Shropshire Star

Lights, fliers, meetings and a march - Action for Albion and the story so far

It is almost five months since Action for Albion was formed - in response to off field issues at West Brom.

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Fans had long been running out of patience - but A4A formed to raise awareness of Albion's off field situation which involved failed loan repayments from the owner Guochuan Lai and a £20 million loan taken out from MSD Holdings.

That was October - and a little less than five months later the growing group are getting ready for their biggest action yet.

On Saturday, hundreds if not thousands of fans are expected to march down the Birmingham Road to the ground, unveiling banners against Lai's ownership of the club.

Here is a glance over A4A's history so far and the work done to raise the profile of Albion's situation:

A4A is launched

A group of Albion fans come together amid 'grave concerns' about the club.

A4A also stated it was unhappy with the 'non-existent' communication from the football club on growing issues.

Shine a Light

A4A take one of their first actions to put the spotlight onto Albion's issues - launching the 'shine a light' protest'.

On the 12th minute of the game against Blackpool, to symbolise £12 million in loans owed to the club, fans shone lights from the phones around the ground.

Thousands of fans took part and it has been a regular fixture at evening games ever since.

The protests were picked up by broadcasters - and discussed on Sky Sports.

White Paper

As another protest, fans were urged to show a piece of white paper during the clash with Preston in December.

A number of fans got involved in the latest action from the group.

Halfords Lane protest

On January 2, after Albion's game with Reading, a few thousand fans gathered outside the ground's entrance on Halfords Lane to show their anger towards Lai and the club.

Chants were directed towards Lai and also chief executive Ron Gourlay.

The protests came as an open letter was sent to the club and Gourlay to open dialogue with the group.

Media appearances

A4A committee member Ali Jones made a number of media appearances to discuss the situation at the club.

Appearances on Talksport, Talk TV and a number of podcasts increased the attention on Albion's financial position.

Meeting with Gourlay

After the January protest, Gourlay agrees to meet with A4A members to discuss issues surrounding the club and the ownership.

The first meeting goes down as a success and the two parties commit to further, regular meetings.

Since then, more meetings have been held.

Middlesbrough protest

A4A schedule another Halfords Lane protest - after Albion's clash with Boro.

However, the protest does not get the same response as the last one with a smaller crowd turning out.

Flyers

A4A members hand out thousands of fliers - explaining the situation at the club and the off field issues involving Lai.

Fliers are handed out before the midweek clash with Wigan to raise awareness of the situation.

Planned protest march

Plans are in place for a protest march to take place - from one end of the Birmingham Road near Storage King, to Halfords Lane and down to the corner of the Smethwick End.

Banners will then be taken into the ground and unveiled.

It is the first time the group have had permission to take banners into the ground.

In a statement the group said: "Fans are reminded that Action For Albion is a peaceful action group and whilst the march is designed to be vocal and visible. supporters are asked to refrain from using bad language or anti-social behaviour."

Jones also added: "We will continue to ask the questions that fans want answered, and we will continue to visibly highlight the jeopardy that we believe West Bromwich Albion faces with its current owners.

"Public promises by those same owners to repay outstanding loans have not been kept, and this weekend’s march is a demonstration of the strength of feeling amongst our fan base.

"We ask all Albion fans, young and old, to join us in what will be a loud, passionate but peaceful march to The Hawthorns.”