"A massive shame" - West Brom: Hawthorns atmosphere issue raised | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has identified what changes need to be made to the club's stadium

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

The Hawthorns has been the home of West Brom since 1900 and has a capacity of around 26,000.

The Baggies have enjoyed many highs and lows in their home ground, having spent almost all of their history with this as their home.

Supporters will be hoping that they can experience a high this year with the team competing for promotion to the Premier League.

But West Brom’s stadium also hasn’t been renovated or changed in anyway for quite some time, with the most recent work being completed in 2001.

West Brom atmosphere criticism made

When asked what change he’d make to the Hawthorns, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit Callum Burgess claimed he’d like to see the atmosphere improve.

He criticised supporters for leaving games early, suggesting that they fall down when compared to other fans in the division.

“The atmosphere at Albion’s stadium, the Hawthorns, needs to improve” Burgess told Football League World.

“For quite a long time there’s been a problem with fans not staying the full match, where on TV and various other Championship games you see a lot of the majority of supporters staying until the final minute, pushing the team on to get a last minute goal or equaliser.

“Whereas at Albion, supporters tend to start making their way out of the stadium in the 80th minute, sometimes even earlier in order to beat the traffic.

“It’s a massive shame when a team is in a massive promotion push, aiming for a play-off place when the fans don’t really tend to stick around and help them get over the line.

“Quite often on TV you’ll notice on the lower parts of the stadium start to emerge in patterns all around the ground.

“You’d imagine as players, you’d probably be disappointed with the atmosphere in general this season because it has been quite lacklustre.

“Sometimes you’d say earlier in the season that it would be because Corberan’s football wasn’t exciting enough, so it’s hard to get behind.

“But even when Tony Mowbray was brought back, who was popular amongst the fanbase in his previous spell at the club, that’s not made much of an improvement on the atmosphere, so that’s one of the things I would change.”

West Brom are currently sixth in the Championship table, level on points with seventh place Bristol City but ahead due to a superior goal difference.

Ownership can find ways to address atmosphere issues

The new owners have yet to lay out any concrete plans for the Hawthorns, but finding ways to address the atmosphere is something they can do without major investment in infrastructure.

Making it easier for people to get in and out of the ground could alleviate any concerns around traffic that is causing people to leave early.

Investing in the team and garnering excitement for Mowbray’s side on the pitch could also drive better attendances.