Chairman and chief executive sacked as West Brom fight for Premier League survival

The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion

The cliched terrace chant of “sack the board” unusually came true at West Bromwich Albion after chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman were fired from the struggling Premier League club.

Both had joined the club following Guochuan Lai’s takeover in August 2016, with Williams joining immediately and Goodman following four months later.

John Williams (Credit: wba.co.uk)

However the club has had a difficult year on the pitch, with a long sequence of poor results. They have won just four of their last 36 Premier League matches in a run stretching back to last March and are currently bottom of the Premier League, seven points from safety.

In a statement West Brom said: “These changes follow Albion’s poor results this season which currently sees the club at the bottom of the Premier League.”

Owner Guochuan Lai wielded the axe having previously sacked manager Tony Pulis in November. The subsequent appointment of Alan Pardew hasn’t improved the club’s fortunes with only one league win in 13 matches.

Mark Jenkins, who was chief executive for 14 years before Lai’s takeover, returns to the role. He had recently been appointed as a director to the club’s controlling company, WBA Holdings.

He said: “There is much to do but for now the focus must solely be on the remaining games of this season.”

Martin Goodman (Credit: wba.co.uk)

Williams served as chairman and chief executive at Blackburn Rovers for more than 14 years and subsequently served as chairman of the referees’ body, the Professional Game Match Officials.

Goodman has been West Brom’s chief executive since January 2017, having previously held senior finance roles at Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers for nearly two decades.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close