The 1914-18 World War was without doubt a cruel conflict, whereby many men associated with the club, were either killed or injured whilst in service of their country, probably the most notable, being Lieutenant Harold Godfrey Bache, a brilliant amateur centre forward, a true Corinthian, who lost his life on the 16th February 1916, whilst leading his battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers in an offensive at Ypres, defending the Ypres Commines canal and was killed, it was understood by a snipers bullet. Unfortunately his body, and many of his men was never recovered, but he is remembered at the Menin Gate Memorial. Bache made fourteen appearances for Albion, scoring four goals, his last appearance, indeed his last goal for the club was seen at The Hawthorns on January 2nd 1915 when Albion beat Middlesbrough 1-0 and Harold is reverently remembered with a blue plaque situated on the East stand wall at The Hawthorns, adjacent to the statue of Tony Brown. Harold left these shores to do his duty and never returned, but will never be forgotten, like the many that paid the ultimate price.
With the war over, League football returned, as well as the crowds to The Hawthorns who saw Albion open up in the 1919-20 season with a home victory over Oldham Athletic, an opener that would feature the debut of a diminutive inside forward by the name of Tommy Magee, who Fred Everiss quite literally plucked from the war trenches, and would become an ‘all-action’ Throstles hero with 434 first team appearances to his name. Fred Morris who would top the scoring that season, netting twice, finishing the campaign with a wonderful record total of 37 goals in that championship campaign, including five in an 8-0 Hawthorns thrashing of Notts County, as the ‘Throstles’ swept all aside finishing the season with sixty points, nine more than runners-up Burnley with captain Jesse Pennington presented with the league Championship trophy at The Hawthorns on the final day of the season May 1st 1920, following a brilliant 4-0 victory over Chelsea, who actually finished third. That superb result was even more amazing when you consider the Londoners had beaten Albion 2-0 at Stamford Bridge just five days before. Morris’s achievement that season was Albion’s record goal scoring feat in the League since moving to the Hawthorns, and only matched once in the history books at the time by Tom Pearson’s magnificent total of 41 goals in 1890, but it has to be noted that 17 of those Pearson goals were scored in non-league fixtures.
It was a season where Sid Bowser, now the ‘rock’ at the heart of the Albion defence, would become the first defender to score a hat trick in a first class game, including two penalties, against Bradford City at The Hawthorns on September 27th 1919, two of ten goals he would score that season, eight from the penalty spot. Alf Bentley would also net a hat trick in that ‘championship campaign’ in a 5-1 away victory against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. It was a truly wonderful season, perhaps the most ‘stella’ season in Albion’s history, certainly to date, but of course that is all down to opinions.
As champions, Albion were expected to be in the mix the following season, but the Throstles fell well short finishing in fourteenth position with forty points, nineteen short of the new Champions Burnley. If there was a highlight to that disappointing season it was the record crowd that turned up at Villa Park for the Midland clash between Villa and Albion at Villa Park on November 6th 1920, 66,094 recorded by the Aston Villa club with gate receipts totalling nearly £4,000. Sadly all that bumper crowd got for their money was a perhaps predictable goal-less draw, but Albion would make it worthwhile for the home fans at The Hawthorns a week later, a mere 42,000 beating the old enemy 2-1 with goals from Andrew Smith and Sid Bowser with another penalty.
In the February (1921) with centre forward George James injured at Bradford, Fred Everiss raided Port Vale for an ‘all action’ centre forward named Bobby Blood, who scored on debut against Tottenham Hotspur at The Hawthorns on February 19th, Albion beating the North Londoners 3-1, the first of seven valuable goals for the team, who were certainly ‘scratching around’ at the wrong end of the table for some time. Blood retained his place in the side until the end of the season and was preferred by Fred Everiss into the 1921/22 campaign, season that would see skipper Jesse Pennington injured against Burnley on April 1st, and sadly forced to retire after making a truly magnificent 496 first team appearances in his nineteen year Hawthorns career, surprisingly without a goal to his name.
It would be five years after winning the First Division championship, before Albion would seriously challenge for the First Division title again, the Throstles finishing runners-up to Herbert Chapman’s Huddersfield Town side in 1925, and as I have already stated, by that time Albion’s most famous son, Jesse Pennington had retired with all those first team appearances and experience under his belt, from what had truly been an amazing nineteen year career at The Hawthorns, his place in the first team now occupied by English Junior international full back Billy Adams, a local lad born in Blackheath who stepped into the breach alongside the already established English international and of course yet another local lad, Netherton born right back Joe Smith, Everiss once again working his incredible ‘magic’ to retain the balance of the side. Pennington, whilst attempting to get fit did stay on for a season as a coach, before switching to Kidderminster in the same role. It was Huddersfield Town’s second successive title and quite incredibly they would add a third title to their honours board in 1926, Albion slipping away, down to a mid-table fourteenth. It was however a season that would see yet another amazing scoring feat, centre forward George James, replacing the indominatable Bobby Blood, blasting four goals against Nottingham Forest at The Hawthorns two weeks before Christmas, Albion beating their Midland rivals 5-1 with James netting the fastest ever recorded Hawthorns goal after just FIVE seconds. Oldbury born James, would score 35 goals that season, including F.A Cup and friendlies, 25 netted in the First Division, and would actually score 57 goals in 116 first team appearances, before joining Reading in May 1929.
In the meantime yet another North Easterner, destined to become an Albion legend would be snapped up by Fred Everiss, a twenty year old winger named Thomas Glidden, would be tempted away from Sunderland West End to begin a new life in the Midlands and a fifty two year association with the ‘Throstles’ as a player, a captain, a temporary manager and a Director before sadly passing away in July 1974. Tommy made his debut on the right wing against Everton in November 1922, the first of 479 competitive games for the club, scoring a quite amazing 140 goals, which for a winger was something really special. Tommy would also skipper the side in two F.A Cup Finals, and lead the club to promotion in May 1931.
The following 1926/27 season, with the club in a period of transition you could say, much to the great disappointment of the long serving Secretary/Manager Fred Everiss, the club slipped out of the top flight once again, finishing rock bottom of the table at the end of the campaign with just thirty points, the same as Leeds United, and Fred Everiss was challenged with the task of re-building the side once again.
Long serving skipper Fred Reed had retired in the February of that season after suffering a career ending injury, and the captaincy in the meantime would switch between Tommy Magee, a diminutive fireball of a wing half, Bill Ashurst a reliable full back and left back George Shaw, who had been purchased from Huddersfield Town in that relegation season. The captaincy however, would then be handed to right winger Tommy Glidden, who had been signed from Sunderland West End in April 1922, and Fred Everiss’s mission for the future had begun, with promotion back to the top flight, top of the Hawthorns Board room agenda, as soon as possible. Everiss signed the prolific Chesterfield goal scorer Jimmy Cookson for a bargain £2,000, as well as giving debuts to Jimmy ‘Iron’ Edwards and goal keeper Harold Pearson, son of long serving goalkeeper Hubert, and promoted Bob Finch from the reserves to right full back in the first team, as well as handing the captaincy to Glidden who had already amassed in excess of 130 first team appearances. Tommy would actually score 140 goals in 479 first team appearances for the club before retiring, becoming one of the magician Fred Everiss’s most notable signings.