After an enormous breakfast of cereal, fruit, pastries, toast and waffles washed down with juice and tea, we set off for West Bromwich, one of our favorite Premier League teams. We had to go through Birmingham city centre to do this and were only following a rough idea of the roads we were looking for, but we found our way perfectly though the Hawthorns is further along the road than we thought. We pulled into the ground opposite the McDonald's through some lovely wrought iron gates. There was the Pukka Pie van parked alongside us and the boys perked up, but I reminded them about what we had just eaten. We carried on into the shop and took lots of photos. They were selling off last years kit and they had a long sleeved shirt that just fit George for 5pounds that we couldn't resist. As we paid, we asked the shop assistant his advice and he pointed us towards the reception area and we headed that way.
The person working there was very friendly and offered to call over another employee who could take us through. I believe he was a maintenance worker, and I must admit that he didn't know very much about the club. He was not able to tell us why West Brom are called the "Baggies". I have now looked into the matter and I have learned that he is not alone in knowing the exact reasons.
There are many explanations. He did explain that the Hawthorns stadium was built on the grounds of a meadow of hawthorn trees and the bird on the shield is a "throstle" or thrush that lived in the meadow.
We got some great pictures of the ground and have a lovely chat about America with some of the people hanging around the reception area. The wrought iron fence made a nice backdrop for some more photos. We headed off, excited to visit more clubs. Next stop, Walsall.
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