A lifetime of loyalty: Ken Lord's 80 years with West Brom

National World - LocalTV

Ken Lord has been following West Bromwich Albion for 80 years. He’s not just a superfan—he’s a living archive of the club’s history. We caught up with him to hear his remarkable story of loyalty, love, and football through the decades.

Transcript

00:00Most of us inherit our football club a badge, a colour, a memory passed through the family line,

00:06but for Ken Lord, West Bromwich Albion became more than a team, it was part of his identity.

00:12He watched his first game in the 1940s, still a boy, and from then on,

00:17the club became the backdrop to his life. That first spark, it never faded.

00:22Football's come to a full stop during the war, and they never even started until 1946-47,

00:31with a bit of a chamber because clubs were waiting for players to come back from the war

00:38and see what they got, if they can organise a team. So then the government of the day said,

00:44can you get, not only football or sports, can you get something,

00:49organising something to keep these people happy. So before we didn't start leg release,

00:56so before it's then. Yeah. And then I started to come legally. And since then, I haven't wished to live this.

01:09Back then, the matchday experience looked very different. Terraces, rattles, no floodlights,

01:14no VAR, but the emotions haven't changed. The elation, the heartbreak, the ritual. No matter what

01:20happens beyond the stadium, for some, football stays the one constant. Ken's watched it all shift

01:26around him, yet he's still here, still loyal. They entertained crowds, maybe 40, 30,000 and 30.

01:35Well, he then signed this Monday for about a week. Well, why couldn't we get it? So he discussed with the

01:42government and the FA, and they come to the conclusion that footballers are in assignments,

01:49they shouldn't have made money. And that's when he got the first. One hundred pounds of football,

01:56which was amazing in them days. And obviously the football clubs were still able to pay that much.

02:04Ken doesn't just support the club, he helps preserve its memory. Each week, he joins other fans in

02:09piecing together West Brom's past. Reminiscing, recording, remembering. In a game so obsessed with

02:14the next fixture, the next signing, it's easy to forget the stories that made it what it is. Ken hasn't.

02:20Ken hasn't. If you can't find it yet to promote West Bromish Albion, I take it. I mean, one of my

02:29pets there was, he comes to Albion, and they say, oh, you come from West Brom. And I say to them,

02:38no, I'm a West Bromish Albion supporter. But unfortunately, over the years, in television,

02:44they do, we've all named West Bromish Albion. When West Bromish Albion supporter of the country.

02:50Now, those are my main objects, and we always want to help you, but I'll be cautious of it.

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