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      PROGRAMME OF THE MONTH - MAY 2013

Each month we take a look at an Albion ‘programme from the past’. A number of the programmes will be rarities, allowing a much wider audience to view them, perhaps for the very first time.

Port Vale v West Bromwich Albion, Barclays League Division Two Play-Off Final, Wembley Stadium, Sunday 30th May 1993

May 30, 2013, sees the 20th anniversary of a major turning point in the history of West Bromwich Albion. After years of decline, Ossie Ardiles’ side triumphed over Port Vale at Wembley Stadium to clinch promotion into League Division One. It would be the very start of Albion’s long journey back to top-flight football.

Ardiles would break the hearts of Baggies’ fans by quitting for his beloved Tottenham Hotspur shortly after the Wembley win and it would take another nine years before Albion returned to the top-flight, but no one could deny the contribution the little Argentinian made in turning the Baggies’ fortunes around.

Albion finished the regular season in 4th place on 85 points whilst Vale finished one place above on 89 points. The season had started and ended well for Ardiles’ men but bad spells in October and February would see them miss out on automatic promotion.

The game was Albion’s first visit to Wembley in 25 years and they were backed by a following of over 43,000 fans, which would have been more had Vale allowed the Baggies’ to take their unsold allocation.

It was a fairly even and uneventful game until Vale defender Peter Swan was sent off on 59 minutes for a professional foul on Bob Taylor. It was one way traffic after that, on-loan striker Andy Hunt opened the scoring for the Baggies with further goals from man-of-the-match Nicky Reid and Kevin Donovan giving the scoreline a more emphatic look.

The two teams lined up for the game as follows:

Albion: Tony Lange, Nicky Reid, Steve Lilwall, Darren Bradley, Paul Raven, Gary Strodder, Andy Hunt (Garner), Ian Hamilton, Bob Taylor, Bernard McNally, Ian Hamilton. Subs: Simon Garner, Gary Robson.

Port Vale: Paul Musselwhite, Neil Aspin, Kevin Kent (Billing), Andy Porter, Peter Swan, Dean Glover, Bernie Slaven, Robin van der Laan (Cross), Martin Foyle, Paul Kerr, Ian Taylor. Subs: Nicky Cross, Peter Billing.

The 36 page programme cost £3 to buy on the day and can usually be bought these days for around the same price.

View the complete programme here


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