The 2018–19 season is West Bromwich Albion's first season in the Championship since 2009–10 and their 141st year in existence. In this season the club participated in the Championship, FA Cup and League Cup. On 18 May 2018, caretaker manager and former player Darren Moore was given the permanent job, after earning 11 points from 6 games in the previous season. He was sacked on 9 March 2019, despite the club sitting fourth in the table, a series of poor results forced the board to make the decision and the club 'will always hold Darren in such high regard'. First team coach James Shan took over as caretaker manager, who has been working for the club academy from under-7s age group all the way to under-23s.
They lost to local rivals Aston Villa on penalties in the play-offs semi-final on 14 May, failing to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019, with competitive matches played between August and May.
Background Albion unveiled new kits for the season, manufactured by Puma. The home kit featured the team's traditional navy blue and white vertical striped shirts, white shorts and white socks. The wide vertical stripes on the jersey and italic WBA lettering on the socks were designed as a tribute to the club's "iconic" kit of the late 1970s. Two change kits were produced, which the club intended to be worn "as much as possible in equal measure" throughout the season. One of the change kits featured yellow and green stripes, while an alternative change kit had a black and cyan design. The goalkeeper kit was black with grey trim at home and purple for away matches. Ideal Boilers were the club's main shirt sponsor, in the first year of a two-year deal; this led to the introduction of a new mascot, a combi boiler character nicknamed "Boiler Man" by fans, though "Baggie Bird" remained Albion's main mascot. 10Bet provided secondary shirt sponsorship worth £1million.
Graeme Jones left his position with the Belgium national team to join Albion as assistant head coach.
Immediately prior to the start of the season, most bookmakers listed Albion as second favourites (behind Stoke City) to win promotion, quoting odds of promotion between 2/1 and 10/3. Odds of the club being relegated were between 22/1 and 40/1.Odds captured on 3 August 2018, several hours prior to the opening EFL Championship fixture and the day before West Bromwich Albion's first league fixture.
First team
Squad No. Name Nationality Position (s) Date of birth (age) Signed from Goalkeepers 1 Sam Johnstone GK Manchester United 13 Boaz Myhill GK Free agent 23 Jonathan Bond GK Reading Defenders 3 Kieran Gibbs LB Arsenal 5 Kyle Bartley CB Swansea City 12 Tyrone Mears RB Free agent 14 Conor Townsend LB Scunthorpe United24Tosin Adarabioyo RB/CB Manchester City (on loan)25Craig DawsonRB/CB Rochdale 26 Ahmed Hegazi CB Al Ahly 68 Mason HolgateRB/CB Everton (on loan) Midfielders 6 Stefan Johansen CM Fulham (on loan) 7 James Morrison AM Middlesbrough8Jake Livermore CM Hull City 10 Matt Phillips RM Queens Park Rangers 11 Chris Brunt (captain) CM Sheffield Wednesday 15 Jefferson Montero LW Swansea (on loan)17Oliver BurkeRM RB Leipzig18Gareth BarryCM Everton20Jonathan LekoRMAcademy22Wes Hoolahan AMFree agent28Sam Field CMAcademy34Rekeem Harper CMAcademy70Jacob Murphy RW Newcastle United (on loan) Forwards4Hal Robson-KanuSTFree agent 16Dwight GayleSTNewcastle United (on loan) 19 Jay Rodriguez ST Southampton 21 Kyle Edwards ST Academy
Competitions Pre-season Albion faced Barnet, Swindon Town, Aberdeen, Barnsley and Coventry City in pre-season friendly matches.
Championship
West Bromwich Albion will compete in the 2018–19 EFL Championship, the third season of English football's second division under the EFL Championship name. It was Albion's first season back in the Championship following the club's relegation from the Premier League in 2017–18, their 39th season in the second tier of English football and their 120th season of league football in all.Seasons in the second tier includes those in the Football League Second Division (1892–1992), Football League First Division (1992–2004), Football League Championship (2004–2016) and EFL Championship (2016–present). The total of league seasons does not include the partial season of 1939–40, which was abandoned after just a few games due to the outbreak of the Second World War and all results annulled. West Brom's provisional fixture list was announced on 21 June 2018, but a number of matches were subsequently rescheduled for live broadcast on Sky Sports. The away matches at Middlesbrough, Birmingham City, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United, as well as the home match against Aston Villa, were moved from a Saturday afternoon to the preceding Friday night. The home games versus Leeds United and Brentford were also moved from Saturday afternoon, the former to a Saturday early evening kickoff and the latter to Monday night. The away games at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday and the home match against Derby County were televised by Sky Sports on their originally scheduled dates, with the Derby game changed to an 8pm kickoff. In addition, all midweek games were made available live via the red button.
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches
Play-offs
FA Cup
EFL Cup
Transfers Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 3 July 2018 GK Sam Johnstone Manchester United £6,500,000 16 July 2018 CB Kyle Bartley Swansea City £4,000,000 16 July 2018 GK Jonathan Bond Reading Free transfer 28 July 2018 LB Conor Townsend Scunthorpe United Undisclosed 28 August 2018 RB Tyrone Mears Minnesota United Free transfer 14 September 2018 MF Wes Hoolahan Norwich City Free transfer 2 October 2018 MF Bakary Sako Crystal Palace Free transfer
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2018 CF Tahvon Campbell Forest Green Rovers Free transfer 1 July 2018 CB Jonny Evans Leicester City £3,500,000 1 July 2018 CM Mylo Hall Free agent Released 1 July 2018 RW Kieran Holsgrove Free agent Released 1 July 2018 CB Gareth McAuley Rangers Released 1 July 2018 LB Jack McCourt Ross County Released 1 July 2018 LB Robert McCourt Bohemians Released 1 July 2018 LM Taylor Morrison Free agent Released 1 July 2018 CF Evan Pierce Free agent Released 1 July 2018 GK Ethan Ross Colchester United Free transfer 1 July 2018 RB Aram Soleman Free agent Released 1 July 2018 DM Claudio Yacob Nottingham Forest Released 5 July 2018 GK Ben Foster Watford Undisclosed 22 July 2018 LW James McClean Stoke City £5,000,000 30 August 2018 LW Nacer Chadli Monaco £10,000,000 27 January 2019 LW Bakary Sako Crystal Palace Free transfer 23 February 2019 CF Zhang Yuning Beijing Sinobo Guoan Undisclosed
Loans in Start date Position Nationality Name From End date Ref. 24 July 2018 LM Harvey Barnes Leicester City 11 January 2019 3 August 2018 CB Tosin Adarabioyo Manchester City 31 May 2019 6 August 2018 CF Dwight Gayle Newcastle United 31 May 2019 1 January 2019 CB Mason Holgate Everton 31 May 2019 31 January 2019 CM Stefan Johansen Fulham 31 May 2019 31 January 2019 LW Jefferson Montero Swansea 31 May 2019 31 January 2019 RW Jacob Murphy Newcastle United 31 May 2019
Loans out Start date Position Nationality Name To End date Ref. 1 July 2018 CF Zhang Yuning ADO Den Haag 22 February 2019 26 July 2018 LB Max Melbourne Partick Thistle January 2019 3 August 2018 CB Jack Fitzwater Walsall 3 January 2019 3 August 2018 RB Kane Wilson Walsall 3 January 2019 6 August 2018 CF Salomón Rondón Newcastle United 31 May 2019 7 August 2018 CB Dara O'Shea Exeter City 31 May 2019 9 August 2018 CB Kyle Jameson Barrow January 2019 10 August 2018 GK Ben Pierce Redditch United January 2019 17 August 2018 RB Allan Nyom Leganés 31 May 2019 12 October 2018 CM Alex Bradley Havant & Waterlooville November 2018 26 October 2018 GK Adam Przyek Gloucester City 30 November 2018 14 November 2018 GK Alex Palmer Oldham Athletic 22 November 2018 5 January 2019 RW Oliver Burke Celtic 31 May 2019 14 January 2019 RB Kane Wilson Exeter City 31 May 2019 22 January 2019 DM Sam Wilding Leamington February 2019 26 January 2019 RB Dan Meredith Maidstone United February 2019 31 January 2019 CM Alex Bradley Burton Albion 31 May 2019 31 January 2019 CB Jack Fitzwater Walsall 31 May 2019 31 January 2019 CB Kyle Howkins Port Vale 31 May 2019 12 April 2019 GK Alex Palmer Notts County 19 April 2019
Squad statistics
!colspan=15|Player(s) out on loan
!colspan=15|Players who left the club during the season
Goals record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total116CFDwight Gayle 230023219CFJay Rodriguez 220022315AMHarvey Barnes 9009410RMMatt Phillips 500553 LBKieran Gibbs 40044 CFHal Robson-Kanu 400475 CBKyle Bartley 11026 CMStefan Johansen 200211CMChris Brunt 200221CFKyle Edwards 101225CBCraig Dawson 200270LMJacob Murphy 20028 CMJake Livermore 2002146CFBakary Sako 010117RMOliver Burke 001115RMJefferson Montero 100118CMGareth Barry 100120CMJonathan Leko 001126CBAhmed Hegazi 100128CMSam Field 100134CMRakeem Harper 100168CBMason Holgate 1001Own Goals 2002Total 872392
Disciplinary record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total 18 CMJake Livermore 911000000911225CBCraig Dawson 10000000001000318CMGareth Barry 80000000080041 GKSam Johnstone 6000000006005 CBKyle Bartley 60000000060019CFJay Rodriguez 501000000501768RBMason Holgate 500000000500811CMChris Brunt 30010000040026CBAhmed Hegazi 110000100210103 LBKieran Gibbs 3000000003004 CFHal Robson-Kanu 2010000002016 CMStefan Johansen 30000000030016CFDwight Gayle 20000010030024RBTosin Adarabioyo 3000000003001510RMMatt Phillips 20000000020028CMSam Field 100100000200177 AMJames Morrison 10000000010011CMChris Brunt 10000000010012RBTyrone Mears 10000000010014LBConor Townsend 10000000010015AMHarvey Barnes 10000000010021CFKyle Edwards 00000010010034CMRekeem Harper 10000000010070LMJacob Murphy 100000000100Total 75232003007923
References