The Hawthorns was the first Football League ground to be built in the 20th century, opening in September 1900 after construction work took only 4 months.

Alongside being the home of West Bromwich Albion for over 120 years, The Hawthorns has also hosted a number of England internationals, as well as two FA Cup semi-finals.

[4] During the early years of the club, West Bromwich Albion led something of a nomadic existence, playing at five different grounds in a 22-year period.

[7] The increasing popularity of football led the well-established West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club to rent their Four Acres ground to Albion from 1882 to 1885, but they quickly outgrew their new home and soon needed to move again.

The expiry of the lease on Stoney Lane, as well as the club's desire for a more spacious location, saw them move once again in 1900, this time permanently.

All of Albion's previous grounds had been close to the centre of West Bromwich, but on this occasion they took up an "out of town" site on the borders of Handsworth.

Derby's England international Steve Bloomer scored the first Hawthorns goal, with Chippy Simmons equalizing for Albion.

The first Saturday game followed soon after, with Albion losing out 0–1 to fierce local rivals Aston Villa in front of a capacity crowd, officially put at 35,417 but with many more forcing entry and an estimated 15,000 people locked out.

Their defeat to Sheffield United on the final day of the season was witnessed by just 1,050 spectators, which remains the record lowest crowd for a league game at the Hawthorns.

The all-time attendance record at the Hawthorns was set on 6 March 1937, when 64,815 spectators crammed in to see Albion beat hot-favourites Arsenal 3–1 in the FA Cup quarter-final.

[12] This record was likely bettered when Albion played Newcastle United in an FA Cup fifth round tie in 1954, when over 80,000 people are believed to have been in attendance.

[20] The gates are located on the Birmingham Road, close to the Woodman Corner, and form the entrance to the East Stand car park.

There had been plans for the Halfords Lane Stand to be rebuilt, but these were shelved due to what Albion chairman Jeremy Peace called "continuing levels of excess capacity".

Jack Halford (James Bolam) Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong) and Gerry Standing (Denis Waterman).

Constructed: 1994 Capacity: 5,200 (seated) Running behind the goal at the southern edge of the pitch, the Smethwick End houses away supporters, though they are only allocated part of the stand, except for cup matches.

Development in the summer of 2014 increased the stadium capacity to 26,850, with added seats made available in the Smethwick End due to the movement of the police control room.

[2] A statue dedicated to Albion's record appearance maker and goalscorer, Tony Brown, is situated outside the stadium's East Stand.

It also contains a quote from Brown: The moment I walked into The Hawthorns I felt I was home.The Jeff Astle gates were built in honour of one of the club's most beloved players.

The gates have also become an unofficial location for tributes and makeshift memorials, most notably following the death of another of Albion's great strikers, Cyrille Regis.

As well as serving as the home ground of West Bromwich Albion, the Hawthorns has hosted a number of other football matches.

The runners covered 25 miles (40 km) from Coventry to the Hawthorns, and one of them – Jack Price of Small Heath Harriers – was selected for the British team for the London Olympic Games on the strength of his performance.

In the late 1970s the Hawthorns was the venue for a cricket match between India and Pakistan, watched by 2,641 spectators,[35] while in 2000 and 2001 the ground hosted Kabaddi tournaments.

Due to the large number of fans travelling in both directions to and from The Hawthorns on matchdays, trains run more frequently at those times, and have been known to depart every ten minutes.