BRIEF HISTORY
 
As 1998 was drawing to a close, Baggies fan, Glenn Tuck was getting more than just frustrated with the web whilst abroad searching for any fresh news from the club or self minded fans. The problem at the time was that their just wasn't enough sites to satisfy the need. This initial frustration became the basis of a multitude of hours spent learning, researching and creating the site you see today but the earlier site history began as follows.

Baggieson.Com

The first site was named baggieson.com. It was a basic site and put together with the knowledge found on the internet site htmlgoodies.com. This first attempt at a West Brom site contained some bizarre content and very little imagination but contained the basics about the team with links to the various news sites which were available then. 

Software used: Hot Metal Pro 6
Hosted on: Freeserve (free web space)
Average daily page impressions: 15
Style: Standard html

WBA-FC.Com

The first revamp of the site the following season, saw the internet name wba-fc.com, purchased and hosted with easily. The site started to at least take some shape at this point with a better understanding of html. However the site still lacked the professional touch and quality of others. 

Software used: Hot Metal Pro 6
Hosted on: Easily.co.uk
Average daily page impressions: 257
Style: Standard html

WBA-FC.Com

The second revamp of the site in as many years was done for the new Premiership season following Albion's return to the top flight. It for the first time also contained a newswire solely for Baggies news from around the net. This season was also the first time that the site hosted its own message board which was initiated with the help of Paul Guest, who still retains his position as a message board administrator.

Software used: Microsoft FrontPage
Hosted on: Easily.co.uk
Average daily page impressions: 393
Style: Frames/CSS

WestBrom.Com

The third revamp of the site, took place before the 2003-04 season which started with a site merge between wba-fc.com and westbromwichalbion.net owned by Matt Dumont. The site was comprised of the best bits from both partner sites and was hosted on a new server which better fitted the sites requirements. The site also sponsored two players this year which got the sites new url westbrom.com into the official matchday programme. Unfortunately Matt had to step down from the site due to his own work commitments after about a year. It was at this point both Richard Hooper and Dale Brookes both got involved in the sites progress. Dale contributed match reports and previews whilst Richard co-edited the whole site along with Glenn. The site also integrated a php based fan registry and prediction league into the fanzone section, whilst some of the regular message board members took to creating their own league football team aptly named westbrom.com fc. Sponsors were also enlisted this season for the first time to help out with the running costs and site improvements.

Software used: Macromedia Dreamweaver
Hosted on: Emarkhosting.com
Average daily page impressions: 11,240
Style: css/html/php
Sponsors: HCW, Plum Ideas

WestBrom.Com

The fourth revamp of the site took place before the 2005-06 season and saw the return of Dale Brookes for match reports and previews for approximately six months. Richard Hooper also returned to the site this time as both co-editor and  part owner of the site along with Glenn Tuck. The 2006-07 sees some further enhancements planned which should take the site onto its next level.
 

Software used: Macromedia Dreamweaver
Hosted on: Emarkhosting.com
Average daily page impressions: 29,489
Style: css/html/php
Sponsors: HCW, Plum Ideas, Shakespeare's

WestBrom.Com

The fifth revamp of the site is taking place behind the scenes as the 2007-08 season kicks off. We are hoping that the database driven bespoke CMS system will be in place by early 2008 with a new design and more interaction with Albion fans across the globe.

Software used: Macromedia Dreamweaver
Hosted on: Emarkhosting.com.
Average daily page impressions: 55,557
Style: css/html/php/asp
Sponsors: HCW, Plum Ideas,( More sponsors required)

THE WEBSITE TEAM

The Webmaster
Himself

Co-Editor
Phil Daniels

Site Acknowledgements
Glenn Tuck, Matt Dumont, Dale Brooke, Paul Guest, Dave Brook, Mark Abel, Unity, Daniel Taylor, David Law, Anthony Smith, Chris Buckley, Luke Morgan, Mike Campbell, Joe Mangan, Dan Croghan, Mark Abel, Jon Want.

THE MESSAGE BOARD TEAM (Usernames in brackets)

Administrators
Phil Daniels (OldburyWBA), Paul Guest (Guesty), Gary Marshall (Dudleylad), Ian Biles (Flash).

Global Moderators
Jamie Perry (Baggie79), B_H_Baggie (Ricci Dun), Luke Morgan (Taff), James Higgs (WBAGinge), WBAinDEVON (Glynn), wbatesy (Richard Bates).

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Building the site, takes up a lot of our time, so the site is work in progress. If you could help us out please get in contact or write your own views and articles directly to the site by using this feature here.

SPONSORSHIP

If you can help us out financially in any way please get in contact with the site. For more information please click here, or to download a pdf form which lists the sponsorship availability and prices click here.

RESOURCES

Some of the information on this site may have been extracted, modified or clarified using some of the sources found on this link, plus those contained in the official match day programme.