FOUR ACRES
1882-85

First Game: 7th October 1882 vs Stourbridge Standard, won 10-0 (Friendly)
Last Game: 6th April 1885 vs Wednesbury Old Athletic, won 3-2 (Friendly)
Biggest Recorded Victory: 26-0 vs Coseley, 11th November 1882 (Birmingham Cup round 1)
Biggest Recorded Defeat: 1-5 vs Stoke, 20th October 1883 (Friendly)
Highest Crowd: 16,393 vs Blackburn Rovers, 21st February 1885 (FA Cup Quarter Final)
Lowest Recorded Crowd: 600 vs Cocknage, 3rd December 1883 (Staffordshire Cup round 1)

Modern day location of ground

In September 1882 the club moved from Bunn's Field to the nearby Four Acres, located in Seagar Street. The ground, which had been the home of West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club since 1834, had been dedicated to the local people by William, Fourth Earl of Dartmouth and was a venue for not only football and cricket but also athletics.

Dartmouth, who before Albion were also the leading football club in West Bromwich, had decided to concentrate solely on cricket, mainly because of Albion's newly found dominance of local football. Therefore, Dartmouth offered Albion the chance to rent the ground off them and the first tenancy agreement was signed in September 1882.

The move was initially agreed for only a year but Albion later agreed to lease the ground for a further two at a cost of £15 per year, the club also having to fund the building of a new ticket office and pavilion.

ORDNANCE SURVEY MAP OF 1902 SHOWING THE FOUR ACRES

In the club's opening fixture at the ground Albion beat Stourbridge Standard 10-0 in a friendly, Billy Bisseker scoring six of the goals.

Albion entered the FA Cup for the first time whilst at the ground, the club's first ever tie in the competition being played against Wednesbury Town at the Four Acres on November 10, 1883. The game ended in a 2-0 defeat for Albion in front of a crowd of 5,129.

The 1883/84 season saw Albion issue a season ticket for the first time, at a cost of three shillings (about £7.25 in today's money). Official club records reveal that just a dozen were issued. The normal matchday admission price for games at the Four Acres during the season was 6 pennies (about £1.20 today).

The biggest game to ever take place at the ground was a FA Cup tie against the then cup holders Blackburn Rovers on 21st February 1885. A record crowd of 16,393 watched Rovers defeat Albion 2-0.

During Albion's time at the Four Acres the club lifted it's first silverware, beating Stoke 3-2 at the Victoria Ground in the final of the Staffordshire Cup. The club's all time record victory was also achieved at the ground when in November 1882 Albion beat Coseley 26-0 in a Birmingham Cup match.

The final game at the Four Acres took place on April 6, 1885 when Albion beat Wednesbury Old Athletic 3-2 in a friendly, watched by a crowd of around 3,500. In total, Albion played 61 games at the ground winning 48 and losing only 7.

Park Crescent - 2005

With the club limited to playing games only outside the cricket season and with matches only being allowed on Saturdays and Mondays, Albion stayed at the Four Acres for just three years before moving to a new site in nearby Stoney Lane.

The site of Four Acres is now Park Crescent, located off Seagar Street.