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 COOPER'S HILL / DARTMOUTH PARK 1879 - 81
First Confirmed Game:
13th December 1879 vs Black Lake Victoria, won
1-0 (Friendly at Dartmouth Park) In the club's earliest days pitches at Cooper's Hill and Dartmouth Park were used. Cooper's Hill was a patch of open land situated between Walsall Street and Beeches Road, near to West Bromwich town centre. The site today is occupied by St. Phillip's Church.
St Phillip's Church 2005 The club's regular pitch in Dartmouth Park was near to the main entrance in New Street although sometimes a pitch at the Herbert Street end of Dartmouth Park was used. During the club's very earliest kickabouts the 'goalposts' consisted purely of various items of clothing provided by the players. The Herbert Street site disappeared in the early 1970's with the construction of the West Bromwich Expressway.
Dartmouth Park 2005 Albion's first confirmed home game took place at Dartmouth Park in December 1879. A crowd of around 500 saw Albion beat another West Bromwich team, Black Lake Victoria. Harry Aston is said to have scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory for the newly formed club. Both Dartmouth Park and Cooper's Hill were said to be capable of accommodating just over 1000 spectators who would stand around the touchlines. The club used the nearby Globe Inn public house as changing rooms.
The Globe Inn 2005 In 1979 as part of the club's centenary celebrations a team of current and former Albion players took on a celebrity press eleven at Dartmouth Park. Baggies' legends Ronnie Allen, Ray Barlow, Tony Brown and Derek Kevan all appeared for the Albion X1.
Albion X1, Centenary Celebrations, Dartmouth
Park 1979 |
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