How West Brom became embroiled in a match fixing scandal that ended in police sting and jail term

And in terms of throwing games and match fixing, it may be a thing in smaller countries but in the UK and English football, it is non existent.

But there was a time when that wasn't the case - and West Brom were at the centre of a huge police sting that eventually led to a jail term.

It was way back in 1913, when West Brom and England star Jesse Pennington was involved in a bribery scandal to throw a match against Everton, a story which at the time rocked English football.

The fixture was scheduled to take place in December 1913, and at the time Albion were riding high in the Old First Division.

They were red-hot favourites to beat struggling Everton, who ultimately found themselves in a battle to beat the drop at the end of the season.

But career criminal Pascoe Bioletti, whose son William was the head of a football betting business in Geneva at the time, had other ideas.

Bioletti, who also used the names Frederick Pater and Samuel Johnstone, approached Albion captain and England fullback Pennington, and offered him a total of £55 – or £5 for each player – if he could fix the match.

Pennington agreed to the bribe, but made a smart love.

Instead of stashing the cash, he would inform the club chairman, Billy Bassett about the approach. Together, they set a trap to catch Bioletti.

When he first approached Pennington at his shop in Smethwick – the player had asked Bioletti to put the agreement in writing.

Surprisingly, the criminal agreed. The contract, written on the headed notepaper for Pennington's shop read: "I, Sam Johnstone, agree to present to Mr Jesse Pennington £55 on the termination of the match played at West Bromwich on November 29th, 1913, if the result is a draw or loss."

The full back took the agreement to Bassett, who himself was a former England international, and they then informed the police.

Without any hint of match fixing on Pennington's part, Everton came away with a draw and at the end of the game the player approached Bioletti for his money.

While police officers were watching on, he handed over a bag of gold containing £55, which equates to around £5,500 in today's money.

He even asked Pennington to count the coins, before the police stepped in.

Mr J S Sharpe, acting for the prosecution, told Smethwick Police Court: "There is very little doubt that the defendant is the agent for a very big betting association which issues football coupons, and they have a desire through him or their agents, to actually control the play of various clubs in the district."

Bioletti refused to reveal his real name to the court and insisted on being called Frederick Pater throughout.

He was eventually jailed for five months, plus another six months for attempting to bribe Birmingham City's Frank Womack.

The fiasco involving Albion wasn't the only big betting scandal to rock football in those days. In 1915, a match fixing scandal took place involving Manchester United and Liverpool.

Players from both teams conspired to arrange a 2-0 a win for United, allowing conspirators to profit from bets.

It result in a lifetime banishments of seven players, and damaged the reputation of both clubs during that period.