‘Order the champagne’ – Athletic journo points out historical promotion record that favours WBA
No team in West Brom’s current position have failed to win promotion in the past 20 years, according to The Athletic journalist Stuart James.
The Baggies find themselves six points clear of the play-off places with nine games to go.
And despite facing some tricky fixtures against the likes of Brentford and Fulham, James has pointed out that it would take a highly unusual turn of events for Albion to miss out on an automatic promotion spot from here.
Writing in a piece for The Athletic, he said: “Leeds United and West Brom are as good as up.
“Over the past 20 years, the top two in the Championship have never blown this sort of advantage – six points or more – with nine games of the season remaining.
“The scenario is not that uncommon – it’s happened on seven occasions over the last two decades, most recently when Wolves and Cardiff pulled clear a couple of years ago – and the outcome has always been the same: automatic promotion for the pacesetters.
“In other words, put up the bunting at Elland Road and The Hawthorns and order the champagne.”
This is cause for cautious optimism.
Of course, this is an unprecedented season, and none of us will believe that we are up until all the beans are counted and it is a mathematical certainty, but it’s definitely good to know that history is on our side.
James’ piece also serves to reiterate a claim made by data guru Ben Mayhew, who calculated that the Baggies have a 90% chance of attaining a top two finish this season.
Football isn’t played on graph paper or in the history books, but knowing these two facts should be enough to set minds at ease around The Hawthorns.
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