Current Capacity: 5,816
Current Stand Opened: 3rd September 1994 vs Kilmarnock, Friendly
Stand Replaced: Smethwick End Terrace

The current Smethwick End Stand was built at a combined cost with the Birmingham Road End Stand of £4.6 million. Walsall based Kendrick Construction Group the company responsible for both structures.

The terracing it replaced was used for the last time against Luton Town in a League Division One game on January 1, 1994, although a small part of the terrace, in between the old Rainbow Stand and new Smethwick End Stand was kept and used to house away supporters up to and including the Coventry City FA Cup game on 18 January 1995.

The stand was opened on September 3, 1994 for a friendly game against Scottish side Kilmarnock. 

The stand incorporates the stadium control centre and has a capacity of 5,816. Away Supporters are allocated approximately 3000 tickets in the stand although at times in the past the entire end has been given over to visiting supporters.

For a time in the mid to late nineties the stand was sponsored by local bus company Travel West Midlands and was therefore known as the Travel West Midlands Community Stand.

In recent seasons the Smethwick End has become the home supporters' most vocal section of the ground.


TIMELINE

1906 A new stand is constructed at the Smethwick End.

1924 A new block of turnstiles are built at the Smethwick End / Halfords Lane corner.

1932 A new scoreboard is installed at the corner of the Handsworth Stand / Smethwick End. The old one had stood at the back of  the Birmingham Road End terrace.

1934 A new stand is built at the Smethwick End / Halfords Lane corner which increases the capacity of the ground by an extra 750 seats.

1951 Eight new turnstiles are opened at the Smethwick End.

1977 New crush barriers are erected and the terraces are reconstructed at the Smethwick and Birmingham Road ends of the ground.

1983 An electronic scoreboard is added onto the front of the Smethwick End roof.

1992 The Smethwick End roof is removed.

1994 The Smethwick End terrace is used for the very last time in a League Division One game against Luton Town on New Year's Day.

Work starts on turning The Hawthorns into an all-seater stadium, the new Smethwick End Stand is completed first in September followed by the new Birmingham Road End Stand in December.

1995 The last remaining section of terracing, located in the Rainbow Stand / Smethwick End corner,  is used at the ground for the last ever time for the FA Cup tie with Coventry City on January 18.

2009 All seats in the stand are replaced to match the colour of the seats in the East and West stands. The work means an end for the distinctive 'Albion' logo that had been in place since the stand was built.

The Smethwick End Gallery can be found here