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West Brom are flying high this season, but you can guarantee fans haven’t seen anything like the atmosphere that got Chris Brunt excited many years ago.
Since Tony Mowbray took over at The Hawthorns, we have seen West Brom maintain a strong level of consistency and they’re now one of the top teams in the play-off race this season.
With eight games to go, it’s widely expected that the Baggies will fight it out for promotion in the play-offs, and they’ll be desperate to get the club back to the Premier League.
That’s something Brunt knows all about from his time with West Brom, and it left him with some incredible memories for years to come.
Chris Brunt loved atmosphere at The Hawthorns in win over Spurs
In an in-depth interview with Will Burford, Brunt was asked about his fondest memories in a Baggies shirt, and he picked out a massive 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur from 2018 as producing the best atmosphere he’s felt anywhere throughout his career.
He said: “I remember speaking about that at the time. I think that’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced anywhere in football there at The Hawthorns. That day was unbelievable, when everything is against you and then you win the game.
“I think we sort of got a good thing going again there, after Darren Moore took over; we got a few good results in the backend of the season. That was an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s just a shame that things were out of our hands at that stage.”
Unfortunately for West Brom, that win wasn’t enough to keep the club in the top division, and they dropped down to the Championship that season.
Since then, there have been issues with the atmosphere at the stadium, with many complaining The Hawthorns has lost its buzz. The introduction of safe standing next season should go a long way to fixing that.
West Brom have perfect manager to guide them to the Premier League, and stay there
It’s incredibly tight in the fight for the top six right now, with West Brom only in the play-off places on goal difference at the moment.
Bristol City are looking good and will certainly chase down the teams above them until the final day, but in Tony Mowbray, West Brom have a manager who simply knows how to get the job done.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 38 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 52 | 11 | 41 | 78 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 37 | 18 | 69 |
| 5 |  CoventryCoventry | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 55 | 48 | 7 | 59 |
| 6 |  West BromWest Brom | 38 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 48 | 34 | 14 | 57 |
| 7 |  Bristol CityBristol City | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 49 | 41 | 8 | 57 |
| 8 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 48 | 9 | 54 |
Players say Mowbray has brought ‘normality’ back to the club, and he’s also got West Brom playing more attacking football than before, too. And yet, the Baggies have maintained the resilience and solid defensive structure they had before, which is a winning formula if we’ve ever seen one.
Getting to the Premier League will be difficult regardless, but Mowbray might just do it this season. And if he does, we’re sure plenty of neutrals would be rooting for him to keep West Brom there and succeed in the top flight.
He’s a great man-manager, an astute tactician, and one football’s nice guys. If anyone deserves the success, it’s Mowbray.