A talented new squad started to develop, marked by the arrival of Ronnie Allen in 1950, scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. on his home debut in front of a crowd of 60,945. However, the board were frustrated by the lack of trophies and Smith was dismissed in 1952. Radically, Smith was replaced by Juventus F.C. coach Jesse Carver who introduced football into training. Though Carver was soon to be seduced back to Italy by S.S. Lazio, (although domestic household pressures were a paramount factor) his eight months in charge were a defining moment for the club. His replacement, Vic Buckingham, recruited from the amateur leagues, inherited an intelligent, well-co-ordinated team, playing a flowing style of attacking football that he was to build upon.
In 1953–54 Albion had their most successful ever season, coming agonisingly close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double. They topped the league for most of the season but a loss of form towards the end of the season meant that they finished as runners-up to fierce rivals Wolves in the league. Albion did however win the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3-2 in the final. After beating Chelsea and Rotherham they faced Newcastle United in Round 5, winning 3-2 in front of 61,088 fans crammed into the Hawthorns - over 20,000 more were locked out. Spurs were beaten in the quarter-final and then Albion edged past Staffordshire rivals Port Vale at Villa Park in the semi-finals. Albion had become known for their brand of fluent, attacking football, with the 1953–54 side being hailed as "The Team of the Century". One national newspaper went so far as to suggest that the team be chosen en masse to represent England at the 1954 World Cup finals. Later in 1954 Albion played in 'Le Soir Festival de Football', losing 5-3 to Hungarian side Honved in Brussels. Ronnie Allen was the leading Division One goalscorer for 1954–55, scoring 27 league goals.However, in the next few years some disappointing league positions followed. In 1957 Albion reached the cup semi-finals but lost out to arch-rivals Aston Villa. That year they also became the first British professional team to win a game in the Soviet Union, at that time firmly under the Iron Curtain. They played three games, drawing against FC Zenit in Leningrad (Russia) and beating Dynamo Tbilisi (Georgia) and the Soviet Army side, CSKA Moscow (Russia). The Soviets were invited back to England in October and Albion beat the Soviet Central Army 6-5 in front of 53,805 fans. The 1950s also saw the arrival of players Don Howe, Derek Kevan and Bobby Robson.
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In the season 1957-58, Allen, Kevan and Robson scored 78 goals between them. Despite never matching their achievements of 1953–54, Albion remained one of the top English sides for the remainder of the decade, achieving three consecutive top five finishes in Division One between 1957–58 and 1959–60.
The 2010–11 season was West Bromwich Albion's fifth season in the Premier League. Albion return to the Premier League after being promoted from the Championship. West Bromwich Albion confirmed their promotion back to the Premier League on 10 April 2010 after a 3–2 win over Doncaster Rovers, and retained their new top-flight status, finishing 11th.West Bromwich Albion Premier League Tickets are available at FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com at affordable price. Football fans can buy or sell Football Tickets especially West Bromwich Albion Premiership Football Tickets at FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com conveniently.
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