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.
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic v West Bromwich Albion,
FA Cup Third Round, Dean Court, Saturday 8th January 1955
With Albion this month travelling to the south
coast to take on Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup, our featured programme for
October comes from the first competitive meeting between the two clubs back in
1955.
The Baggies travelled to Dean Court for a third
round FA Cup tie and went into the game as cup holders, the club lifting the
trophy for a fourth time eight months earlier.
After topping the First Division table at the
beginning of October, Albion's form had dipped and Vic Buckingham's men went
into the game with just one win from their last six games. Bournemouth meanwhile
were sitting mid-table in the Third Division South.
The Baggies, who fielded eight of the side that had
lifted the cup the previous year, struggled to break down a determined home side
and it wasn't until the 60th minute that the visitors finally made a
breakthrough, George Lee and Ronnie Allen combining to set up Stuart Williams
who fired into the net from 12 yards.
The remainder of the match saw both sides have
chances but there were to be no more goals, Albion had progressed but it had
been anything but comfortable. After the game the general consensus was that the
Cherries had merited a replay at least but it was not to be.
The cup holders would lose their grip on the trophy
in the next round, suffering a 4-2 defeat at home to Charlton Athletic. It was
not a good season for Albion, especially considering the previous campaign had
seen the club go so close to completing the elusive league and FA Cup double.
The Baggies would finish the season in a disappointing 17th place - their lowest
top-flight placing since the club suffered relegation in 1938.
The line-ups for the Dean Court clash were:
Albion: Jim Sanders, Stan Rickaby, Len Millard,
Jimmy Dudley, Jimmy Dugdale, Ray Barlow, Grenville Jones, Stuart Williams,
Ronnie Allen, Johnny Nicholls, George Lee.
Bournemouth & Boscombe: Tommy Godwin, Laurie
Cunningham, Ian Drummond, Peter Rushworth, Johnny Crosland, Joe Brown, Alistair
Gunn, Brian Siddall, Ralph Hunt, Stan Newsham, Peter Harrison.
Attendance: 22,794
The programme is something of a rarity these days,
copies selling for anything over £10 when they do appear.
View the complete programme here
|