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      CURRENT SEASON : MATCHDAY GUIDE - HOT OFF THE PRESS

'ALBION NEWS’

At time of writing, the only Albion related reading material regularly published is the official matchday programme - ‘Albion News’. It can be found on sale on matchdays inside and outside the stadium.

A review of the 2013/14 edition will appear here soon.

THE LOCAL ‘RAGS’

On matchdays you will usually see vendors around the outside of the stadium selling one of the local newspapers - the Express and Star. The edition on sale will usually be the day’s normal edition with a special outer page featuring extra Albion coverage. Quite often, some sort of free gift, such as a poster or sticker, is included too.

The larger Saturday edition costs 60p whilst the normal Monday - Friday  editions cost 45p. The paper is one of the best regional papers in the country. It’s local and international news and sport coverage is second to none. There are a number of editions printed covering different local areas including Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell - the edition to be found in West Bromwich.

Also to be found in local newsagents is the Birmingham Mail - formerly the Birmingham Evening Mail. Depending on where you buy it you’ll pick up either a Birmingham or Black Country edition. Again it’s a very good read but for a lot of Black Country folk it’s generally inferior to the Express and Star. At time of writing it costs 50p.

THE 'PINKS'

For many years there were two local Saturday night ‘Pinks’ - the Sports Argus and the Sporting Star. The 'Argus' came to an end in early 2006, ending its 109 year run, whilst the 'Star' ceased at the end of the 2008/09 season after 90 years of publication. For a long time the 'Argus' was undoubtedly the Midlands’ premier sports paper, indeed at one time it had the highest circulation of such a paper in the country.

The 'Argus' was essential Saturday evening reading for football fans throughout the West Midlands with newsagents quite often experiencing queues waiting for their delivery of issues which normally took place around 6 o'clock. A combination of the internet and the move away from the usual Saturday afternoon kick-off time signalled the start of the paper's declining sales and eventually it's closure.

The Sports Argus tended to be more Birmingham focused, giving more coverage to Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Albion whilst the ‘Star’ concentrated more on Wolverhampton Wanderers, Albion and Walsall, thus mirroring the parent papers - the Birmingham Mail and the Express and Star.

Both papers carried extensive match and news coverage of Albion, Wolves, Villa, Birmingham City and Walsall, as well as providing in depth non-league and junior football news and results. A few pages were also devoted to other sports, generally horse racing and boxing.

The Sports Argus does live on in name - a much smaller (and inferior) edition is printed and included as a supplement in its parent paper the Birmingham Mail twice weekly.

'
UNOFFICIALLY

With Albion fans being amongst the innovators of unofficial publications, it is surprising and somewhat sad that there are no longer any such publications produced and issued.

September 2006 saw the end of the club’s last unofficial publication - The Baggies Newspaper, whilst the club’s last fanzine - The Grorty Dick, came to an end in May 2005.

Information correct as of July 2013

 

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