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West Bromwich Albion F.C.
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===Early years (1878β1950)=== [[File:Aston villa west bromwich 1887 final.jpg|thumb|right|West Bromwich Albion competing in the 1887 FA Cup Final]] The club was founded as '''West Bromwich Strollers''' in 1878 by workers from [[Salter Housewares|George Salter's Spring Works]] in West Bromwich, in the [[Black Country]].{{Ref label|FormationDate|A|}}<ref name="Early years">McOwan pp. 7β10.</ref> They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880, becoming the first team to adopt the ''[[Albion]]'' suffix; Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked, close to what is today [[Greets Green]].<ref name="Early years"/> The club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition, the [[Birmingham Senior Cup|Birmingham Cup]]. They reached the quarter-finals, beating several longer-established clubs on the way. In 1883, Albion won their first trophy, the [[Staffordshire Senior Cup|Staffordshire Cup]]. Albion joined [[the Football Association]] in the same year; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883β84 season.<ref>McOwan pp. 13β14.</ref> In 1885 the club turned professional,<ref name="In the record book">{{cite web |title=In the record book |url=http://www.wba.co.uk/stats/in_the_record_book/ |url-status=dead |publisher=West Bromwich Albion F.C. |date=2 February 2012 |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606052353/https://www.wba.co.uk/stats/in_the_record_book/ |archive-date=6 June 2017}}</ref> and in [[1886 FA Cup Final|1886]] the team reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2β0 to [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] in a replay. They reached the final again in [[1887 FA Cup Final|1887]], but lost 2β0 to [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]. In [[1888 FA Cup Final|1888]] the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]] 2β1 in the final.<ref>McOwan p. 20.</ref> As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a [[Football World Championship]] game against [[Scottish Cup]] winners [[Renton F.C.|Renton]], which ended in a 4β1 defeat.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web |title=A Sporting Nation β Renton Crowned World Champions |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0008/ |url-status=live |publisher=BBC |access-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804214053/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0008/ |archive-date=4 August 2020}}</ref> [[File:West Bromwich Albion team 1888.jpg|thumb|right|The Albion team of 1888, FA Cup winners and Football League founder members]] In March 1888, [[William McGregor (football)|William McGregor]] wrote to what he considered to be the top five English teams, including Albion, informing them of his intention to form an association of clubs that would play each other home and away each season. Thus when the [[Football League]] started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members.<ref>McOwan pp. 19β21.</ref> Albion's second FA Cup success came in [[1892 FA Cup Final|1892]], beating Aston Villa 3β0. They met Villa again in the [[1895 FA Cup Final|1895]] final, but lost 1β0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900β01, their first season at [[The Hawthorns]].<ref>McOwan p. 30.</ref> They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903β04.<ref>McOwan p. 32.</ref> The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910β11, and the following season reached another [[1912 FA Cup Final|FA Cup Final]], where they were defeated by [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] [[Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]] in a replay.<ref>McOwan pp. 36β37.</ref> Albion won the Football League title in [[1919β20 Football League|1919β20]] for the only time in their history following the end of [[World War I]], their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records.<ref>McOwan p. 42.</ref> The team finished as Division One runners-up in [[1924β25 Football League|1924β25]], narrowly losing out to [[Huddersfield Town F.C.|Huddersfield Town]], but were relegated in 1926β27.<ref>McOwan p. 45.</ref> In 1930β31, they won promotion as well as the [[1931 FA Cup Final|FA Cup]], beating [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham]]<!--They weren't Birmingham City until 1943--> 2β1 in the final.<ref>McOwan pp. 50β51.</ref> The "double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since.<ref>Matthews (2007) p. 23.</ref> Albion reached the final again in [[1935 FA Cup Final|1935]], losing to [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]], but were relegated three years later.<ref>McOwan pp. 53β55.</ref> They gained promotion in 1948β49,<ref>McOwan p. 58.</ref> and there followed the club's longest unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, a total of 24 years.<ref>{{cite web | title = West Bromwich Albion Football Club History | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/sport/clubs/baggies/history.shtml | publisher = BBC | access-date = 18 November 2007 | archive-date = 9 April 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060409080924/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/sport/clubs/baggies/history.shtml | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = West Bromwich Albion | url = https://www.fchd.info/W-BROMWA.HTM | publisher = Football Club History Database | access-date = 19 November 2007 | archive-date = 12 January 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180112214800/http://fchd.info/W-BROMWA.HTM | url-status = live }}</ref>
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