The 2020–21 season was the 143rd year in existence of West Bromwich Albion and their first season back in the Premier League after a two-year absence, following promotion from the Championship in the previous season. They also participated in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
On 16 December 2020, Albion parted company with head coach Slaven Bilić, after winning one of the first 13 league games. Sam Allardyce was confirmed as his successor later that day, with the former England manager taking charge of his eighth Premier League club, a competition record.
West Brom were relegated back to the Championship, after just one season in the Premier League, following an away defeat to Arsenal on 9 May 2021. This equalled Norwich City's record of five Premier League relegations and was the first time that a team managed by Sam Allardyce had been relegated from the top flight.
Background Prior to the start of the season, sports journalists were pessimistic about West Bromwich Albion's chances of surviving relegation. Phil McNulty, the BBC's chief football writer, thought that Albion would finish in 19th place, while Henry Winter of The Times also forecast relegation. The Guardian predicted a 20th-place finish, while identifying Matheus Pereira as Albion's key player.
Restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom created uncertainty surrounding the reintroduction of supporters to football stadia. As a result, the club did not issue full season tickets in 2020–21.
Albion unveiled three new kits for the season, designed in tribute to the "barcode" design worn by the club's promotion winning team of 1992–93. The home kit featured navy blue and white striped shirts, white shorts and navy blue socks, while the away colours comprised green and yellow striped shirts, green shorts and yellow socks. The third kit was made up of red and yellow stripes, red shorts and yellow socks. The kits were manufactured by Puma and were sponsored by Ideal Boilers. Alongside all other Premier League clubs, West Bromwich Albion's players wore a "No Room For Racism" badge on their shirts; this replaced the "Black Lives Matter" badges worn at the end of the previous Premier League season.
First-team squad
No. Name Nat. Position(s) Date of birth (age) Apps. Goals Year signed Signed from Transfer fee Goalkeepers1Sam JohnstoneGK11302018 Manchester United£6,500,00025David ButtonGK402020 Brighton & Hove AlbionUndisclosed31Andy LonerganGK002021 Stoke CityFree Defenders2Darnell FurlongRB/CB5332019 Queens Park Rangers£1,500,0003Kieran GibbsLB/LM9952017 Arsenal£7,000,0005Kyle BartleyCB8752018 Swansea City£4,000,0006Semi AjayiCB/DM6572019 Rotherham United£1,500,00014Conor TownsendLB/LM5812018 Scunthorpe United£750,00020Branislav IvanovićCB/RB1302020 Zenit Saint PetersburgFree22Lee PeltierRB/CB/DM502020 Cardiff CityFree24Cédric KipréCB302020 Wigan Athletic£990,00026Ahmed HegaziCB10442017 Al AhlyUndisclosed27Dara O'SheaCB/RB3932017AcademyTrainee Midfielders8Jake LivermoreDM/CM/CB15272017 Hull City£10,000,00010Matt PhillipsRW/AM/LW154212016 Queens Park Rangers£5,500,00011Grady DianganaLW/RW/AM4792020 West Ham United£18,000,00013Kamil GrosickiLW/RW1912020 Hull CityUndisclosed16Rekeem HarperCM/AM/DM4022016AcademyTrainee18Conor GallagherCM/DM/AM1622020 ChelseaLoan19Romaine SawyersAM/CM6312019 BrentfordUndisclosed21Kyle EdwardsLM/CM/RM4942015AcademyTrainee23Robert SnodgrassRW/LW/AM202021 West Ham UnitedUndisclosed28Sam FieldCM/DM/LM4522015AcademyTrainee30Ainsley Maitland-NilesDM29 August 1997 (age 28)002021 Arsenal F.C.Loan35Okay YokuşluDM9 March 1994 (age 31)002021 RC Celta de VigoLoan Forwards4Hal Robson-KanuCF/LW/RW143222016 ReadingFree7Callum RobinsonCF/LW/RW3662020 Sheffield UnitedUndisclosed9Kenneth ZohoreCF/SS2052019 Cardiff City£8,000,00012Matheus PereiraRW/LW/AM60132020 Sporting CP£8,000,00015Charlie AustinCF45102019 Southampton£4,000,00017Mbaye DiagneCF28 October 1991 (age 34)102021 Galatasaray Loan29Karlan GrantCF/LW/RW1312020 Huddersfield Town£15,000,000
Transfers
Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 17 August 2020 AM Matheus Pereira Sporting CP Undisclosed 4 September 2020 RW Grady Diangana West Ham United Undisclosed 4 September 2020 CB Cédric Kipré Wigan Athletic Undisclosed 5 September 2020 GK David Button Brighton & Hove Albion Undisclosed 9 September 2020 LW Callum Robinson Sheffield United Undisclosed 15 September 2020 CB Branislav Ivanović Zenit Saint Petersburg Free transfer 15 October 2020 CF Karlan Grant Huddersfield Town Undisclosed 8 January 2021 RW Robert Snodgrass West Ham United Undisclosed 9 January 2021 GK Andy Lonergan Stoke City Free transfer
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 17 September 2020 CM Conor Gallagher Chelsea End of season 29 September 2020 AM Filip Krovinović Benfica End of season 29 January 2021 CF Mbaye Diagne Galatasaray End of season 1 February 2021 DM Okay Yokuşlu Celta Vigo End of season 1 February 2021CMAinsley Maitland-NilesArsenal F.C.End of Season
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 1 August 2020 AM Finn Azaz Cheltenham Town End of season 13 August 2020 GK Josh Griffiths Cheltenham Town End of season 4 September 2020 CF Callum Morton Lincoln City End of season 4 September 2020 GK Alex Palmer Lincoln City End of season 10 September 2020 LW Nick Clayton-Phillips Solihull Moors End of season 11 September 2020 SS Rayhaan Tulloch Doncaster Rovers End of season 2 October 2020 CB Saul Shotton Woking 1 January 2021 6 October 2020 CF Jamie Soule Lincoln City 1 January 2021 8 October 2020 CF Owen Windsor Grimsby Town 20 December 2020 16 October 2020 CF Kenneth Zohore Millwall End of season 26 October 2020 CB Ahmed Hegazi Al-Ittihad End of season 5 January 2021 CF Owen Windsor Newport County 1 February 2021 9 January 2021 CF Charlie Austin Queens Park Rangers End of season 21 January 2021 CM Rekeem Harper Birmingham City End of season 1 February 2021CMSam Field Queens Park Rangers F.C.End of Season with view to permanent transfer1 February 2021CBCédric Kipré R. Charleroi S.C.End of Season
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2020 GK Ali Al-Habsi Retired 1 July 2020 CM Eoin Ashton Heidelberg United Released 1 July 2020 RW Stanley Asomugha Unattached Released 1 July 2020 CM Jack Chambers Luton Town Released 1 July 2020 CB Nathan Ferguson Crystal Palace Released 1 July 2020 CB Jack Fitzwater Livingston Released 1 July 2020 CB Kevin Healy Portadown Released 1 July 2020 CB Carrick Hill Alvechurch Released 1 July 2020 GK Brad House Horsham Released 1 July 2020 CB Pablo Martinez Bristol Rovers Released 1 July 2020 RB Dan Meredith Leamington Released 1 July 2020 RW Yusuff Ojebode IW Cardinals (Uni. of the Incarnate Word) Released 1 July 2020 CM Lewis Smith Alvechurch Released 1 July 2020 DM Peter Taylor Alvechurch Released 1 July 2020 CF Jacob Wakeling Alvechurch Released 1 July 2020 DM Sam Wilding Sunderland Released 1 July 2020 RB Remari Williams Unattached Released 1 July 2020 RB Kane Wilson Forest Green Rovers Released 1 August 2020 LW Chris Brunt Bristol City Released 27 August 2020 DM Gareth Barry Retired 28 August 2020 RW Jonathan Leko Birmingham City £1,000,000 9 September 2020 RW Oliver Burke Sheffield United Undisclosed 11 September 2020 FW Shilo Waldo Stoke City Free transfer 25 September 2020 LW Alex Gilbert Brentford Free transfer 14 January 2021 GK Jonathan Bond LA Galaxy Undisclosed
Friendly matches
Competitions Premier League
Following their promotion from the 2019–20 EFL Championship, West Bromwich Albion are competing in the 2020–21 Premier League, the 29th season of English football's top division since its breakaway from the Football League in 1992. It is Albion's 13th season in the Premier League, 81st season in the top division of English football and their 122nd season of league football in all.Seasons in the top division includes those in the Premier League (1992–93 onwards) and Football League First Division (1991–92 and prior). 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.
Albion defeated Chelsea 5–2 in April in what was their first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1978.
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 20 August.
FA Cup
The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition.
EFL Cup
The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on 6 September, live on Sky Sports by Phil Babb.
Statistics
!colspan=14|Players who left the club:
Goals record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total112AMMatheus Pereira 1110827 LWCallum Robinson 501534 CFHal Robson-Kanu 20345 CBKyle Bartley 30036 CBSemi Ajayi 2103617CFMbaye Diagne 300218CMConor Gallagher 200282 RBDarnell Furlong 100110LWMatt Phillips 200111LWGrady Diangana 100116CMRakeem Harper 001129CFKarlan Grant 1001Own Goals 2001Total 352542
Disciplinary record
Rank No. Nat. Po. Name Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total 118CMConor Gallagher 80010000090026 CBSemi Ajayi 301100000401327CBDara O'Shea 30000010040042 RBDarnell Furlong 3000000003005 CBKyle Bartley 3000000003008 CMJake Livermore 20100000020112RWMatheus Pereira 20100000020183 LBKieran Gibbs 10100000010119DMRomaine Sawyers 20000000020020CBBranislav Ivanović 20000000020023RWRobert Snodgrass 200000000200124 CFHal Robson-Kanu 10000000010010RWMatt Phillips 10000000010017CFMbaye Diagne 10000000010022RBLee Peltier 10000000010028CBSam Field 00000010010029CFKarlan Grant 10000000010030DMAinsley Maitland-Niles 10000000010035DMOkay Yokuşlu 100000000100Total 38042002004304
References