# 2008–09 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season

During the 2008–09 English football season, West Bromwich Albion competed in the Premier League, following promotion from the Football League Championship as Football League champions the previous season.

## Season summary

West Bromwich began the season strongly with ten points from their opening seven games leaving them in midtable, but that proved to be as good as it got for the Midlanders and with only five more league wins during the rest of the season Albion soon sunk to the foot of the Premier League and were relegated in last place. At the end of the season, manager Tony Mowbray left to take charge at Celtic; he was replaced by MK Dons manager Roberto Di Matteo.
In January, an assessment of company accounts by Equifax saw Albion rated third among Premiership clubs by credit rating, with a score of 71 out of 100.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 36 | |
| 17 | Hull City | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 39 | 64 | −25 | 35 | |
| 18 | Newcastle United (R) | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 40 | 59 | −19 | 34 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 19 | Middlesbrough (R) | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 28 | 57 | −29 | 32 | Relegation to Football League Championship |
| 20 | West Bromwich Albion (R) | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 36 | 67 | −31 | 32 | Relegation to Football League Championship |

## Background

West Bromwich retained their kit sponsorship deal with English company Umbro, who introduced both a new home kit and a new away kit with navy shorts and yellow shirts and socks. The club was unable to find a kit sponsor for the season, and so became the first club in Premier League history to go a season without any kit sponsorship.
Albion completed a £3 million-plus refurbishment of the Halfords Lane Stand in time for the start of the season. This included new dressing rooms, dugout areas and tunnel, executive boxes and a media gantry. As a result, the capacity of The Hawthorns was slightly reduced to 26,272 and the stand was renamed as the West Stand. New navy blue seats were installed in the stand, replacing the lighter blue seats previously fitted.

## Players
### First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRL | Dean Kiely |
| 2 | DF | BEL | Carl Hoefkens |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Paul Robinson |
| 4 | DF | SVK | Marek Čech |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Leon Barnett |
| 7 | MF | SVN | Robert Koren |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Jonathan Greening (captain) |
| 9 | FW | CZE | Roman Bednar |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Ishmael Miller |
| 11 | FW | NIR | Chris Brunt |
| 12 | FW | SCO | Craig Beattie |
| 14 | MF | KOR | Kim Do-heon |
| 16 | FW | ENG | Luke Moore |
| 17 | MF | SCO | Graham Dorrans |
| 18 | DF | CPV | Pelé |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | GK | ENG | Scott Carson |
| 20 | MF | POR | Filipe Teixeira |
| 21 | MF | ARG | Juan Carlos Menseguez (on loan from San Lorenzo) |
| 22 | DF | NED | Gianni Zuiverloon |
| 23 | DF | CIV | Abdoulaye Méïté |
| 24 | DF | ANT | Shelton Martis |
| 26 | DF | SWE | Jonas Olsson |
| 27 | MF | SCO | James Morrison |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Borja Valero |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Jay Simpson (on loan from Arsenal) |
| 30 | DF | NED | Ryan Donk (on loan from AZ) |
| 31 | MF | COD | Youssouf Mulumbu |
| 32 | FW | GUF | Marc-Antoine Fortuné |
| 39 | FW | NZL | Chris Wood |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | FW | NED | Sherjill MacDonald (on loan to Roeselare) |
| — | GK | CZE | Michal Daněk (on loan from Viktoria Plzeň) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Baker (to Kidderminster Harriers) |
| — | FW | POL | Bartosz Ślusarski (on loan to Sheffield Wednesday; released) |

### Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Neil Clement |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Luke Daniels |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Jared Hodgkiss |
| 34 | DF | ENG | Paul Downing |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 38 | MF | ENG | Romaine Sawyers |
| 41 | GK | ENG | Ryan Allsop |
| — | MF | ENG | Joss Labadie |
| — | MF | ENG | David Worrall |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | Club From | Fee |
| 29 May 2008 | FW | Luke Moore | Aston Villa | £3,500,000 |
| 29 May 2008 | MF | Kim Do-heon | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | £550,000 |
| 3 July 2008 | DF | Gianni Zuiverloon | Heerenveen | £3,200,000 |
| 4 July 2008 | MF | Graham Dorrans | Livingston | £100,000 |
| 15 July 2008 | DF | Marek Čech | Porto | £1,400,000 |
| 18 July 2008 | GK | Scott Carson | Liverpool | £3,250,000 |
| 10 August 2008 | DF | Abdoulaye Méïté | Bolton Wanderers | £2,000,000 |
| 19 August 2008 | MF | Borja Valero | Mallorca | £4,900,000 |
| 31 August 2008 | DF | Jonas Olsson | NEC Nijmegen | £850,000 |

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | Club To | Fee |
| 21 May 2008 | GK | Luke Steele | Barnsley | Free |
| 11 June 2008 | MF | Zoltan Gera | Fulham | Free |
| 1 July 2008 | DF | Martin Albrechtsen | Derby County | Free |
| 3 July 2008 | DF | Curtis Davies | Aston Villa | Undisclosed |
| 9 July 2008 | FW | Kevin Phillips | Birmingham City | Free |

### Loan In

| Date | Position | Name | Club From | Length |
| 31 August 2008 | DF | Ryan Donk | AZ Alkmaar | Until end of season |
| 31 December 2008 | FW | Jay Simpson | Arsenal | Until end of season |
| 15 January 2009 | FW | Marc-Antoine Fortuné | Nancy | Until end of season |
| 2 February 2009 | MF | Youssouf Mulumbu | PSG | Until end of season |
| 2 February 2009 | MF | Juan Carlos Menseguez | San Lorenzo | Until end of season |

### Loan Out

| Date | Position | Name | Club To | Length |
| 29 August 2008 | DF | Jared Hodgkiss | Aberdeen | Six Months |
| 9 January 2009 | FW | Sherjill MacDonald | Roeselare | Until end of season |
| 26 March 2009 | DF | Jared Hodgkiss | Northampton Town | Until end of season |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | IRL | Dean Kiely | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | GK | ENG | Scott Carson | 39 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BEL | Carl Hoefkens | 15 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Paul Robinson | 37 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SVK | Marek Čech | 11 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Leon Barnett | 14 | 0 | 10+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | CPV | Pelé | 6 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | NED | Gianni Zuiverloon | 35 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CIV | Abdoulaye Méïté | 19 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ANT | Shelton Martis | 7 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | SWE | Jonas Olsson | 29 | 3 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | NED | Ryan Donk | 19 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | SVK | Robert Koren | 39 | 3 | 34+1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Jonathan Greening | 38 | 2 | 33+1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | NIR | Chris Brunt | 38 | 8 | 28+6 | 8 | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | KOR | Kim Do-Heon | 19 | 1 | 9+7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Graham Dorrans | 11 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | POR | Filipe Teixeira | 13 | 0 | 1+9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ARG | Juan Carlos Menseguez | 7 | 1 | 3+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | SCO | James Morrison | 30 | 3 | 29+1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Borja Valero | 34 | 0 | 27+3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | COD | Youssouf Mulumbu | 6 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | CZE | Roman Bednar | 31 | 6 | 12+14 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Ishmael Miller | 15 | 3 | 11+4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | SCO | Craig Beattie | 10 | 1 | 1+6 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | ENG | Luke Moore | 23 | 1 | 5+16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Jay Simpson | 17 | 2 | 9+4 | 1 | 3+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | GUF | Marc-Antoine Fortuné | 18 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | NZL | Chris Wood | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 18 | FW | NED | Sherjill MacDonald | 6 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |

## Results

    West Bromwich Albion's score comes first
| Win | Draw | Loss |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 26 August 2008 | Second round | Hartlepool United | Victoria Park | 1–3 (aet) | 3,387 (704) | Koren 87 |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 3 January 2009 | Third round | Peterborough United | The Hawthorns | 1–1 | 18,659 | Olsson 64' |
| 13 January 2009 | Third round replay | Peterborough United | London Road | 2–0 | 10,735 (1,823) | Simpson 18', Robinson 37' |
| 24 January 2009 | Fourth round | Burnley | The Hawthorns | 2–2 | 18,294 (1,270) | Koren 31', Kim 45' |
| 3 February 2009 | Fourth round replay | Burnley | Turf Moor | 1–3 (aet) | 6,635 (582) | Zuiverloon 60' |

### Premier League

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 16 August 2008 | Arsenal | Emirates Stadium | 0–1 | 60,071 (2,996) | |
| 23 August 2008 | Everton | The Hawthorns | 1–2 | 26,190 (2,598) | Bednar 89' pen. |
| 30 August 2008 | Bolton Wanderers | Reebok Stadium | 0–0 | 20,387 | |
| 13 September 2008 | West Ham United | The Hawthorns | 3–2 | 26,213 (2,592) | Morrison 3', Bednar 37' pen., Brunt 83' |
| 21 September 2008 | Aston Villa | The Hawthorns | 1–2 | 26,011 (2,595) | Morrison 33' |
| 27 September 2008 | Middlesbrough | Riverside Stadium | 1–0 | 26,248 (2,480) | Olsson 53' |
| 4 October 2008 | Fulham | The Hawthorns | 1–0 | 25,708 | Bednar |
| 18 October 2008 | Manchester United | Old Trafford | 0–4 | 75,451 | |
| 25 October 2008 | Hull City | The Hawthorns | 0–3 | 26,323 (2,596) | |
| 28 October 2008 | Newcastle United | St James' Park | 1–2 | 45,801 | Miller 65' |
| 1 November 2008 | Blackburn Rovers | The Hawthorns | 2–2 | 24,976 (1,238) | Bednar 55', Miller 62' |
| 8 November 2008 | Liverpool | Anfield | 0–3 | 43,451 (1,700) | |
| 15 November 2008 | Chelsea | The Hawthorns | 0–3 | 26,322 (2,600) | |
| 22 November 2008 | Stoke City | Britannia Stadium | 0–1 | 26,613 | |
| 29 November 2008 | Wigan Athletic | JJB Stadium | 1–2 | 17,054 (4,053) | Miller 47' |
| 7 December 2008 | Portsmouth | The Hawthorns | 1–1 | 24,964 | Greening 39' |
| 13 December 2008 | Sunderland | Stadium of Light | 0–4 | 36,280 (1,307) | |
| 21 December 2008 | Manchester City | The Hawthorns | 2–1 | 25,010 (1,419) | Moore 69', Bednar 93' |
| 26 December 2008 | Chelsea | Stamford Bridge | 0–2 | 43,417 | |
| 28 December 2008 | Tottenham Hotspur | The Hawthorns | 2–0 | 26,344 | Bednar 83', Beattie 94' |
| 10 January 2009 | Aston Villa | Villa Park | 1–2 | 41,757 (2,800) | Morrison 49' |
| 17 January 2009 | Middlesbrough | The Hawthorns | 3–0 | 25,557 (1,287) | Brunt 4', Fortune 54', Koren 67' |
| 27 January 2009 | Manchester United | The Hawthorns | 0–5 | 26,105 (2,600) | |
| 31 January 2009 | Hull City | KC Stadium | 2–2 | 24,879 (2,500) | Simpson 53', Brunt 73' pen. |
| 7 February 2009 | Newcastle United | The Hawthorns | 2–3 | 25,817 (1,700) | Fortune 4', and 73' |
| 22 February 2009 | Fulham | Craven Cottage | 0–2 | 22,394 | |
| 28 February 2009 | Everton | Goodison Park | 0–2 | 33,898 | |
| 3 March 2009 | Arsenal | The Hawthorns | 1–3 | 26,244 (2,598) | Brunt 7' |
| 16 March 2009 | West Ham United | Boleyn Ground | 0–0 | 30,842 | |
| 21 March 2009 | Bolton Wanderers | The Hawthorns | 1–1 | 25,530 (1,462) | Shittu 82' o.g. |
| 4 April 2009 | Stoke City | The Hawthorns | 0–2 | 26,277 (2,592) | |
| 11 April 2009 | Portsmouth | Fratton Park | 2–2 | 20,376 (1,100) | Greening 48', Brunt 62' |
| 19 April 2009 | Manchester City | City of Manchester Stadium | 2–4 | 40,072 (1,698) | Brunt 37', 54' |
| 25 April 2009 | Sunderland | The Hawthorns | 3–0 | 26,256 (2,597) | Olsson 40', Brunt 58', Menseguez 88' |
| 2 May 2009 | Tottenham Hotspur | White Hart Lane | 0–1 | 35,836 | |
| 9 May 2009 | Wigan Athletic | The Hawthorns | 3–1 | 24,741 (598) | Fortune 8', 73', Brunt 59' |
| 17 May 2009 | Liverpool | The Hawthorns | 0–2 | 26,138 (2,600) | |
| 24 May 2009 | Blackburn Rovers | Ewood Park | 0–0 | 28,389 | |