2007–08 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

During the 2007–08 English football season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the Football League Championship. They finished the season in first place, thus earning promotion to the Premier League the following season.

West Bromwich Albion

2007–08 season
Chairman	Jeremy Peace
Manager	Tony Mowbray
Stadium	The Hawthorns
Championship	1st (promoted to the Premier League)
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Phillips (22) All: Kevin Phillips (24)
Average home league attendance	22,311
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

Season summary

After the previous season's play-off final heartbreak, Tony Mowbray set about restructuring his squad, moving out several players for multimillion-pound fees after press reports of dressing room division.^[1] High-profile players such as Jason Koumas, Diomansy Kamara and Curtis Davies were sold to Premier League clubs for large fees, joining Paul McShane, Nathan Ellington, Darren Carter and Steve Watson in leaving the Hawthorns. Mowbray replaced them by signing a total of 14 permanent and loan players in the summer transfer window, making an overall profit in the process.

Despite the large changes in his squad, Mowbray won the Championship Manager of the Month award in September, after Albion gained 13 out of the maximum 15 points and climbed to second.^[2] At the start of 2008, Mowbray's young Albion team topped the table, receiving growing plaudits from the media^[3] and supporters^[4] alike for their attractive brand of attacking one touch passing football, a reflection of Mowbray's staunch footballing philosophy.^[5]

Mowbray guided Albion to the Football League Championship title and promotion to the Premier League, the first league title won by the club since the old Division One in 1920. The club also reached the FA Cup semi-final. The semi-final, the first to be played at the new Wembley Stadium, pitted Albion against Portsmouth, the only remaining Premier League team left in the FA Cup. Portsmouth won the match 1–0 with the only goal of the game coming from former Albion striker Nwankwo Kanu. Mowbray won the Championship manager of the month award for April,^[6] as well as the League Managers Association manager of the year award.^[7]

Kit

English company Umbro remained West Bromwich's kit manufacturers. T-Mobile remained the kit sponsors.

Final league table

Main article: 2007–08 Football League Championship

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	West Bromwich Albion (C, P)	46	23	12	11	88	55	+33	81	Promotion to the Premier League
2	Stoke City (P)	46	21	16	9	69	55	+14	79
3	Hull City (O, P)	46	21	12	13	65	47	+18	75	Qualification for Championship play-offs
4	Bristol City	46	20	14	12	54	53	+1	74
5	Crystal Palace	46	18	17	11	58	42	+16	71

Updated to match(es) played on 4 May 2008. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Results

West Bromwich Albion's score comes first^[8]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League Championship

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11 August 2007	Burnley	A	1–2	15,337 (2,191)	Phillips
18 August 2007	Preston North End	H	2–0	19,556	Phillips, Miller
25 August 2007	Sheffield United	A	0–1	23,491
1 September 2007	Barnsley	H	2–0	18,310 (932)	Teixeira, Beattie
15 September 2007	Ipswich Town	H	4–0	19,460 (1,013)	Miller, Teixeira, Phillips (2)
18 September 2007	Bristol City	A	1–1	16,571 (2,019)	Koren
22 September 2007	Scunthorpe United	A	3–2	8,307 (1,800)	Barnett, Brunt, Teixeira
30 September 2007	Queens Park Rangers	H	5–1	24,757 (785)	Phillips (2), Miller, Koren, Greening
3 October 2007	Stoke City	H	1–1	20,048 (1,384)	Barnett
6 October 2007	Southampton	A	2–3	21,967 (2,218)	Koren (2)
20 October 2007	Colchester United	A	2–3	5,798 (1,000)	Phillips, Miller
23 October 2007	Blackpool	H	2–1	22,030 (1,382)	Miller, Morrison
27 October 2007	Norwich City	H	2–0	20,247	Miller, Phillips
3 November 2007	Watford	A	3–0	18,273 (2,200)	Miller, Phillips, Albrechtsen
6 November 2007	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	19,807 (1,726)	Phillips
12 November 2007	Coventry City	A	4–0	18,566 (2,818)	Robinson, Teixeira (2), Koren
25 November 2007	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–0	27,493 (2,600)
28 November 2007	Plymouth Argyle	A	2–1	14,348	Bednář (2)
1 December 2007	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	15,247	Hudson (own goal)
4 December 2007	Coventry City	H	2–4	20,641	Bednář (2)
8 December 2007	Leicester City	A	2–1	22,088	Gera, Beattie
15 December 2007	Charlton Athletic	H	4–2	20,346 (787)	Bednář, Gera (2), Phillips
22 December 2007	Stoke City	A	1–3	18,420 (2,439)	Bednář
26 December 2007	Bristol City	H	4–1	27,314 (2,600)	Bednář, Koren, Phillips (2)
29 December 2007	Scunthorpe United	H	5–0	25,238 (584)	Phillips (2), Koren, Gera, Beattie
1 January 2008	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	24,000
12 January 2008	Hull City	A	3–1	18,391 (1,524)	Phillips, Morrison, Bednář
19 January 2008	Cardiff City	H	3–3	22,325 (2,453)	Bednář, Albrechtsen, Johnson (own goal)
29 January 2008	Preston North End	A	1–2	12,473 (1,842)	Gera
2 February 2008	Burnley	H	2–1	22,206 (2,081)	Cesar, Bednář
9 February 2008	Barnsley	A	1–2	13,083 (2,065)	Morrison
12 February 2008	Sheffield United	H	0–0	22,643
23 February 2008	Hull City	H	1–2	22,716 (1,424)	Bednář
1 March 2008	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–0	22,503 (1,346)	Gera, Miller, Bednář
4 March 2008	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–0	18,805	Phillips
12 March 2008	Crystal Palace	H	1–1	20,378	Phillips
15 March 2008	Leicester City	H	1–4	22,038 (1,736)	Koren
21 March 2008	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	23,412	Phillips
29 March 2008	Colchester United	H	4–3	20,433 (686)	Phillips, Brunt, Bednář, Morrison
1 April 2008	Cardiff City	A	0–0	13,915
8 April 2008	Blackpool	A	3–1	9,628 (1,900)	Phillips (2, 1 pen), Miller
12 April 2008	Watford	H	1–1	26,508	Barnett
15 April 2008	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	27,883 (2,600)	Gera
19 April 2008	Norwich City	A	2–1	25,442 (2,500)	Koren, Gera
28 April 2008	Southampton	H	1–1	26,167 (1,263)	Brunt
4 May 2008	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–0	18,309 (2,600)	Do-Heon, Brunt

FA Cup

Main article: 2007–08 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 2008	Charlton Athletic	A	1–1	12,682	Miller
R3R	15 January 2008	Charlton Athletic	H	2–2 (won 4–3 on pens)	12,691	Bednář, Morrison
R4	26 January 2008	Peterborough United	A	3–0	12,701	Bednář, Koren, Phillips (pen)
R5	16 February 2008	Coventry City	A	5–0	28,163 (5,000)	Brunt, Bednář (2, 1 pen), Miller, Gera
QF	9 March 2008	Bristol Rovers	A	5–1	12,011 (1,500)	Morrison, Miller (3), Phillips
SF	5 April 2008	Portsmouth	N	0–1	83,584

League Cup

Main article: 2007–08 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	14 August 2007	Bournemouth	H	1–0	10,250 (432)	Beattie
R2	28 August 2007	Peterborough United	A	2–0	4,917	Gera, Ellington
R3	25 September 2007	Cardiff City	H	2–4	14,085	Miller (2, 1 pen)

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IRL Dean Kiely[notes 1] 2 DF  BEL Carl Hoefkens 3 DF  ENG Paul Robinson 4 DF  ENG Leon Barnett 5 DF  ENG Neil Clement 7 MF  SVN Robert Koren 8 MF  ENG Jonathan Greening 9 FW  CZE Roman Bednář (on loan from Hearts) 10 FW  SCO Craig Beattie 11 MF  HUN Zoltán Gera 12 MF  KOR Kim Do-heon (on loan from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma) 13 GK  ENG Luke Steele 14 DF  DEN Martin Albrechtsen 15 FW  NED Sherjill MacDonald 16 DF  ENG Jared Hodgkiss

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  ENG Ishmael Miller 18 DF  ANT Shelton Martis 19 GK  CZE Michal Daněk (on loan from Viktoria Plzeň) 20 MF  POR Filipe Teixeira[notes 2] 21 FW  ENG Kevin Phillips 22 FW  ENG Stuart Nicholson 23 DF  MOZ Tininho 24 FW  ENG Luke Moore (on loan from Aston Villa) 25 DF  SVN Boštjan Cesar (on loan from Marseille) 26 DF  CPV Pelé[notes 3] 27 MF  SCO James Morrison[notes 4] 29 MF  NIR Chris Brunt 30 FW  POL Bartosz Ślusarski 32 MF  ENG David Worrall

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 DF  ENG Curtis Davies (on loan to Aston Villa) 9 FW  ENG Nathan Ellington (to Watford) 12 MF  ENG Richard Chaplow (to Preston North End)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  WAL John Hartson (retired) 24 DF  ENG Ronnie Wallwork (to Sheffield Wednesday) 31 GK  ENG Luke Daniels (on loan to Motherwell)

Transfers

Out

• Chris Perry – released (later joined Luton Town), 1 June 2007
• Diomansy Kamara – Fulham, £6,000,000, 9 July 2007^[10]
• Steve Watson – Sheffield Wednesday, free, 10 July 2007^[11]
• Jason Koumas – Wigan Athletic, £5,300,000, 10 July 2007^[12]
• Paul McShane – Sunderland, £1,500,000, 26 July 2007^[13]
• Darren Carter – Preston North End, £750,000, 9 August 2007^[14]
• Nathan Ellington – Watford, £3,250,000, 29 August 2007^[15]
• Curtis Davies – Aston Villa, season loan, 31 August 2007^[16]

In

• Shelton Martis – Hibernian, £50,000, 2 July 2007.^[17]
• Craig Beattie – Celtic, £1,250,000, 3 July 2007^[18]
• Filipe Teixeira – Académica, £600,000, 17 July 2007^[19]
• Leon Barnett – Luton Town, £2,500,000, 26 July 2007^[20]
• Tininho – Beira-Mar, £230,000, 31 July 2007^[21]
• Boštjan Cesar – Marseille, season loan, 7 August 2007^[22]
• Carl Hoefkens – Stoke City, £750,000, 7 August 2007^[23]
• James Morrison – Middlesbrough, £1,500,000, 7 August 2007^[24]
• Pelé – Southampton, £1,000,000, 9 August 2007^[25]
• Chris Brunt – Sheffield Wednesday, £3,000,000, 15 August 2007^[26]
• Ishmael Miller – Manchester City, loan, 15 August 2007(made permanent 31 January 2008 for £900,000)^[27][28]
• Bartosz Ślusarski – Dyskobolia Grodzisk
• Michal Daněk – Viktoria Plzeň, loan
• Roman Bednář – Hearts, loan