Editing West Bromwich Albion F.C. (section)

===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>