West Brom fans rejoice as Assembly confirms welcome upgrade at The Hawthorns

Albion chiefs have confirmed an improved public address system will be in place for the new season in a move welcomed by supporters.

Stadium speakers at The Hawthorns have drawn complaints and negative comments from fans for a number of years and it has been a focus of the club’s to address the issue as well as the matchday experience generally.

The Albion Assembly - the fan group who hold quarterly club meetings - met at the stadium last week when club bosses including executive director Mark Miles, director of events and experience Tomasz Chadwick and director of operations Chris Harris updated members.

Half-time queues, food offerings, in-stadium Wi-Fi, atmosphere, events and concerts at The Hawthorns, players visiting hospitality suites, road-side digital screens were all discussed by Chadwick, who has started a new role after moving from head of commercial.

And an update on the public address system proved popular with group members and fans online.

The Assembly minutes read: “To the delight of AA members, CH (Chris Harris) confirmed the club were currently installing a new PA system at The Hawthorns.

“He said the provider - who had been excellent so far - was more than halfway through fitting it, and they were confident it would be in place by the start of the new season.”

The update comes as another boost to match going fans, after Harris told the Fan Advisory Board meeting on May 14 that work was almost half-complete and speakers would begin being fitted to the stadium roofs by the end of this month.

The news drew a positive reaction from supporters on social media.

Chadwick also confirmed the club are set to appoint a dedicated fan experience manager ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

The Baggies are also looking into employing matchday ‘Hawthorns helpers’ to support fans.

It was confirmed the Championship club are looking to improve on concourse food offerings and explore how technology including self-pouring and self-ordering devices can help with queuing.

Assembly members asked whether, when closed around 90 minutes before kick-off on a matchday, Halfords Lane could be used for fan experience, but were told the road would be required to reopen quickly for an emergency.

It was said locations are currently limited to the nearby fan zone, on the corner with Birmingham Road, and the East Stand car park.