During the 2008–09 English football season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the Premier League, following promotion from the Football League Championship as Football League champions the previous season.
Season summary West Bromwich began the season strongly with ten points from their opening seven games leaving them in midtable, but that proved to be as good as it got for the Midlanders and with only five more league wins during the rest of the season Albion soon sunk to the foot of the Premier League and were relegated in last place. At the end of the season, manager Tony Mowbray left to take charge at Celtic; he was replaced by MK Dons manager Roberto Di Matteo.
In January, an assessment of company accounts by Equifax saw Albion rated third among Premiership clubs by credit rating, with a score of 71 out of 100.
Final league table
Background West Bromwich retained their kit sponsorship deal with English company Umbro, who introduced both a new home kit and a new away kit with navy shorts and yellow shirts and socks. The club was unable to find a kit sponsor for the season, and so became the first club in Premier League history to go a season without any kit sponsorship.
Albion completed a £3 million-plus refurbishment of the Halfords Lane Stand in time for the start of the season. This included new dressing rooms, dugout areas and tunnel, executive boxes and a media gantry. As a result, the capacity of The Hawthorns was slightly reduced to 26,272 and the stand was renamed as the West Stand. New navy blue seats were installed in the stand, replacing the lighter blue seats previously fitted.
Players First-team squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In +DatePositionNameClub FromFeeReference29 May 2008FWLuke MooreAston Villa£3,500,00029 May 2008MFKim Do-heonSeongnam Ilhwa Chunma£550,0003 July 2008DFGianni ZuiverloonHeerenveen£3,200,0004 July 2008MFGraham DorransLivingston£100,00015 July 2008DFMarek ČechPorto£1,400,00018 July 2008GKScott CarsonLiverpool£3,250,00010 August 2008DFAbdoulaye MéïtéBolton Wanderers£2,000,00019 August 2008MFBorja ValeroMallorca£4,900,00031 August 2008DFJonas OlssonNEC Nijmegen£850,000
Out DatePositionNameClub ToFeeReference21 May 2008GKLuke SteeleBarnsleyFree11 June 2008MFZoltan GeraFulhamFree1 July 2008DFMartin AlbrechtsenDerby CountyFree3 July 2008DFCurtis DaviesAston VillaUndisclosed9 July 2008FWKevin PhillipsBirmingham CityFree12 January 2009FWBartosz ŚlusarskiFree AgencyReleased
Loan In DatePositionNameClub FromLengthReference31 August 2008DFRyan DonkAZ AlkmaarUntil end of season31 December 2008FWJay SimpsonArsenalUntil end of season15 January 2009FWMarc-Antoine FortunéNancyUntil end of season2 February 2009MFYoussouf MulumbuPSGUntil end of season2 February 2009MFJuan Carlos MenseguezSan LorenzoUntil end of season
Loan Out DatePositionNameClub ToLengthReference29 August 2008DFJared HodgkissAberdeenSix Months26 September 2008FWCraig BeattieCrystal PalaceOne Month29 October 2008FWCraig BeattieCrystal PalaceTwo Months (recalled 10 December)27 November 2008FWBartosz ŚlusarskiSheffield WednesdayOne Month9 January 2009FWSherjill MacDonaldRoeselareUntil end of season20 February 2009FWCraig BeattieSheffield UnitedUntil end of season26 March 2009DFJared HodgkissNorthampton TownUntil end of season
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred out during the season
Results West Bromwich Albion's score comes first
WinDrawLoss
League Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 26 August 2008 Second roundHartlepool UnitedVictoria Park1–3 (aet)3,387 (704)Koren 87
FA Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 3 January 2009 Third roundPeterborough UnitedThe Hawthorns1–118,659Olsson 64' 13 January 2009 Third round replayPeterborough UnitedLondon Road2–010,735 (1,823)Simpson 18', Robinson 37' 24 January 2009 Fourth roundBurnleyThe Hawthorns2–218,294 (1,270)Koren 31', Kim 45' 3 February 2009 Fourth round replayBurnleyTurf Moor1–3 (aet)6,635 (582)Zuiverloon 60'
Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 16 August 2008 ArsenalEmirates Stadium0–160,071 (2,996) 23 August 2008 EvertonThe Hawthorns1–226,190 (2,598)Bednar 89' pen. 30 August 2008 Bolton WanderersReebok Stadium0–020,387 13 September 2008 West Ham UnitedThe Hawthorns3–226,213 (2,592)Morrison 3', Bednar 37' pen., Brunt 83' 21 September 2008 Aston VillaThe Hawthorns1–226,011 (2,595)Morrison 33' 27 September 2008 MiddlesbroughRiverside Stadium1–026,248 (2,480)Olsson 53' 4 October 2008 FulhamThe Hawthorns1–025,708Bednar 18 October 2008 Manchester UnitedOld Trafford0–475,451 25 October 2008 Hull CityThe Hawthorns0–326,323 (2,596) 28 October 2008 Newcastle UnitedSt James' Park1–245,801Miller 65' 1 November 2008 Blackburn RoversThe Hawthorns2–224,976 (1,238)Bednar 55', Miller 62' 8 November 2008 LiverpoolAnfield0–343,451 (1,700) 15 November 2008 ChelseaThe Hawthorns0–326,322 (2,600) 22 November 2008 Stoke CityBritannia Stadium0–126,613 29 November 2008 Wigan AthleticJJB Stadium1–217,054 (4,053)Miller 47' 7 December 2008 PortsmouthThe Hawthorns1–124,964Greening 39' 13 December 2008 SunderlandStadium of Light0–436,280 (1,307) 21 December 2008 Manchester CityThe Hawthorns2–125,010 (1,419)Moore 69', Bednar 93' 26 December 2008 ChelseaStamford Bridge0–243,417 28 December 2008 Tottenham HotspurThe Hawthorns2–026,344Bednar 83', Beattie 94' 10 January 2009 Aston VillaVilla Park1–241,757 (2,800)Morrison 49' 17 January 2009 MiddlesbroughThe Hawthorns3–025,557 (1,287)Brunt 4', Fortune 54', Koren 67' 27 January 2009 Manchester UnitedThe Hawthorns0–526,105 (2,600) 31 January 2009 Hull CityKC Stadium2–224,879 (2,500)Simpson 53', Brunt 73' pen. 7 February 2009 Newcastle UnitedThe Hawthorns2–325,817 (1,700)Fortune 4', and 73' 22 February 2009 FulhamCraven Cottage0–222,394 28 February 2009 EvertonGoodison Park0–233,898 3 March 2009 ArsenalThe Hawthorns1–326,244 (2,598)Brunt 7' 16 March 2009 West Ham UnitedBoleyn Ground0–030,842 21 March 2009 Bolton WanderersThe Hawthorns1–125,530 (1,462)Shittu 82' o.g. 4 April 2009 Stoke CityThe Hawthorns0–226,277 (2,592) 11 April 2009 PortsmouthFratton Park2–220,376 (1,100)Greening 48', Brunt 62' 19 April 2009 Manchester CityCity of Manchester Stadium2–440,072 (1,698)Brunt 37', 54' 25 April 2009 SunderlandThe Hawthorns3–026,256 (2,597)Olsson 40', Brunt 58', Menseguez 88' 2 May 2009 Tottenham HotspurWhite Hart Lane0–135,836 9 May 2009 Wigan AthleticThe Hawthorns3–124,741 (598)Fortune 8', 73', Brunt 59' 17 May 2009 LiverpoolThe Hawthorns0–226,138 (2,600) 24 May 2009 Blackburn RoversEwood Park0–028,389
Notes
References