongst my other visits were our impressive 3-0 midweek win in February 1998 just after Alan Ball returned as manager in our legendary ‘Great Escape’ season when Steve Claridge scored an absolute cracker that I can still hear hitting the post on its way in– our last win to date at the ground. There was the 5-0 defeat in February 2002 in Albion’s first promotion season to the Premier League. Then of course where do you even start with a certain 2-0 defeat on the never to be forgotten final day of the 2004-05 Premier League season?
So a bit of history about WBA. As one of the original 12 members of the Football League from 1888, they are a club steeped in history. Known originally as West Bromwich Strollers after forming in 1878 before changing their surname to Albion two years later after an old district in the town.
They are one of only 14 clubs to have won all 3 English domestic major honours (which includes 5 FA Cups) and only 10 clubs have spent more seasons in the English top flight. They also have an impressive record attendance of over 64k at The Hawthorns.
Both their navy blue & white stiped shirts and quirky nicknames of The Throstles and The Baggies make them one of the more charismatic of football clubs.
Back to the present day, Saturday was a crucial game at both ends of the Championship with ourselves looking to build on our 2-point gap above the relegation zone. Whilst Albion (boosted by the return of their hugely popular former manager Tony Mowbray) were hoping to bounce back from their Play off six-pointer defeat at Middlesbrough last Tuesday night.
Making the most of the winter sunshine on Saturday, before the game me & my wife Ajit took in the beautiful grade II listed Dartmouth Park, as pictured in the collage, which is adjacent to West Bromwich town centre. Unbeknown to me, this is actually one of five grounds Albion played at in close proximity to the town centre prior to their 1900 move to The Hawthorns – who says relocating out of town for more space is a modern concept?
As we walked through West Bromwich High Street, we passed by the grand looking Edwardian Central Library and next door on the right is their Victorian town hall.
Further along the High Street as you head towards the ground, we passed some focal points. Pictured below in the collage is the “I am The King Of The Castle” statue unveiled in 1990 with a lion mounted onto a crowned elephant and the elegant looking Elizabeth Farley Memorial Fountain which dates back to the Victorian age.
Amazingly after all these years living in the West Midlands, I was still yet to visit The Vine which is one of many renowned Desi pubs in the region. Less than a mile across the M5 from The Hawthorns, this is very popular with both home and away fans on matchdays of which there was a nice mix of Pompey & Baggies fans. Time to fill our boots with some Indian food.
At around 2pm, we made our way over to the ground. Situated just west of the border to the city of Birmingham and with its distinctive angled roof floodlights, The Hawthorns is recognisable from a distance. On the A41 (Birmingham Road) just off junction 1 of the M5 and with The Hawthorns train and metro stop less than half a mile away, it is a stadium that is very accessible. For those who didn’t know, it is also the highest UK football league ground above sea level at 552 feet, which for context is more than 100 feet higher than Portsdown Hill.
On the corner of the Smethwick End and the West Stand on Halfords Lane are these smart ornate looking gates with the club initials incorporated (as pictured below).
This was our cue to take a quick wander round the ground for some other photos. On the corner of Halfords Lane (behind the West Stand) and Birmingham Road is the former Hawthorns pub which is now a Greggs and where the patio area in front of it is now used as a fan zone for all ages. There are fast food vans and drinks available, plus activities suitable for children.
On the opposite corner of the Birmingham Road End and the main East stand once stood The Woodman pub (where the cars are in the photo below) before it was demolished in 2004. This seems a real shame it was levelled as it almost looked like a stadium club house and was in fact knocked down after the stands in this corner were redeveloped.
Pictured in the collage below and next to the club car park are a tribute to two Albion legends. The Jeff Astle gates and behind the East stand a statue of record club goal scorer Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown.
It was now half 2 and to time enter the ground as we took to our seats and a perfect view behind the goal.
The Hawthorns is a fine example of what can be achieved without relocating as it looks neat and tidy and largely in keeping with its former self. The West stand on the left was opened in 1982 and would have been ahead of it’s time with a cantilever roof and executive boxes, a prelude of how stadiums would evolve to a decade later. The Birmingham Road End (opposite us) and Smethwick End were both redeveloped in 1994 with the East Stand on our right being opened in 2001 with more executive boxes.
With a stadium capacity of 26,688, personally I think is a very good template and optimal size for Fratton Park to mirror when one day it is reconstructed and expanded.
There was a good pre-atmosphere with our Smethwick End tickets being right next to the home and away segregation fence with the Pompey Chimes and Psalm 23 competing for volumetrics ahead of the much-anticipated game as the players made their way out to Harry J. All Stars’ classic The Liquidator.
John Mousinho made five changes from the win over Stoke with Terry Devlin, Zak Swanson, Ryley Towler, Christian Saydee & Andre Dozzell brought into the starting XI. Pompey started brightly and in the first minute Dozzell’s shot forced a save by Albion keeper Alex Parker, then Swanson had an effort on 9 minutes that flew just over. The game was fairly open in the first 20 minutes with corners at each end before Albion’s John Swift shot forced a save from Nicolas Schmid before Grady Diangana shot just wide. Then Towler might have given us the lead, but his header from Matt Ritchie’s cross was just off target.
But on 25 minutes came the game’s turning point when a nice from the back by Albion saw John Swift play a great ball over the top out wide to Darnell Furlong who squared to Diangana who laid the ball nicely back to Alex Mowatt to unleash a low powerful low drive outside the box which sneaked under Nicolas Schmid’s dive to give the Baggies the lead. It was a shot Schmid will be disappointed not to have saved especially as Pompey had looked good value for being level up until then.
But this gave Albion the impetus as the hosts forced three corners before Mikey Johnston forced a save from Schmid.
Then on 32 minutes, they doubled their advantage when Johnston collected the ball on the wing and got past both Devlin and Swanson who got in each other’s way and with acres of space cut inside the box and took aim at Schmid who could only parry the ball to Diangana who slid the ball in for 2-0.
It was starting to look like a long afternoon and imperative we didn’t concede a third before the interval and a glimpse of hope came when Marlon Pack headed just over. But three minutes later another good move from the back by West Brom saw Diangana turn into space on the half way line and burst forward before playing in former Fratton favourite Jed Wallace who made no mistake by slotting home number three.
Albion were completely on fire and every time they went on the attack you felt the worst and that is what happened again a minute before the break when a good ball was scooped out from the back and with Swanson and Pack appealing for offside against Diangana, he collected the ball with no defender in sight and all the time in the world to thump home Albion’s fourth past a helpless Schmid to complete a horrendous 20 minute spell for the visitors.
HT: West Bromwich Albion 4-0 Pompey
The second half always promised to be a non-event where barring a miracle, Albion knew they had won and Pompey knew they had lost. But the hosts carried on their first half dominance and almost scored again on 56 minutes when Johnston burst into the box, his shot was blocked by Schmid then Towler’s attempted clearance went straight into Connor Ogilvie and like a pinball almost trickled back over the line before Towler and Schmid eventually thwarted Baggies striker Tom Fellows from adding to our humiliation.
But this let off was short lived as a minute later, Furlon played the ball out to the wing to Johnson who again was the scourge of our defence as he ran into the box before cutting back for Swift who drove a stinging shot which deflected into the top corner. 5-0 and we still had over half an hour to play!
Both sides began to make substitutions with Mousinho giving new singing from Brisbane Roar Thomas Waddingham his debut replacing Colby Bishop with Freddie Potts coming on for fellow loanee Isaac Hayden.
Pompey then made a triple change with just over 20 minutes remaining with Callum Lang replacing Zak Swanson. Jordan Williams was brought on for Connor Ogilvie and Josh Murphy replaced Matt Ritchie.
With the game well and truly a foregone conclusion Albion and Pompey both continued to attack with the home side looking to really put us to the sword and ourselves desperate to at least get a consolation which we almost found. From Schmid’s long kick over the top, the ball deceived both Mason Holgate and Torbjorn Heggem with the latter heading straight to Murphy before getting in a crucial block to prevent the substitute from getting us on the scoresheet. Pompey continued to press but when Albion got the ball clear of danger, Uroš Račić played a through ball to Fellows who forced a decent save from Schmid.
Finally Pompey’s late attacking endeavour was rewarded right at the end in the 4th minute of stoppage time when a fine diagonal ball over the top by Murphy picked out Lang out wide who squared to Dozzell who hooked it across to the unmarked Waddingham to bundle home after his initial shot was blocked. A debut goal for the 19-year-old which was one of few positives for Pompey from an otherwise dismal afternoon at The Hawthorns.
FT: West Bromwich Albion 5-1 Pompey
Att: 25,621 (2,492 Pompey fans)
Despite such a heavy defeat and yet another on the road, our fans remained in great voice even at 5-0 and greeted the players at the end as our quest for survival continues.
So the defeat drops Pompey into 21st place, whilst The Baggies resounding win moves them back into the Play Off zone in 5th place above Middlesbrough and Blackburn.
Elsewhere at the foot of the Championship, bottom placed Plymouth claimed an impressive last-minute 2-2 draw at promotion chasing Sunderland. Penultimate placed Luton lost 2-1 at Millwall in the early kick off and 22nd placed Derby (2 points behind Pompey) lost 2-1 at relegation rivals Cardiff.
On a separate and objective note from last Saturday’s demolition, it was great to see Tony Mowbray win (even though it was at our expense) on his Hawthorns return after taking charge again in the last week. Mowbray was a hero at the club in the late noughties and is widely recognised as one of the nicest and humblest personalities in the game. He guided the Baggies to the Championship title in 2008 and of course their FA Cup semi-final against ourselves that year.
The 61-year-old, recently received his final all clear following his bowel cancer diagnosis last February and subsequent operation and course of chemotherapy. What an inspiration and shining light he is and long may his better health and aspirations at West Brom continue.
There was still time for a fitting way to finish the afternoon. Outside New Square shopping centre in West Bromwich town centre is ‘The Celebration Statue’ as pictured below of three of the biggest names in West Brom’s history who were so idolised at The Hawthorns in that iconic Albion side in the late 70s and early 80s. (L-R: Laurie Cunningham, Brendan Batson & Cyrille Regis).
It really put a tear in my eye seeing this lovely image of the three of them celebrating a goal for the Baggies when I think of the barriers they would have overcome in that era and how they are revered as trailblazers who have paved the way for aspiring black footballers in the years and decades that have followed.
Up next then for Pompey tonight is the re-arranged visit of 16th place Millwall with now even more emphasis on our recent good home form. Victory over the Londoners in our game in hand would move us into 18th place and 5 points clear of the drop zone. PUP PPU.
PompeyNewsNow 