Editing West Bromwich Albion F.C. (section)

==Rivalries==
Historically, Albion's greatest rivals were [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] from nearby [[Birmingham]]. The two clubs contested three [[FA Cup Final]]s between 1887 and 1895 (Villa winning two and Albion one). More recently, however, some Albion fans tend to see [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] as their main rivals, particularly as between 1989 and 2002 Albion and Villa were never in the same division, but Albion were in the same division as Wolves for 11 out of 14 seasons. This had led to Aston Villa supporters now considering [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] to be their fiercest rivals. A less-heated rivalry also exists with Birmingham City, with whom Albion contested the 1931 FA Cup final, as well as a semi-final in 1968.<ref name="Planetfootball.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s120/st44186.htm|title=Football Rivalries: The Complete Results|publisher=Planetfootball.com|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=17 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617002220/http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s120/st44186.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |title=Rivalry Uncovered!
 |url=http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf
 |publisher=The Football Fans Census
 |access-date=11 November 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020074918/http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf
 |archive-date=20 October 2013
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.givemesport.com/1500300-the-top-five-rivals-of-english-footballs-top-92-clubs-revealed|title=The top five rivals of English football's top 92 clubs revealed|date=27 August 2019 |publisher=givemesport.com|access-date=29 September 2019|archive-date=29 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929205049/https://www.givemesport.com/1500300-the-top-five-rivals-of-english-footballs-top-92-clubs-revealed|url-status=live}}</ref>

A number of [[hooligan firm]]s associate themselves with Albion, including [[Section 5 (hooligan firm)|Section 5]], Clubhouse and the Smethwick Mob.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Oldbury man launches new WBA football hooligan book
| publisher = [[Halesowen News]]
| date = 10 November 2009
| url = http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/4730190.Oldbury_man_launches_new_WBA_football_hooligan_book/
| access-date = 15 November 2013
| archive-date = 3 December 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030608/http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/4730190.Oldbury_man_launches_new_WBA_football_hooligan_book/
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

===Black Country derby===
{{main|Black Country derby}}

Albion and Wolves contest the [[Black Country derby]], one of the longest standing derbies in world football. It is considered one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.<ref>{{cite news| title=West Brom and Wolves top soccer rivalry list| url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/west-brom-and-wolves-top-soccer-rivalry-list-1-2492454| work=Yorkshire Post| access-date=13 July 2017| archive-date=4 December 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005647/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/west-brom-and-wolves-top-soccer-rivalry-list-1-2492454| url-status=live}}</ref> A 2008 survey found it to be the most intense rivalry in the country, with one in four fans from both clubs claiming that their rivalry went much deeper than football.<ref name="List">{{cite news| title=Wolves v Albion top derby list| url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2008/02/29/wolves-v-albion-top-derby-list/| work=Express & Star| access-date=21 September 2019| archive-date=3 December 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203202741/https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2008/02/29/wolves-v-albion-top-derby-list/| url-status=live}}</ref> The two sides have played each other 160 times, with their first major clash being an FA Cup tie in 1886.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=2744&team2_id=2848&teamTabs=h2h|title=Head-to-head v Wolves|publisher=Soccerbase|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802002156/http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=2744&team2_id=2848&teamTabs=h2h|url-status=live}}</ref> Both Albion and Wolves were founding members of [[English Football League|the Football League]] in [[1888–89 Football League|1888]], making the derby the joint oldest in English league football. 

The rivalry came to prominence when the two clubs contested the league title in 1953–54, and during the 1990s it intensified to new heights among supporters, with both clubs languishing in Division One for much of the decade and only local pride at stake.<ref>McOwan p. 162.</ref> Moreover, in 2002 Albion came from being 11 points adrift to overhaul Wolves to gain promotion.<ref>{{cite news|title=West Brom take leap into the unknown|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/apr/22/match.sport5|work=The Guardian|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=21 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921163515/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/apr/22/match.sport5|url-status=live}}</ref> The rivalry was further heightened after the sides met in the play-offs in 2007. A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com confirmed that the majority of both Albion and Wolves supporters consider the other to be their main rival. In February 2012 the Baggies beat Wolves 5–1 away from home, with [[Peter Odemwingie]] scoring a hat-trick. The game became known as the 'demolition derby', and remains the highest scoring Black Country derby of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wolves v West Brom, 2011/12 {{!}} Premier League|url=https://www.premierleague.com/match/7716|access-date=2021-09-27|website=www.premierleague.com|language=en|archive-date=16 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016092244/https://www.premierleague.com/match/7716|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite their geographical location, fellow Black Country club [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] are seen as lesser rivals, having played in a lower division than Albion for most of their history.<ref name="Planetfootball.com"/>

===Rivalry with Aston Villa===
{{main|Aston Villa F.C.–West Bromwich Albion F.C. rivalry}}

Ranked by ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2010 as the most fierce in the region, games between [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] and West Brom are particularly ferocious.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Macaskill|first1=Sandy|title=West Midlands derbies: the hierarchy of hostility between Aston Villa, West Brom, Birmingham City and Wolves|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/8194127/West-Midlands-derbies-the-hierarchy-of-hostility-between-Aston-Villa-West-Brom-Birmingham-City-and-Wolves.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/8194127/West-Midlands-derbies-the-hierarchy-of-hostility-between-Aston-Villa-West-Brom-Birmingham-City-and-Wolves.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=24 January 2016|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=10 December 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The two first met on 9 December 1882, in the second round of the Staffordshire Cup: Villa hosted a 3–3 draw in front of 13,900 fans, while in the replay West Brom won by a single goal with an attendance of 10,500. On 3 January 1885, they met for the first time in the third round of the FA Cup: a goalless draw at West Brom was followed by a 3–0 victory for them away at Villa.<ref name=lerwill>{{cite web|title=1882–1885|url=http://www.westbromwichalbionhistory.co.uk/page6.htm|website=West Bromwich Albion History|access-date=8 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112181933/http://www.westbromwichalbionhistory.co.uk/page6.htm|archive-date=12 November 2014}}</ref> The following year, both teams became founder members of the Football League. They met first in a league fixture on 19 January 1889, Villa winning 2–0 at home, before a draw the next week ending 3–3.<ref>{{cite web|title=Football League 1888/89|url=http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/match/index.html?event=3;page=2;season=1888%2F89|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150308183013/http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/match/index.html?event=3;page=2;season=1888/89|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 March 2015|publisher=[[ESPN]]|access-date=8 March 2015}}</ref> The two teams met in two further FA Cup finals in the 19th century, a 3–0 win for West Brom in [[1892 FA Cup Final|1892]] and a 1–0 win for Aston Villa in [[1895 FA Cup Final|1895]].<ref name=lerwill/>

Birmingham City were relegated from the Premier League in 2011 and Wolverhampton Wanderers a season later, leaving Aston Villa and West Brom as the only West Midlands teams in England's top division. Without their respective main rivals<ref>{{cite news|title=Preview: Is West Brom-Villa the biggest rivalry?|url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2013/11/25/preview-is-west-brom-villa-the-biggest-derby/|access-date=8 March 2015|work=[[Express & Star]]|date=25 November 2013|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155127/http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2013/11/25/preview-is-west-brom-villa-the-biggest-derby/|url-status=live}}</ref> and with Albion finishing above their nearest rivals for the second season in a row, the historic rivalry was rekindled to pre-1990s competitiveness. At the end of the [[2015–16 Premier League|2015–16 season]], Aston Villa were relegated, leaving West Brom as the only West Midlands team in the top flight for the [[2016–17 Premier League|2016–17 season]]. After Albion's relegation at the end of the [[2017–18 Premier League]], the teams faced each other in the Championship. In the [[2019 English Football League play-offs|2018–19 EFL Championship play-off]] semi-finals, Villa controversially knocked out Albion on penalties, after the Albion had two men sent-off over both legs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/14/west-brom-aston-villa-championship-play-off-match-report-penalty-shootout|title=Aston Villa beat West Brom on penalties to reach Championship play-off final|first=Stuart James at the|last=Hawthorns|newspaper=The Guardian |date=14 May 2019|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-date=1 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101071605/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/14/west-brom-aston-villa-championship-play-off-match-report-penalty-shootout|url-status=live}}</ref>