Bilkul's West Brom trend continues as 2025/26 average age assessed

There was one table Albion topped when Bilkul bought the club from Guochuan Lai in 2024.

It was the squad’s average age table as the cash-strapped Baggies found themselves with the oldest group.

It was symbolic of where the club was, flailing financially and reliant on ageing free agents to build a squad to stay afloat in the Championship.

Former boss Carlos Corberan, who did an impressive job with the tools at his disposal, tried to convince the highest average age in the 2023/24 season was no problem to him.

The Spaniard clearly sought not to bring down the mood with the issue, but an ageing, over-the-hill squad is no use to anybody.

And that was spelled out by owner Shilen Patel when he and Bilkul colleagues mapped out a way forward.

It has been far from a smooth ride on the pitch in the ownership’s first two full seasons at The Hawthorns.

The recently completed 2025/26 campaign will stick in the memory as the poorest in generations and will need some recovering from.

But the owners have delivered on their call to bring down the squad’s average age and as a result have been able to add resale value and players with potentially higher ceilings to the club.

Doing so, while working under the restraints of financial fair play - as Albion found out recently with the EFL charge and sanction - was challenging and there is still work to do on that front.

With Jed Wallace, 32, and Joe Wildsmith, 30, having left as free agents, 32-year-old Charlie Taylor’s loan ended and uncertainties around Karlan Grant, 28, and Josh Maja, 27, the average age could drop further still under James Morrison.

So how did Albion’s squad age for 2025/26 stack up?

The trend continues in the right direction from Bilkul’s perspective.

Albion’s average age of 25.7 years ranked tied 10th in the Championship this season.

There is no exact science. A quick glance shows you champions Coventry were middle of the road - a smidge older than Albion - and runners-up Leicester were the fifth oldest.

The top five youngest squads in the division began with Norwich - at 24.3 years - followed by Watford, QPR, Southampton and Millwall. Again, no exact science.

It also factors players used. Champions Coventry only used 27, some used just 29. Albion used 34 in league action this season, while doomed Sheffield Wednesday maxed out with 40.

How does Albion’s fit with their recent trend?

As far as the owners would hope, the figures are moving in the right direction.

The following data show how Albion’s average age has fared in the five seasons the club has been back in the Championship.

2025/26 - 25.7 years (tied-10th in Championship)

2024/25 - 26.4 years (tied-19th in Championship)

2023/24 - 27.6 years (24th in Championship)

2022/23 - 27.0 years (22nd in Championship)

2021/22 - 26.7 years (19th in Championship)

The powers that be have clearly moved the squad in the direction they see fit, certainly from an age demographic.

It will be interesting to see whether that trend continues, or whether decision-makers - James Morrison, Dominic Price and Ian Pearce among them - now see the age as having bottomed out.