Boing boing! Baggies superfan family ready for promotion
Come on you Baggies! Superfan Alistair Jones, from Sedgley, and his three children Liam, 17, Millie, 14, and Oliver, five, are all hoping to see their beloved team soar straight into the Premier League tonight.
That's if West Bromwich Albion are victorious against rivals Queens Park Rangers.
West Brom will be promoted to the Premier League should they beat QPR at The Hawthorns, or match Brentford's result, down to a draw.
Fulham remain in with a chance to steal the final automatic promotion place, but would require Albion to lose to QPR and Brentford to draw or lose to Barnsley, whilst also beating Wigan themselves.
Alistair, aged 43, has been a Baggies fan since he was a small child, and has had a season ticket at the Hawthorns – in the same seat – for 39 years. He was also named after WBA legend Ally Robertson.
The Jones family are nervously waiting for the milestone game tonight. It comes after heartache for fans on Friday night when a loss against Huddersfield meant promotion looked like it was out of the players' hands. But after Brentford lost against Stoke on Saturday, it seemed the Baggies had been given a second chance.
Alistair said: "I can't imagine they'd get it so wrong again, they can't bottle it for a second time. We have an experienced squad and those players need to stand up and be counted.
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"My head says we'll win a scrappy 1-0, but my heart says we'll get an early goal and win 3-0 and Chris Brunt comes on and scores.
"The dynamic has really changed without the fans though. I just really don't want the players to freeze."
WBA captain Chris Brunt is due to leave the club at the end of the season, after being with the Baggies for 13 years – a "lifetime" in the football world.
Alistair –along with many other fans – think a promotion would be the "perfect way" to end his era at the club.
The father-of-three added he had been invited to the pub to watch the game, but felt too "nervous" to go.
"Not because of the virus though," he laughed. "Because of the match, completely.
"This has been the most enjoyable season I think in the last 15 years. It's a different dynamic in the Championship as you're winning most weeks, it's different enjoyment.
"We'd need reinforcements going into the Premier League, as I don't think it's as good as it was. I wouldn't want us to do a scattergun approach, like others have down the road."
Alistair, a sales manager, has only missed 10 home games in the last 39 years and said his three children were all in West Brom babygrows as soon as they were born.
"West Brom is my passion," he added. "You don't get more passionate than me. I love it."
West Brom play QPR tonight at 7.30pm.
