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.
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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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