The Hawthorns

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The Hawthorns is a football ground in West Bromwich, England, and is the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C.. Hosting Association Football since 1900. At an altitude of 551 feet (168 metres), it is the highest ground among those of all 92 Premier League and Football League clubs.

History

The expiry of the lease on Stoney Lane, as well as the club’s desire for a more spacious location, saw them move once again in 1900, this time permanently. All of Albion’s previous grounds had been close to the centre of West Bromwich, but on this occasion they took up an “out of town” site on the borders of Handsworth. The area was covered in hawthorn bushes, which were cleared to make way for the new ground, hence its name, The Hawthorns. The club signed a lease for the land on 14 May 1900, giving them the option to buy within 14 years from the owner, Sandwell Park Colliery, and Albion did indeed buy the freehold on the ground in June 1913.

The first match at The Hawthorns took place on 3 September 1900, when Albion drew 1-1 with Derby County. Derby’s England international Steve Bloomer scored the first Hawthorns goal, with ‘Chippy’ Simmons equalizing for Albion.

In its early years, the ground was also used for athletics meetings. In May 1908, Birchfield Harriers used The Hawthorns for their Spring Meeting, which included the end of the first marathon to be run in the Midlands. The runners covered 25 miles from Coventry to the Hawthorns, and one of them – Jack Price of Small Heath Harriers – was selected for the British team for the London Olympic Games on the strength of his performance. The Hawthorns has hosted two full England internationals. On 21 October 1922, England beat Ireland 2-0, while on 8 December 1924 they won 4-0 against Belgium. The attendance record at the Hawthorns was set on March 6, 1937, when 64,815 spectators saw Albion beat Arsenal 3-1 in the FA Cup quarter-final. The highest league crowd was 60,945 against Wolves on March 4, 1950, a game that finished 1-1.

Concrete terracing was added to the ground in 1920, and an electric turnstile aggregator for automatically calculating attendances was introduced in 1949. In 1957 electric floodlights were erected, at a cost of £18,000. The ground’s first floodlit match saw Albion draw 1-1 with Chelsea, on 18 September, 1957. The ground used to be divided by the Birmingham/Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now entirely in Sandwell. In the 1990s, following the Taylor Report, the ground became all-seated, with both the Smethwick End and Birmingham Road End terraces being demolished to make way for brand new all-seater stands. During the mid-late 1990s there were proposals for Moseley Rugby Football Club to share the ground, but these never materialised. Albion celebrated the Hawthorns’ centenary on 3 September 2000 by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 in a Division One match. In 2001 the old Rainbow Stand was replaced by the new East Stand.

In 2002 The Hawthorns became the first ground to install big screens in the widescreen format. The ground hosted its first Premier League match on 24 August 2002, with Albion losing 3-1 to Leeds United. Leeds player Harry Kewell scored the first Premier League goal on the ground. The Jeff Astle gates, which commemorate one of Albion’s greatest strikers, were unveiled on 11 July 2003. The gates are located on the Birmingham Road, close to the Woodman Corner, and form the entrance to the East Stand car park. In December 2003, the board of directors unveiled plans to increase the stadium’s capacity to 40,000 all-seated. However these plans have yet to be materialised, as Albion slipped out of the Premiership in 2006, and are unlikely to go ahead unless Albion ever establish themselves as a Premiership club. In September 2007, Albion chairman Jeremy Peace announced that a refurbishment of the Halfords Lane Stand could take place as early as that season, i.e. 2007-08. Previous plans to rebuild the stand were shelved due to what Peace called “continuing levels of excess capacity”.

Stands

Halfords Lane Stand/West Stand – constructed: 1979-1981, capacity: 5,110

Running along the west edge of the pitch, the Halfords Lane Stand provided VIP seating before the advent of the new East Stand. The stand houses the main TV cameras as well as the press and commentary area. Chairman Jeremy Peace had announced that there are plans for the Halfords Lane Stand to be demolished to make way for a single-tier, 10,000 seated stand within the next five years. This would raise the total stadium capacity to around 33,000. However, since Albion’s relegation from the Premier League and a drop in attendances, this plan has been shelved for the time being. Instead, there are plans to refurbish the stand instead due to its age.

Birmingham Road End – constructed: 1994-1995, capacity: 8,286

Better known to supporters as the Brummie Road, the traditional Birmingham Road End runs behind the goal, adjacent to the A41. Traditionally housing the core of the home support, its role has been somewhat stolen by the Smethwick End in recent years. Between this stand and the East Stand lies the Woodman corner, named after the Woodman pub which stood just behind it until its demolition in 2004. The Woodman corner is home to a large throstle mascot, which was originally perched above the old (terraced) Woodman corner, but was housed in the Halfords Lane stand for several seasons until the stadium redevelopments were completed.

Smethwick End – constructed: 1994-1995, capacity: 5,816

Running behind the goal at the southern edge of the pitch, the Smethwick End houses the away supporters though they are generally only allocated part of the stand, the remainder housing the most vocal of the home support. (If and when the new west stand is completed there may be a chance of the Smethwick End going to the visitors).

East Stand – constructed: 2001, capacity: 8,791

Replacing the old Rainbow Stand, the East Stand now houses the club’s administration offices, club shop, club ticket office and corporate entertainment suites. The wings of the East Stand are known as the Woodman corner (which joins up with the Birmingham Road End, and is named after the Woodman public house that stood there until 2004) and the Millennium Corner (adjacent to the Smethwick End).

Above the Woodman corner sits a giant effigy of a throstle, which had been a familiar feature of the ground for generations. It used to perch on the old scoreboard in the old (terraced) Woodman Corner; after the redevelopment of the ground in 1994 it was moved temporarily to the main stand in Halfords Lane, and it can now be seen back in its old position.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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West Brom official website
The Hawthorns wikipedia entry
WBAlbion fansite
The Premier League Website
The Football Association
Bet with Paddy Power

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