Another new Albion era as Ryan Mason kicks off the new campaign

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·8 agosto 2025

Another new Albion era as Ryan Mason kicks off the new campaign

West Bromwich Albion v Blackburn Rovers; The Hawthorns, Saturday 9th August 2025, 3pm

A new era at the Hawthorns kicks off on Sunday as Ryan Mason takes charge of his first competitive game in charge of the Baggies in what is his first permanent role as a head coach. One of Albion’s former head coaches, Valérien Ismaël, will be in the opposite dug out as Blackburn Rovers will look to continue the positive run of form at the end of last season that saw them leapfrog the Baggies but miss out on the top six by two points.

Mason’s competitive debut will be the first opening weekend fixture at the Hawthorns for five years, and the first with fans in attendance since Bolton Wanderers won 2-1 at the Shrine in 2018 when Harvey Barnes scored a debut goal for the Baggies.

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The former Spurs and England midfielder was appointed as Tony Mowbray’s replacement in early June and it is difficult to know what to expect from him. Pre-season friendlies suggest that he will employ the ubiquitous 4-2-3-1 formation that seems favoured by most coaches at present, and one that we have grown used to in recent years at the Hawthorns, but his two spells in caretaker charge at Tottenham were short enough to offer very little insight into his coaching style. They amounted to just thirteen games, six wins, one draw and six defeats.

Pre-season results are largely irrelevant with experimental teams, squads at different stages of their preparation and constant disruption due to multiple substitutions, but the real deal starts on Saturday. Having said that, the transfer window doesn’t close until four games into the league campaign, so we won’t see the final make up of Mason’s team for a while yet.

So far, only three new faces have joined the senior squad. Defenders Nat Phillips and George Campbell have joined from Liverpool and CF Montréal respectively, while Norwegian striker Aune Heggebø was signed from SK Brann. With yet another injury to Daryl Dike and potential departures for Heggem and/or Fellows to satisfy PSR requirements, it’s safe to say that there will be one or two more through the door before the month is out. In my opinion, we need full back cover, another central midfield option, another striker and replacements if either of our star players leave. Furthermore, with Bartley announcing his retirement on the eve of the season, we’re probably looking for another centre back even without Heggem leaving. If we don’t get them all, we can only hope one or two from the academy can step up.

It will be Ismaël’s first match as an opposing head coach at the Hawthorns and he has had a busy summer. Swedish midfielder Axel Henriksson became Rovers’ sixth signing of the window on Wednesday following defenders Lewis Miller, Ryan Alebiosu and Sean McLoughlin, winger Dion de Neve and midfielder Sidnei Tavares in moving to Ewood Park. A number of players left the club on free transfers after the end of last season, including former Baggie Andi Weimann, while full-back Joe Rankin-Costello moved to Charlton Athletic last month after almost a decade with the club. This week, another full back, Callum Brittain, moved to Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee.

As always at the beginning of the season, there is hope but lots of unknowns. This time last year, Corberán’s team surprised us all with a strong start which ultimately couldn’t be maintained – who knows what Mason might build.

History

As Founder Members of the Football League, Albion and Blackburn have a long history which pre-dates even the first season of league football with the clubs having met three times in the FA Cup before 1888 including in the 1886 final which went to a replay. In the league, however, the clubs have both swapped divisions frequently and Saturday will only be the 125th league meeting between the sides making Rovers Albion’s 15th most frequent league opponent.

While it may not have been a memorable match or, indeed, result for Baggies fans, the first Premier League meeting between the sides was significant in that it was Albion’s first ever televised Monday night game in the Premier League. Having lost their first three games of the season, Megson’s team bounced back by winning three in succession, all 1-0, lifting them to the dizzy heights of 7th in the top flight. After defeat at Anfield when Russell Hoult was sent off, Blackburn Rovers arrived at the Hawthorns for that first ever Monday Night Football encounter on 30th September 2002.

Having won the Premier League in 1995, Rovers were then surprisingly relegated just four years later under former Manchester United coach, Brian Kidd. After a poor start to the following season, he was sacked and replaced by Graeme Souness who guided Rovers back to the Premier League in 2001 as runners up behind Fulham. Given how poorly promoted teams tend to fair these days, it was amazing that Rovers were able to finish 6th in their first season back in the Premier League, securing UEFA Cup football, and also won the League Cup with record signing Andy Cole scoring the winner.

With suspensions not kicking in immediately in those days, Hoult was back in goal to face Graeme Souness’s team. It was a typically resolute performance from Megson’s team and, despite having little possession, the back three of Lárus Sigurðsson, Darren Moore and Phil Gilchrist were largely comfortable. It became increasingly familiar as the season went on that the game was ultimately decided by a debateable refereeing decision. On this occasion, it was Mark Halsey who decided to award a penalty when Damien Duff went down easily under a challenge from Ronnie Wallwork that was probably just outside the box. Hoult could not repeat Joe Murphy’s heroics from the previous week – the Irishman had saved Michael Owen’s penalty at Anfield – as Dwight Yorke converted the spot kick easily. Damien Duff added a second a few minutes later and the points were secured.

It left the Baggies in 13th place, but they would be in the bottom three a month later and wouldn’t win another game for two months.