West Brom working to launch new fan board

Progress on launching the new group, which will feature nine members, has been taking place behind the scenes at The Hawthorns, with an update given at the most recent Albion Assembly meeting at the end of last month.

A Fan Advisory Board (FAB) is designed to increase communication and ideas between clubs and their supporters. They are commonplace across English football.

The general purpose of FABs around the country is to consult with supporters to create strategic dialogue for off-field matters, which can assist in relation to supporter matters.

An Assembly working group has been in communication with the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) to produce a board constitution and ratify terms of reference.

The group also explained how the board's nine members will be appointed, which is in line with the FSA's guidelines.

Director of communications and fan engagement Ian Skidmore told Assembly members the plan is for the board to launch by the end of 2025. The formal launch of the FAB is set to follow in the coming weeks, with full details to follow.

The Albion Assembly has been in place for a decade after its launch in January 2015. Its aim was to provide supporters with a direct line of communication with the club. 

Directors generally attend with managing director Mark Miles, director of The Albion Foundation Rob Lake and other individuals in senior non-football roles present.

Other matters covered in the April 24 meeting included Albion's Foundation Day, which was held last month during the home fixture against Sunderland, where Albion's successful blind and powerchair teams were on display to show their class and raise funds for the foundation.

Also discussed was the successful hosting of England under-21s' recent friendly against Portugal, in which almost 15,000 supporters attended at The Hawthorns, resulting in non-Wembley record ticket sales.

Albion early bird season ticket sales for 2025/26 were described as "positive". Friday coffee mornings have taken place at the club's ticket office to help assist fans when it comes to moving to digital tickets.

Howard Lewis-Jones, head of matchday operations and facilities, confirmed work to refurbish The Hawthorns this summer had started. The instillation of almost 4,000 safe standing spots in the Smethwick End and Millennium Corner will take place this summer and drilling work has commenced.