West Bromwich Albion FC
The Baggies
Founded 1878, Stadium: The Hawthorns, Capacity: 26,850
West Bromwich Albion were established in 1878 by workers from a factory making weighing scales. Albion were one of the 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888. It has played at its home ground, The Hawthorns , since 1900. The club won a first division title in 1920, as well as five FA Cups and one League Cup. The singer Eric Clapton is a West Brom supporter. Their match programme is considered one of the best published. Albion have a number of long-standing rivalries with other West Midlands clubs; their traditional rivals being Aston Villa and Wolves. Albion contest the Black Country Derby with the Wolves. Albion’s main club badge dates back to the late 1880s, when club secretary Tom Smith suggested that a throstle (song thrush) sitting on a crossbar be adopted for the badge. he badge has been subject to various revisions since then. It has always featured a throstle, usually on a blue and white striped shield, although the crossbar was replaced with a hawthorn branch at some point after the club’s move to the Hawthorns. The throstle was chosen because the public housein which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage.
