The first thing I noticed were the police vehicles. Or rather, the lack thereof. While there were around 40 people in the Sandwell Academy car park three hours prior to West Bromwich Albion’s meeting with Wolves last weekend, there were only two this time.
The Hawthorns are just five miles from St Andrew’s, but traditionally Albion’s relationship with Birmingham has had none of the animosity that characterizes Albion’s meetings with Wolves or Aston Villa.
Fans from both clubs mingled on the roads and next to the hot dog vans in the grounds and the bus from Birmingham arrived without incident. Blues boss Tony Mowbray is one of Albion’s most beloved managers of the modern era and has been well received.
None of this was enough to completely dispel the tension. Last week, horrific scenes of violence overshadowed the Black Country derby, which was suspended for 39 minutes as police and stewards tried to restore order, putting children in danger.
Even though there is no rivalry between these clubs, there was still fear of copycat behavior among the 2,000 Blues fans.
Former Aston Villa player Andreas Weimann scored a late winner against Birmingham City
Weimann struck with five minutes to play for the championship play-off hopefuls
There wasn’t the same crowd violence that plagued West Brom’s recent match against Wolves
Juninho Bacuna is said to have suffered racist abuse during the match, which he reported to the referee
There wasn’t the same police presence, but how could that be? Last weekend there were about 400 officers on duty and they are not cheap. Indeed, Mail Sport understands that a large proportion of the estimated £70,000 in television revenue Albion earned from the Wolves tie was spent on police work.
“I wasn’t worried about coming back,” said Albion season ticket holder Gareth. ‘But I decided not to take my daughter Eve, who is eleven, with me today. She wasn’t at the Wolves game and while this was a different story, I didn’t think it was worth the risk.’
“You don’t want kids anywhere near that kind of nonsense,” agrees Alice, who is sitting in the Halford Lane Stand, close to where the trouble flared. “We just hope it’s a one-off.”
Since the clown car ride that was Wayne Rooney’s short reign in Birmingham, Mowbray has restored calm and sanity.
Blues had won one and drawn one in the league since Mowbray landed a month ago but are still on the wrong side of the Championship.
In contrast, Albion are pushing for a promotion that the club desperately needs to improve their worrying financial position.
Guochuan Lai’s disastrous ownership has long since reached its natural end, but so far there has been no successor, despite the positive noises coming out of the club and the three interested parties circling it.
Coach Carlos Corberan has done an excellent job of blocking out the chaos in the background and has built an impressive home record, although the team under the Spaniard has performed poorly at times. Their football missed the mark of the first half performance against Wolves as Birmingham had little trouble keeping Albion at bay.
Blues also rarely threatened and it made for a dull opening 45 minutes. Alex Mowatt should have given Albion the lead early in the second half but somehow headed wide from six yards after the promising Tom Fellows had picked him out. Moments later, Brandon Thomas-Asante hit an angled volley a fraction high.
Birmingham came much closer with twenty minutes to go when Kevin Long crept into space at the near post and turned Andre Dozzell’s corner towards the far post, only to see it kiss the inside of it and bounce into the hands of Alex Palmer.
Carlos Coberan’s team is fifth in the championship, four points ahead of the play-offs
Wolves’ recent trip to the Hawthorns in the FA Cup was marred by crowd problems
That was painful for Blues – but nothing compared to what followed. With five minutes to go, Darnell Furlong drilled low across the penalty area and there was substitute Andi Weimann to meet the ball with a clever close-post volley. To make matters worse, Weimann was at Aston Villa from 2009 to 2015. It’s bad enough to concede a late goal, but a late goal from a former Villa player is almost too much to bear.
The previous goal on this ground was scored by Wolves striker Matheus Cunha, and it led to some of the most depressing events we have seen in modern times. Fortunately for everyone here, Weimann’s strike did not cause a repeat.
There was one incident which later came to light when West Brom confirmed that Birmingham player Juninho Bacuna had reported a racist incident to referee David Webb in the second half. West Midlands Police are investigating.
West Brom said in their statement: ‘Albion will offer its full support to West Midlands Police in their criminal investigation into this matter. The club will also remain in contact with Birmingham City to ensure Juninho Bacuna receives the support he needs at this time.
‘The club takes a strong stand against all forms of discrimination and will do everything we can to ensure that anyone found guilty of racism receives the strongest possible penalty under the law, up to a lifetime ban from The Hawthorns.
“Albion will continue to work with the Football Association, the EFL and all relevant authorities to eliminate racism from the game. ‘
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police added: ‘We are investigating after a Birmingham City player was racially abused during today’s match at The Hawthorns.
‘We will review CCTV footage and work with both clubs to identify who was responsible and provide support to the player.
‘We will not tolerate racist abuse in any form, either in football or in society in general, and we will seek to prosecute anyone who commits hate crimes.’