Gareth McAuley shares verdict on West Brom and Wolves fans ahead of FA Cup showdown at The Hawthorns
Former West Brom defender Gareth McAuley has detailed the “hostile” atmosphere between supporters of the Baggies and Wolves ahead of the Black Country derby on Sunday 28 January.
Carlos Corberan’s side will host their fierce rivals from the Premier League at The Hawthorns in the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend.
It will be the first time the two sides have met in front of live supporters since 2012 when Albion demolished Wolves 5-1 at Molineux, and McAuley, who started that day, has detailed the crazy scenes which still live long in his memory.
McAuley told The Telegraph (26 January), “Those Wolves fans weren’t happy with their team and we were trying to get out of there as quickly as possible on the team bus.”
“It was hostile and that’s all part of the show. Passions run high and things sometimes can’t be helped. Everybody hopes that these rivalries don’t spill over, and it’s the fans who make these games what they are.
“The memory I will take from that game is how Molineux went quiet very early on, and it was just the West Brom fans singing.”
Tension
This is as fierce a rivalry as they come, and with so long having passed since a meeting between the two sides in front of a packed house, the atmosphere could be more hostile than ever on Sunday.
A lot is at stake on the pitch, with a place in the fifth round of England’s oldest cup competition up for grabs, but it is the bragging rights off the pitch which supporters will perhaps be more interested in.
West Brom fans will hope it is just them left singing once again long after the match is over, as they look for a repeat of that famous day in 2012. However, many will be hoping that things don’t pan out quite the same as they did that day, with the threat of proceedings spilling over certainly looming large.
It is a match which has seen kick-off moved forward on the advice of the West Midlands Police and it will be interesting to see how the Black Country derby is received by almost an entirely new generation from the set of supporters who attended the 5-1 thrashing which McAuley recalls so well.
In other West Brom news, three Wolves players have zero chance of featuring in the derby.
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