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This fans' list was compiled 16 years ago. A good time to revisit it?
I suppose we fans are influenced by contemporary players. Though I have no quibble with most, I have to question the inclusion of Russell Hoult. Good player, but, come on!
There was a list at, I think, the turn of the century which included Koumas! Same reservation for me.
Any road, here it is..
Here is the squad of players chosen by YOU, the fans:
RONNIE ALLEN
Born: Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, January 1929
Died: Great Wyrley, June 2001
Centre-forward
West Bromwich Albion March 1950 to May 1961
Football League: 415 appearances, 208 goals
FA Cup: 42 appearances, 23 goals
Others: 1 appearance, 3 goals
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1953/54
Won a League Championship runners-up medal in 1953/54
England: 5 appearances, 2 goals
The complete footballer. The Puskas-like forward who helped Albion emulate the inspirational football of the great Hungarian side of the 1950s. Two great feet, played all along the forward line, reinvented the role of the centre-forward by dropping deep, a footballing intellect which won him five England caps. Scored twice in the 1954 FA Cup Final win. A visionary and a true giant of the club. Allen joined Albion from Port Vale in March 1950 and left for Crystal Palace in May 1961. Subsequently, he returned to act as scouting advisor from January to May 1977 then as manager from June 1977 to December 1977 before leaving to act as advisor to the Saudi Arabian national team. He returned as manager between July 1981and May 1982 and was general manager thereafter until June 1983, later acting as coach and scout at the club.
THE KING...Jeff Astle
JEFF ASTLE
Born: Eastwood, Nottingham, May 1942
Died: Burton-on-Trent, January 2002
Centre-forward
West Bromwich Albion September 1964 to May 1974
Football League: 290+2 appearances, 137 goals
FA Cup: 23 appearances, 14 goals
Football League Cup: 28 appearances, 19 goals
Others: 18 appearances, 4 goals
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1967/68
Won a Football League Cup winner's medal in 1965/66
Won two Football League Cup runners-up medals in 1966/67 and 1969/70
England: 5 appearances
'The King', simple as that. Albion's number nine in perpetuity as the Astle Gates now make clear. A thunderous header of the ball, supreme leader of the line, and the legendary scorer of the winner in the 1968 FA Cup Final. Only won five England caps. Astle joined Albion from NottsCounty and eventually left the club to finish his career in non-league football, playing for DunstableTown, Weymouth and Hillingdon Borough.
RAY BARLOW
Born: Swindon, August 1926
Left-half
West Bromwich Albion June 1944 to June 1960
Football League: 403 appearances, 31 goals
FA Cup: 46 appearances, 5 goals
Others: 33 appearances, 12 goals
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1953/54
Won a First Division Championship runners-up medal in 1953/54
Won a Second Division runners-up medal in 1948/49
England: 1 appearance
Perhaps Albion's most gifted ever player, Barlow was a supreme footballer with every attribute in the book, making him the perfect midfielder at left-half. Supreme positional sense, able to pass over distance or keep it simple, he was the heartbeat of arguably Albion's finest ever team in 1953/54, though he was criminally restricted to just one England cap. Barlow left Albion to play for Birmingham City in June 1960.
BILLY BASSETT
Born: West Bromwich, January 1869
Died: West Bromwich, April 1937
Outside right / inside right
West Bromwich Albion August 1886 to April 1899
Football League: 261 appearances, 6 goals
FA Cup: 40 appearances, 11 goals
Others: 10 appearances, 5 goals
Won two FA Cup winner's medals in 1887/88 and 1891/92.
Won an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1894/95
England: 16 appearances, 7 goals
Virtually the founder of what we know today as West Bromwich Albion, Bassett was a flying outside-right who scored goals, won two FA Cup winner's medals, played 16 times for England, and then went on to become an Albion director and chairman, completing 50 years' service with the club. Following his retirement as a player, Bassett served as a club director from March 1905, and was Chairman from September 1908 until his death.
BOMBER...Tony Brown
TONY BROWN
Born: Oldham, October 1945
Wing-half / inside-forward
West Bromwich Albion April 1961 to October 1981
Football League: 561+13 appearances, 218 goals
FA Cup: 53+1 appearances, 27 goals
Football League Cup: 46+1 appearances, 17 goals
Others: 44+1 appearances, 17 goals
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1967/68
Won a Football League Cup winner's medal in 1965/66
Won two Football League Cup runners-up medals in 1966/67 and 1969/70
Won promotion from Division Two in 1975/76
England: 1 appearance
Mr. Albion. Ron Atkinson reckons he should have his own statue in West Bromwich, which seems fair enough. Just one England cap, but League Cup and FA Cup honours and the undying gratitude of every Albion fan for his contribution to the club. Brown left Albion for Torquay United but returned to The Hawthorns as a coach under Johnny Giles from 1984 to 1986. He holds the record for most appearances and most goals for Albion, and is the record appearance holder and record goalscorer for the club in the League, FA Cup and European competition.
LAURIE CUNNINGHAM
Born: Archway, London, March 1956
Died: Madrid, July 1989
Winger
West Bromwich Albion March 1977 to June 1979
Football League: 81+5 appearances, 21 goals
FA Cup: 7+3 appearances, 3 goals
Football League Cup: 6 appearances
Others: 12 appearances, 6 goals
England: 3 appearances (career total 6 appearances)
Pace, grace, speed, style, trickery, ball control, balance, Cunningham was a natural born footballer. The first of the 'Three Degrees' to arrive at the Albion, he was the first black player to play for England Under-21s and by the time of his move to Real Madrid, the first Englishman to go there - 24 years before Beckham. Cunningham joined Albion from Orient and left for Real Madrid for just under £1million two years later. After playing at Real, he returned to England and won an FA Cup winner's medal with Wimbledon in 1988. He died in a car crash near Madrid a year later.
SAFE HANDS...Russell Hoult
RUSSELL HOULT
Born: Ashby-de-la-Zouch, November 1972
Goalkeeper
West Bromwich Albion January 2001 to date
Football League / Premier League: 139 appearances
FA Cup: 7 appearances
Football League Cup: 8 appearances
Others: 2 appearances
Another record breaker, registering a phenomenal 27 clean sheets in the promotion-winning campaign of 2001/2, Hoult is acclaimed as 'England's No.1' by Albion supporters. Utterly dependable.
DON HOWE
Born: Wolverhampton, October 1935
Right-back
West Bromwich Albion December 1950 to April 1964
Football League: 342 appearances, 17 goals
FA Cup: 37 appearances, 2 goals
England: 23 appearances
Another top class right-back, Howe represented Albion and England with great distinction, collecting 23 England caps and playing in the 1958 World Cup. An astute reader of the game, he was one of the first attacking full-backs and would make a brilliant wing-back in the modern game. Howe left Albion for Arsenal in April 1964, later becoming coach of the team that won the double in 1970/71. He took over as Albion manager in July 1971 but the club was relegated in the 1972/73 season, Howe leaving his job in April 1975. He subsequently coached Galatasaray, Leeds, Arsenal and Wimbledon among others, and was England's chief coach during Bobby Robson's tenure as manager of the national side.
WILLIE JOHNSTON
Born: Maryhill, Glasgow, December 1946
Outside-left
West Bromwich Albion December 1972 to March 1979
Football League: 203+4 appearances, 18 goals
FA Cup: 24+2 appearances, 6 goals
Football League Cup: 15 appearances, 2 goals
Others: 12+1 appearances, 2 goals
Won promotion to Division One in 1975/76
Scotland: 13 appearances (career total 22 appearances)
The biggest crowd pleaser of the last 30 years or more, left winger Willie had more tricks up his sleeve than Paul Daniels. Close control, lightning acceleration, rapport with the crowd and an endearing habit of taking the mickey out of referees, nobody has ever entertained more people at The Hawthorns than the great Willie who won 13 Scottish caps with Albion. Johnston joined Albion from Rangers for £135,000, then a club record buy, and left for Vancouver Whitecaps in the wake of being sent home from the World Cup in 1978. On retirement, he initially stayed in the game, coaching at Hearts, East Fife, Raith Rovers and Falkirk.
JOHN OSBORNE
Born: Barlborough, Derbyshire, December 1940
Died: November 1999
Goalkeeper
West Bromwich Albion January 1967 to June 1972; January 1973 to July 1978.
Football League: 250 appearances
FA Cup: 24 appearances
Football League Cup: 16 appearances
Others: 22 appearances
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1967/68
Won a Football League Cup runners-up medal in 1969/70
Won promotion from Division Two in 1975/76
Albion's 'bionic' goalkeeper, Ossie was a martyr to injury and had a plastic strip in one of his fingers. A crowd favourite, he won the FA Cup with Albion in 1968 and was the leader of the club's team on the BBC's Quiz Ball show where he was a natural. As a youngster he represented England schoolboys as a wing-half. Osborne joined Albion from Chesterfield, retiring in June 1972 before returning to the club six months later. He finally left the club to join Johnny Giles at Shamrock Rovers in 1978.
JESSE PENNINGTON
Born: West Bromwich, August 1883
Died: Kidderminster, September 1970
Left-back
West Bromwich Albion March 1903 to May 1922
Football League: 455 appearances
FA Cup: 39 appearances
Others: 2 appearances
Won a League Championship winner's medal in 1919/20
Won a Second Division Championship winner's medal in 1910/11
Won an FA Cup runner's up medal in 1911/12
England: 25 appearances
An all-time legend, Pennington was an elegant left-back and a peerless captain of the club. An automatic choice for 19 years, his career was interrupted by World War One, but that didn't stop him captaining the club to their only League title, as well as playing in the Division Two winning team of 1910/11 and the losing FA Cup side in 1912. Played for England 25 times, captaining the side on occasion. Pennington returned to act as a scout for Albion from 1950 to 1960 and was made a life member of the club in 1969.
POWERHOUSE...Cyrille Regis
CYRILLE REGIS
Born: Maripiasoula, French Guyana, February 1958
Centre-forward
West Bromwich Albion May 1977 to October 1984
Football League: 233+4 appearances, 82 goals
FA Cup: 25 appearances, 10 goals
Football League Cup: 27+1 appearances, 16 goals
Others: 12 appearances, 4 goals
England: 4 appearances (career total 5 appearances)
The closest we've come to filling Jeff's boots, Regis was an astonishing, explosive athlete, built like Joe Frazier, ran like Linford Christie, scored goals like 'Roy of the Rovers'. Cyrille is the man. Regis joined Albion from non-league Hayes and left for Coventry City seven years later where he won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1987. He returned to Albion as a coach in 1997 but left the club at the end of the 1999/2000 season.
W G RICHARDSON
Born: Framwellgate Moor, CountyDurham, May 1909
Died: Birmingham, March 1959
Centre-forward
West Bromwich Albion June 1929 to November 1945
Football League: 320 appearances, 202 goals
FA Cup: 34 appearances, 26 goals
Others: 90 appearances, 100 goals
Won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1930/31
Won an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1934/35
Won a Second Division runners-up medal in 1930/31
England: 1 appearance
A true Albion legend. The firepower behind 1931's glorious double - scoring both goals in the FA Cup Final win over Blues and the winner in the promotion clincher the following week - and an Albion stalwart right through the war. First to 200 league goals (202 in total), scored ten hat-tricks, four goals four times, won one England cap. After retiring as a player, WG Richardson was Albion's assistant-trainer-coach from June 1946 until his death in March 1959. He is the club's record goalscorer in all games, though 100 of these came in wartime fixtures.
BRYAN ROBSON
Born: Witton Gilbert, CountyDurham, January 1957
Central midfielder
West Bromwich Albion September 1972 to October 1981
Football League: 194+4 appearances, 39 goals
FA Cup: 10+2 appearances, 2 goals
Football League Cup: 17+1 appearances, 2 goals
Others: 14 appearances, 3 goals
England: 13 appearances (career total 90 appearances, 26 goals)
An Albion legend who could just as easily play at centre-half as centre midfield, Robson had everything. He could tackle, pass, score goals and should have been an England regular without having to leave for Manchester United to achieve it. And all this despite breaking his leg three times at the start of his Albion career. Robson left Albion for Manchester United for a then-record fee of £1.5million. At Old Trafford, he won a clean sweep of the domestic honours as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup and captained England on a regular basis. After retiring as a player, he has managed Middlesbrough and Bradford City.
DEREK STATHAM
Born: Wolverhampton, March 1959
Left-back
West Bromwich Albion July 1975 to August 1987
Football League: 298+1 appearances, 8 goals
FA Cup: 26 appearances, 2 goals
Football League Cup: 34 appearances, 1 goal
Others: 14 appearances
England: 3 appearances
Supremely gifted and athletic full-back, Statham was as good going forward as he was defending, ghosting past players in his own penalty area and the opposition's. Won three England caps, should have had 70 more, there hasn't been a left-back like him anywhere since. Statham left Albion to join Southampton after an earlier move to Liverpool had fallen through. He later played for Walsall and StokeCity.
JOHN WILE
Born: Sherburn, CountyDurham, March 1947
Centre-half
West Bromwich Albion December 1970 to June 1983
Football League: 499+1 appearances, 24 goals
FA Cup: 42 appearances, 2 goals
Football League Cup: 42 appearances, 2 goals
Others: 35 appearances, 1 goal
Won promotion to Division One in 1975/76
Albion's skipper throughout the glorious Atkinson era and beyond, Wile formed an almost impenetrable centre-half pairing with Ally Robertson. Unlucky never to win an England cap, his most famous moment came when he played with blood pouring from a head wound in the 1978 FA Cup semi-final. John Wile joined Albion from Peterborough United and left for the same club to take charge as its player-manager. He returned to the club as chief executive from the late 1990s until 2002.
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