It was fitting that Albion's Premiership debut should be at the Theatre of Dreams. It was a day full of optimism, a day on which the Albion fans showed the Premiership what they had been missing with a fantastic show of support and a day on which on the pitch, Albion were far from outclassed and somewhat unfortunate to lose to the only goal after McInnes was dismissed.  The day was slightly soured by the home fans' misinterpretation of the "Yam Yam" song, but all in all it was an encouraging start.

The next two Albion games where chosen to be televised on Sky Premiership Plus, meaning that our first Premiership home game kicked off at 5.30pm on a Saturday evening.  As it turned out, the Leeds game was a microcosm of Albion's season. We battered the opposition with some excellent football in the first half an hour but failed to score, and then conceded just before half-time.  A moment of sheer quality from the soon-to-leave Lee Bowyer gave the visitors the lead in the second half and the game was over.  After Viduka's third, Lee Marshall scored Albion's first Premiership goal, a goal that also kept the Baggies off the bottom of the first table of the season.

Albion's tough start continued with a trip to Highbury, and we witnessed some superb football from the then-Champions in the first half as they took a 3-0 lead.  Arsenal may have taken their foot off the pedal in the second half, but Albion exploited their defensive frailties to score twice through Roberts and Dobie, but also conceded two more.  The first of the dubious refereeing decisions saw Keown escape a red card when he pulled back Dobes when he was clear through.

On the dawn of the last day of August, we were pointless but full of optimism.  We'd matched Manchester United, battered Leeds for a while and put up a brave fight against Arsenal - we expected no points from these games.  We'd all looked to the Fulham game for our first points, and so it proved.  Hughesy was back in the side and did well, Gregan lined up in defence and was man of the match, Koumas made his debut as a sub and did little and Super Bob almost scored from the halfway line!  Albion dominated and won with a goal from Big Dave.  So our first three points was in the bag and we moved into September full of expectation.

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September 2002

Won 2 Drew 0 Lost 2.
West Ham (A) 1-0, Southampton (H) 1-0, Liverpool (A) 0-2, Blackburn (H) 0-2.

September turned out to be Albion's most successful month, with six points and the heady heights of seventh in the table.   The mid-week trip to Upton Park brought an unexpected bonus.  The Hammers had started slowly although their season of despair was not forseen.  A stubborn rearguard was the key as West Ham pressed on throughout the game, but JR did what we expected him to do and finished well from his only clear chance of the game.

A week and a half later and we were in dreamland!  A nightmare moment from Paul Jones saw soon-to-be-skipper Gregan score his only goal of the season in a game where the Saints missed some excellent chances and Albion were lucky.  But who cared?  This Premiership business was easy - we were seventh in the table and above Manchester United!

We were still optimistic after a trip to Anfield.  The Baggies matched the Reds for much of the game and 2-0 was certainly flattering to the home side.  A moment of madness saw Hoult see red, gave Murphy a dream Premiership debut saving an Owen penalty with his first touch and left Albion struggling.  Even so, Mr Elleray failed to give Albion a clear penalty when Roberts was floored by Hyypia in front of the Kop, before Clement tried to beat Gerrard in his own half but lost out to see the England star cross for Baros to score.

Back on TV against Blackburn and, after impressing during the first half, Albion lost to two second half goals. It was the first time we didn't get the points I thought we would.  But, sitting in 14th place, we were satisfied at the end of September. It didn't last long.

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October 2002

Won 0 Drew 1 Lost 3
Wigan Athletic (A) 1-3 (WC2), Newcastle (A) 1-2, Birmingham (H) 1-1, Chelsea (A) 0-2

Gary Megson had complained bitterly to the Football League that they wouldn't allow us to move the Worthington Cup tie with Wigan, despite the fact that we'd played Blackburn just 48 hours previously.  It was the second year in succession that this had happened after ITV Digital insisted we play Millwall on a Thursday night just two days after our Worthington Cup tie with Charlton.  Megson responded by fielding a team of largely reserve players, and I can't say I blame him.  The result was a worthy victory for the Latics, but a first (and, as it proved, only) goal of the season for Lee Hughes.

Back in the League, it was the longest trip of the season to St. James's Park.  It was a day for refereeing controversy when, after Balis had given the Baggies a dream lead, O'Brien went unpunished for pulling back Roberts when he was clear through on goal, and a bizarre back pass decision gifted the home side an equaliser on the stroke of half time.  It was tough on Murphy who was making his full debut in place of the suspended Hoult.  The second half was dominated by Newcastle, and Shearer scored his second goal to seal the three points.

The first local derby of the season saw Birmingham City visit the Hawthorns seven days later and after, once again, dominated but failed to score.  After a subdued first half, Albion tore into the visitors in the second and chance after chance went begging.  With 8 minutes to go, Tebily was dismissed for a second bookable offence and we all awaited the winner that must surely come.  But it was not to be, as a deflected cross from Powell confused Hoult who allowed the ball to hit the post, after which it rebounded off Big Dave and into the net - winner of the bizarre goal of the season.  Somehow, the Baggies managed to respond as Roberts, who'd missed several chances already, was put through by Clement, neatly side-stepped a challenge before finding the corner to score his third, and last, goal of the season.

A point was never enough against the Blues, and it put the pressure on for the trip to Stamford Bridge.  Albion never played until the last fifteen minutes and lost to goals from Hasselbaink and Le Saux, dropping back into the bottom three.

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November 2002

Won 1 Drew 2 Lost 2
Man City (H) 1-2, Bolton (A) 1-1, Aston Villa (H) 0-0, Everton (A) 0-1, Middlesbrough (H) 1-0

If a point against Blues was worrying, a defeat at home to the other promoted side, Manchester City, was disastrous.  It was a dreadful defending performance in difficult conditions with Gregan particularly culpable.  After Anelka gave the visitors the lead, a Clement free-kick restored parity before Goater grabbed the winner.  It was seven games without a win and the trip to Bolton was looking crucial.

For a long time at the Reebok, it looked promising.  A bostin' goal from Dobes gave the Baggies a first half lead and they looked like they might hang on.  But as the second half drew on, the defence got deeper and deeper and, finally, a deflected cross from Simon Charlton was met by Frandsen at point blank range and Bolton were level with two minutes left.

The pressure was piling on and the old enemy, Aston Villa, were the next visitors to the Hawthorns.  It was another impressive performance with Gregan in charge in the middle and Roberts causing problems.  But causing problems is not enough, and he failed to take any of the chances.  In the end, it took a penalty save from Hoult to secure a point.  The ball was not running in Albion's favour, and the winless streak was now at nine games.

Defeat at the resurgent Everton was expected, but the ten-game run without a win finally came to an end when the worst away team in the Premiership came to the Shrine on the last day of November.  In reality, the win came too late - the points lost were too crucial.  But the winner from Deech, in a game in which Koumas finally started to show some promise, at least gave us some hope and briefly lifted us out of the relegation zone.

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December 2002

Won 0 Drew 1 Lost 4
Tottenham (A) 1-3, Aston Villa (A) 1-2, Sunderland (H) 2-2, Arsenal (H) 1-2, Charlton (A) 0-1

The end of November may have given us hope, December all but took it away. It was a month of missed opportunities and fine margins.  How we reached half time at White Hart Lane two goals down, I'll never know.  We completely dominated the game but couldn't find that killer touch, with Clement missing the easiest chance.  Dobes scored another screamer to briefly provide some hope in the second half before Poyet scrambled a third for Spurs.

I missed the next two games as I went on holiday but the text alert of the late Villa winner was no less distressing from six thousand miles away, nor was the one informing me of Sunderland's come back.  That game was a sign of things to come as luck continued to desert the men in blue and white, and we failed to take the opportunities that came our way.

But there were two more defeats before the New Year was brought in, both unfortunate following impressive performances.  After taking the lead against the Champions, a late Henry goal gave the Gunners an undeserved victory and we also somehow managed to lose at the Valley after outplaying the hosts for much of the game.

Bottom of the league with only 16 points from 21 games, survival was looking ever more remote, although I didn't want to admit it.

A New Year and new optimism.  The transfer window was open and we had some light relief with a cup match at home to Bradford.  It was a game that appeared to highlight how far Albion had come since winning promotion - far from being the tense affair we saw at Valley Parade in April, the game was over inside 20 minutes thanks to a hat-trick from Danny Dichio.  There was an embarrassing gulf between the sides.

A week later, the gulf was not quite as embarrassing, but present nonetheless.  A fantastic opportunistic goal from Koumas, latching on to a misplaced pass from Ferdinand before lashing a shot past Barthez, gave the Baggies an early lead.  Unfortunately, a superb pass from Beckham gave van Nistelrooy the chance to equalise just seconds later, a chance he took with aplomb.  The Champions-to-be went on to ply some excellent football and scored twice more to win at a canter.

The low point of the season came a week later at Vicarage Road.  The performance was abysmal - no quality, no effort, no fight.  I need say no more.

As for the transfer window, be it the board's intransigence or agents' and players' unreasonable demands, it was a failure for the Baggies as only Udeze was brought in on loan.

It was at this stage that the optimist in me put together the points plan for the Great Escape.  The first stage in the plan required a victory against Charlton - needless to say, it didn't happen.  In a game somewhat reminiscent of the match at the Valley, Albion dominated and failed to score, eventually losing to a goal from Bartlett.  So at the end of January, we were rock bottom with a very tough task to rise those three places to safety.

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February 2003

Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 2
Man City (A) 2-1, Bolton (H) 1-1, Fulham (A) 0-3, West Ham (H) 1-2

When hope was fading, the Albion produced the performance of the season to win a hard fought game, Albion's last at Maine Road.  Goals from defenders Moore and Clement, either side of an own-goal equaliser from Gilchrist (the only time this season that three Albion players scored in the same game!) gave Albion the points.  This was despite a red card for Roberts, leaving Albion with ten men for the last nine minutes.  The performance was typified by Deech, who produced a masterful display of holding up the ball as the only man up front.

So, Albion were up to 18th and the Great Escape was back on.  Three crunch games followed in which Albion really needed to take seven points - they took just one.  Against Bolton it was the usual story.  After our old friend Mr Elleray missed two clear penalties, Albion fell behind to a goal from Pedersen.  Again, we created chance after chance which were all spurned until, in injury time, AJ got out his banjo and for once hit that cow plum on the rear to give the Baggies a vital point.

A five minute three-goal blitz gave Fulham the points in what was otherwise a close game, before attention returned to the Hawthorns for the crunch game against West Ham, live on Sky.  In hindsight, it was the last chance and at the time it felt fairly final.  It was the same story with David James responding to the home fans' taunts to produce his game of the season, making three or four quality saves to deny Hughes a Premiership goal.  The eventual damage was that it galvanised West Ham's season as they went on to amass points through March, whereas Albion failed to get anything from the next five games.  West Ham may have eventually failed in their attempt to stay up, but the confidence they gained from the win at the Hawthorns made it a much closer battle - who knows what might have happened if Albion had got the win they deserved that day.

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March 2003

Won 0 Drew 0 Lost 3
Southampton (A) 0-1, Chelsea (H) 0-2, Birmingham (A) 0-1

March was pointless in more ways than one.  In reality, the war was already lost even if many battles remained.  Thankfully, Albion were kept off the bottom by a losing run from Sunderland that was to extend until the end of the season.

Udeze was the victim of the manager's wrath at St. Mary's as he stopped playing thinking the ball was out of play - the linesman didn't flag, and in a split second Beattie was thundering a powerful shot past Hoult for the only goal in, yet again, a close game.

Albion's final live TV appearance of the season went the same way as all the others - a defeat. It was starting to get annoying as Albion battled hard once more but a moment of genius from the master craftsman, Gianfranco Zola, sealed the points with 35 minutes left.  The other key moment was the first half collision between Moore and Hasselbaink which ended Big Dave's season.

The final local derby again ended in despair as an injury time goal gave Blues and undeserved victory.  The reaction of the players showed how much it meant - even when relegation was a near certainty, they were feeling the same pain as the fans.

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April 2003

Won 1 Drew 0 Lost 4
Middlesbrough (A) 0-3, Everton (H) 1-2, Sunderland (A) 2-1, Tottenham (H) 2-3, Liverpool (H) 0-6

April saw the end of the run of defeats, and the final confirmation of relegation on the same day.  It was a remarkable day, not in that we beat Sunderland, but in that McInnes finally found some form and scored twice.

The defeats against Everton and Spurs were typical battling performances without that bit of quality required to take any points.  But the game at Middlesbrough, and particularly the humiliating defeat at home to Liverpool, saw Albion put in lacklustre displays and be well beaten.  Owen's four goals meant that only Dichio had scored more goals at the Hawthorns all season.

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May 2003

Won 0 Drew 2 Lost 0
Blackburn (A) 1-1, Newcastle (H) 2-2

With relegation confirmed, the Albion fans turned up the party atmosphere in May to celebrate our season in the Premiership.  In a good natured dig at our treatment by referees, thousands, yours truly included, dressed up as referees for the trip to Blckburn.  It was a day to remember in a true party atmosphere, with a goal to remember from Jason Koumas.

The final day of the season showed Megson does have a sentimental side as he gave Taylor a start in the last game of his testimonial season.  Unfortunately, fate showed that she has somewhat less sentimentality Super Bob picked up a knee injury and was forced off after half an hour.  He was replaced by Dobie who proceeded to have his best game of the season scoring two fine goals that led to his being described by Bobby Robson as a "world beater" - somewhat generous, I fear!  Viana spoiled the day with a late equaliser for the visitors, but it was an enjoyable match to finish the season off.

So the Albion remained undefeated for one month of the season at least!  And we didn't finish bottom and we got more points than the last time we went down from the top flight.  I am optimistic about the new season, but then I always am.  I thoroughly enjoyed our season with the big boys, so much so that I can't wait to get back!

Up the Baggies!

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