'We're Premier League!' Baggies fans buzzing after promotion joy
"We're back in the Premier League! We're going up!"
Baggies fans are buzzing to be back amongst the top teams in football – after finishing second in the Championship on Wednesday night and scoring automatic promotion into the Premier League.
Jubilant fans are out in West Bromwich this week sporting their Albion shirts, caps and even coronavirus face masks in celebration.
Kay Cole, age 47, is a steward at the Hawthorns and was working on the night of West Brom's final season game against QPR. She and her daughter, 14-year-old Mia Hillier, said they were both "utterly relieved" to see their team going up.
She said: "We're back in the Premier League! It's an utter relief not to be in the play-offs. We hadn't been the best since we came back after the virus break, we seemed to do everything the hard way.
"It's just massive though. We're going up! It's just amazing for the town, you could see the passion from everyone last night. Everyone wanted to be a part of it."
Kay was outside the stadium when fans started gathering, despite being told to stay away due to Covid-19 fears.
Hundreds of supporters partied late into the evening after Albion's draw with QPR despite pleas from public health bosses for people to stay away after a recent spike of Covid-19 cases in Sandwell.
Infection rates in the borough have been 10 times higher than they were a few weeks ago and a factory in West Bromwich has closed after 49 out of 117 employees tested positive for the disease.
Kay added: "We had expected a few to turn up, but not quite that many. It was definitely more than we expected, and got a bit mental."
Ahead of kick-off, Albion knew they needed to match Brentford's result against Barnsley to secure second place and automatic promotion to the Premier League.
The matches were played at the same time and a dramatic 90 minutes saw the Baggies come back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 before drawing 2-2.
An injury time winner for Barnsley meant Albion would have gone up automatically regardless, with Brentford now in the play-offs alongside Fulham, Cardiff and Swansea.
Rod Westwood, a lifelong Albion fan who lives in the town, said it was a "class" night.
The 53-year-old scaffolder said he watch the game from home, before coming out into town next day sporting a West Brom coronavirus mask.
He said: "It was just class. I'm glad we made it. I think this is going to lift everyone up – it's really come at the right time."
Grandmother Angela Johnston, from Bearwood, said all her children and grandchildren were Baggies fans and she was "so pleased" for them.
The 80-year-old said: "Last Friday night [during the West Brom vs Huddersfield game where the Albion ended up losing 2-1] my grandson kept checking his phone at dinner – and he's not supposed to be looking at his phone while he eats, but you could tell from his face what was happening, and that Albion were losing.
"So he's so happy now. I think this will be good for everyone, it'll cheer everyone up at what is quite a difficult time."
Retired John Shearsby, aged 73, joked he "still had all his 10 fingers" after a nail-biting match.
"It was a bit nerve-wracking. When I heard Brentford had scored and it was 1-1 between them and Barnsley, and we were losing, that's when I started to worry," he said.
"I'm still so happy with a drawer though, when I heard the final result for Brentford I was jumping for joy."
And fellow fan Barshotam Lal, age 53, who owns a ladies fashion stall in West Bromwich high street said he thought it was a "great night".
"It's been upsetting about the virus, so this will give us all a real lift," he said.
