West Bromwich

Ground: The Hawthorns

Visits: 1

Date: 1st January 2012

Match: West Bromwich - Everton 0-1 (Premier League)

Attendance: 23 038

I was suppose to finish the Premiership grounds on the first day of 2012 but as I failed to get a ticket for Swansea-Tottenham that was not to be the case. Being the only Premiership match on this trip I was still looking forward to my first visit to The Hawthorns. This ground has been the home of West Bromwich Albion since 1900 and today has a capacity of around 26 500. One interesting thing about The Hawthorns is of course the fact it is, at 168 metres above sea level, the highest situated football ground in the English (professional) leagues. From my base in Cheltenham it was quite easy travelling to The Hawthorns. 45 minutes on the train to Birmingham New Street and then a short (6 min.) journey to Smethwick Rolfe Street. I was joined by a West Bromwich fan as I made the 15 minute walk to the ground. He was living in London at the moment and only goes to The Hawthorns a couple of times per season nowdays. As it was a 12.30 kick-off West Bromwich vs Everton was the first football match in England this year and once at the ground I said good bye to the WBA fan before entering the ground at 11.40.

The first half of this match was by far the worst half so far on this trip. Absolutely nothing exciting happened. The home fans around me were not at all happy what they were witnessing. "I´ll take a 0-0 draw if it means I can go home now" was one comment I heard at half-time (He probably should have gone home!) When the second half started West Bromwich had a decent chance but the shot went over the bar. I was certain the match was going to end 0-0 but in the 87th minute Everton actually managed to score. 1-0 to the vistors and the 1 500 away fans to my left finally had something to celebrate. It finished 1-0 to Everton and West Bromwich actually did not have a shot on goal during the match. The home fans around me were almost laughing at their team´s poor performance. As a neutral I could only agree, this was a very poor Premiership match. As I walked back to Smethwick Rolfe Street station I was actually happy I didn´t finish the Premiership with such a boring match. My trip back to Cheltanham went smoothly and hopefully my 62nd ground visit in England (tomorrow at Exeter) will be more memorable than my 61st.

going to the hawthorns