The story of Nicolas Anelka and the gesture that rocked West Brom

It saw a manager, who had guided Albion to a record eighth placed finish in the previous season sacked, and replaced with a relatively unknown Spanish boss who struggled with the language barrier.

They escaped relegation from the Premier League by the skin of their teeth - and were again left looking for another new chief at the end of the season.

Throw into that condemnation from the Jewish community and the French Government regarding a gesture made by their star striker, and it made for a pretty ugly campaign.

In the summer of 2013, Albion were probably in the best place they had been in the modern era.

Steve Clarke had worked wonders and Albion had managed to finish in the top eight of the Premier League for the first time in their history.

That summer he would go on to strengthen Albion with a handful of signings - including one Nicolas Anelka.

Anelka may have been 34, but he had something to give to a side who were still in top flight terms, relative minnows.

Clarke hoped Anelka could lead the line and potentially produce some of the magic a young Romelu Lukaku had displayed in the previous campaign.

It never happened.

By early December, Clarke had been axed. A fourth straight defeat and just seven wins from 34 games in the calendar year led to Albion dismissing the Scot.

They were two points off the bottom four and in a bit of a muddle. However, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

After Clarke's sacking, Keith Downing was placed in temporary charge until Pepe Mel arrived in early January.

But before a permanent head coach was appointed, Downing had to deal with a controversy that not only rocked Albion and English football - but one that spread across the channel.

Up until December, Anelka's impact at Albion was modest at best.

He had failed to score in seven games - until he netted a brace in a thrilling 3-3 draw away at West Ham on December 28.

But the quality of his display and goals were overshadowed by his celebration that dragged Albion and the striker into an anti-Semitism row.

After one of his goals, the striker performed the quenelle gesture, which is described as an 'inverted Nazi salute'.

The issue and the story blew up.

After a backlash over the gesture the FA launched an investigation while Anelka came out on social media to defend himself.

"Of course, I am neither racist nor anti-Semitic and I fully assume my gesture," the striker tweeted at the time.

"The meaning of quenelle is anti-system. I do not know what religion has to do with this story."

Anelka made the salute in dedication to a friend and comedian, Dieudonne M'bala, who the French Government were trying to ban.

"This is a dedication to Dieudonne."

Even the French Sport Minister, Valerie Fourneyron, weighted into the controversy, saying: "Anelka's gesture is a shocking provocation, disgusting. There's no place for anti-Semitism on the football field."

With Albion in the midst of a relegation dogfight and without a manager, it was the last thing they wanted to deal with.

But it wasn't going to go away.

Leaders in the Jewish community came out to condemn the action - and Albion's main sponsor Zoopla, announced in the new year that they would end their association with the club at the end of the season.

At the time, Zoopla was owned by Jewish businessman Alex Chesterman.

As the FA investigation and the row rumbled on, Anelka continued to play for Albion.

He would start another four more games with his final appearance in an Albion shirt coming in the 4-3 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park in late January.

By that time the FA had charged Anelka, stating the gesture had been 'an aggravated breach in that it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or religion or belief'.

Anelka denied the charge but he was subsequently fined £80,000 and banned for five matches. The ban didn't ever become an issue, as he never played again.

Albion had attempted to come to a resolution with Anelka over the issue, by way of an apology in a bid to re-integrate him back into the squad.

But in March, he was sacked by Albion for gross misconduct.

However, the saga didn't end without further controversy.

On social media, Anelka claimed he was leaving the club with immediate effect after failing to reconcile differences with the his employers.

Anelka had been suspended by Albion while an internal investigation took place, and he stated online he had terminated his Baggies contract

Albion responded saying the 'termination was invalid and was not conducted under the correct legal process'.

It also read: "The club required Nicolas Anelka to apologise to it, its supporters, sponsors and the wider community for the impact and consequences of his gesture made on December 28 and secondly, that he accept a substantial fine.

"The club considers the conduct of Nicolas Anelka on December 28, coupled with his purported termination on social media, to be gross misconduct."

The controversy even led to former owner Jeremy Peace speaking out on the matter.

Peace rarely gave interviews during his time in charge of Albion - but he came out to outline the process that ultimately led to Anelka's sacking.

Speaking to the Express & Star in 2014, he said: "It was such a huge issue for the club in terms of our standing. We got Nicolas in here with his advisers. Richard Garlick (Albion's technical director at the time) was dealing with him.

"I was in my office in the room next door. I said I want him to say 'I am sorry to all these people.'

"They tried to draw up a statement. There was a mealy-mouthed paragraph and I said (to Garlick): 'He hasn't apologised, get him to apologise.'

"It was quite clear he wasn't going to so, bang – out. Right, sever the contract, cut it. It was gross misconduct, because of the damage he'd done.

"It struck me he was a man of few words, but an intelligent man. He should have apologised.

"I feel extremely strongly about that because of the damage (he caused) to everyone, to the community he affected, the embarrassment he caused to the club.

"We stand for diversity. I watched that team (of Regis, Cunningham and Batson). I know Cyrille and Brendon. Hopefully we've been seen to deal with it properly."

After Albion, Anelka finished his playing days with Mumbai City with the FA calling for his ban to be served in India.

Following retirement, he went on to coach and become a sporting director, with his latest role coming as a chief executive in Turkey.

But the issue was raised again in 2020 following a Netflix documentary into Anelka's career called 'Misunderstood'.

He was asked about the controversy at Albion - and then claimed the gesture was in fact aimed at his former manager Clarke.

Anelka explained how he and Clarke had not seen eye to eye during his time at the club.

He said: "I was back on the team and my first game after Clarke left, I scored. So, I did that celebration. People don't know this because I never wanted to talk about Steve Clarke. But when I did the 'quenelle', it was for him.

"You didn't use me when you were here and as soon as you left, look. I played and I scored. Take that. Shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

When Anelka arrived in the summer of 2013 - he spoke of how his move to The Hawthorns 'felt right'.

He went on to say he wanted to finish his career in England and with Albion. He did just that, but not in the way he would have imagined.