West Bromwich Albion – The Hawthorns
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The Hawthorns is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 28,003. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900. In the advent of the Taylor Report, the Smethwick End and Birmingham Road End terraces were demolished, being replaced by all-seater stands. The redeveloped stadium was re-opened on Boxing Day 1994.
In 2001, the Rainbow Stand was replaced by the new East Stand. The Jeff Astle gates, commemorating West Brom’s greatest striker, were unveiled in July 2003, forming the entrance to the East Stand car park. In December 2003, the directors unveiled plans to increase the stadium’s capacity to 40,000 but these are unlikely to go ahead unless Albion establish themselves as permanent members of the Premier League. Away supporters occupy part of the Smethwick End Stand, behind the goal at the South End.
How to get to The Hawthorns
By Road:
The Hawthorns is situated in Halfords Lane, West Bromwich, West Midlands B71 4LF.
From the North, follow the M6 as far as junction 8, joining the M5 (signed Birmingham (S) /Birmingham (W) / M5 / W Bromwich. Exit the M5 at junction 1 towards A41 / Birmingham (NW) / W Bromwich / Sandwell. Turn left onto the A41. Turn right at Halford’s Lane and the stadium is on the left.
From the South, exit the M5 at junction 1, towards A41 / B’ham (NW) / W Bromwich. Merge onto the A41. Turn left at Halford’s Lane and the ground is on the left. The map below can provide directions from all UK locations and is useful for locating parking and recommended pubs.
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By Rail:
The closest station is The Hawthorns, within a 5-minute walk of the ground. It is served by a regular Metro service from Birmingham Snow Hill, with a journey time of about 8 minutes. Click here to check the current train timetables
By Air:
The closest airport is Birmingham International, some 16 miles away, offering regular connections to Birmingham New Street station, which is only a short walk from Birmingham Snow Hill (see above). Click here to check the current flight times
Taxis
There are several taxi companies in the West Midlands that can take you to and from the stadium. You can always prebook a private hire taxi, or hail a black cab on any highway.
Calling all West Midlands Taxi Companies – Why not advertise your company here?.
Where to Park?
There are a number of private car parks within walking distance of The Hawthorns. These include The Hawthorns Pub, Birmingham Road B71 4JZ with 80 spaces and a 1-minute walk from the stadium. After exiting the M5, take the A41 towards Birmingham and the car park is on the right just before the stadium. Gordon Motor Services, Dartmouth Road, B66 1BG has 100 spaces and is a 10-minute walk from the ground.
If travelling from the North, exit the M5 at junction 1, taking the 2nd exit at the roundabout onto Kendrick Way (A252), signed Oldbury / Smethwick. At the next roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Dartmouth Road (signed Hawthorns Park & Ride). The car park is on the left just before the traffic lights.
From the South, leave the M5 at junction 1, take the 5th exit at the roundabout and follow directions as for North. West Midlands Fire Service Training Centre, Dartmouth Road, B66 1BG, has 200 spaces and is a 15-minute walk. Directions are as for Gordon Motor Services but the car park will be on the right.
Away Friendly Pubs near The Hawthorns
There are no pubs for away fans close to the ground. Numerous visiting fans have recommended The Royal Oak, on Birmingham Road. Pass the ground on the right and the pub is set back off the road after about ½ a mile. The atmosphere is reported as extremely friendly and the chicken kebabs are apparently superb.
Also strongly recommended is The Vine, about a 20-minute walk from the ground. It can be reached from junction 1 of the M5 by turning left towards the town centre and taking the first left into Roebuck Street. The pub offers an excellent atmosphere, with a good range of beers and an indoor tandoori barbeque.
Closer to the town centre, the Asian-run Desi Junction offers an “eat as much as you like” buffet for a fiver on match days. Alcohol is also available within the ground, but queues are lengthy.
Hotels near The Hawthorns
The Park Inn West Bromwich, Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, B70 6RS is just over ½ a mile from the stadium, 4 miles from Birmingham city centre and close to M6, M5 and M42 junctions. Guest reviews have been generally favourable for this refurbished hotel, with bar / restaurant, air-conditioned gym and heated indoor swimming pool. Free on-site parking is available.
The West Bromwich Central Premier Inn (pictured right), High Street, West Bromwich, B70 6JJ is just over a mile from The Hawthorns, offering comfortable en suite accommodation with a prime city centre location, only 500 yards from junction 1 of the M5 and close to junction 8 of the M6. Guest reviews have been excellent, noting excellent facilities, knowledgeable, friendly, efficient staff and a good selection of quality food and drink.
Click here to see all hotels near the Hawthorns
What have other Away Fans said about their trip to The Hawthorns?
Many visiting fans have noted the Hawthorns as one of the easiest Premiership grounds to find and park nearby. Most visitors have found the home support friendly and welcoming. The facilities and view of play in the Smethwick end are reported as adequate, though seating legroom is cramped.
A constant cause for complaint is the concourse at the rear of the Smethwick End, which is too small compared to the overall capacity, making it cramped and overcrowded. The food and drink offered is reported as excellent, but serving areas are too small, leading to lengthy queues. Other downsides include a lack of atmosphere and overzealous stewarding.
This has to be one of the easiest grounds to find. Take J1 of the M5, and you’re pretty much there! The hardest thing is finding somewhere to park, before you’ve gone past the ground – we got into an industrial estate about 5 minutes walk from the ground – it cost around £5, and looked like a great spot – far enough away from the ground to miss the queues, but not too far – easy to get back on the motorway.
How wrong we were though – the buggers crammed as many cars as possible in, so we couldn’t leave the car park until the 50 people in front of us had all returned to their cars and got out onto the main road, which was queued back due to traffic lights. Hence it took us over an hour to travel the quarter of a mile to the motorway.
I love the ground itself – it was easy to get the atmosphere going, and when the home team scored the place was really rocking (we lost 3-0, so there were a lot of happy home fans). The concourse was quite thin and narrow, but the queues for food and drink weren’t too bad, and neither were the prices.
I found it strange that after the game, away fans are herded, via gating through a residential area taking a detour of around half a mile to arrive back the other side of the gate – There was no hint of trouble between the two sets of fans, so it was strange to be treated like this – surely if any home fans wanted a fight, they’d know exactly where the away fans are led via this system?
anyway, West Brom is one of the easier grounds to get to for Argyle fans, and I’ll definitely be doing this trip again now that they’re back in the Championship.
If you fancy a few pre/post match beers then try the Wagon & Horses, come out of the Hawthornes and turn left, walk for about 10 mins and you will find it. Its sky blue and looks likes a dump but the locals are(or were to us anyway) very welcoming. Plus on our last visit there were loads of staff so you don’t go too thirsty waiting to get served.
Once you have had a few here try the kebab shop round the corner to soak it all up.
Went to the Hawthorns September 2010. We parked in a slip road immediately off the M5 on a verge in the centre of the 2 carriageways, like many other drivers. We had a quick drink at West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club before hand, it cost a couple of pound to get in for a pint and is strictly for home fans only. Luckily I knew a few of the lads playing cricket that day as my club are in the same league. So they assumed I was local. The Atmosphere is great at the Hawthorns, the ground is small but all closed in so the home support is quite impressive at times. After the final whistle we were herded out on a detour as mentioned in a previous post. Unfortunately a good day was spoiled when we got back to our car. A ginger lad frothing at the mouth was trying to tice us out of our vehicle once we started the engine, he bravely stood with about 10 lads behind him on the footpath. This was totally unprovoked and he followed our car as we were gridlocked in traffic for some time. I would certainly not recommend parking in the slip road just off the M5 on the Hawthorns side for this reason. I’m sure this was a one off, but ruined a pretty good away day.