Albion bought Brendon Batson, Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham, who were then dubbed the Three Degrees. Atkinson said: “Cyrille was probably the best centre-forward I ever worked with – and I worked with a few good ones. The game was on TV and Sir Matt Busby actually said afterwards that was the best debut he'd seen in a long time." If we can go a few wins on the trot we’ll move up so many places. It can go the other way, though, if we lose a few in a row.

Astle told me later that was him getting me involved because he thought I was going to be a good youngster. The Lions head to The Hawthorns on Saturday in the first of Albion's final nine fixtures – including eight in a mammoth and season-defining month of April. We got on well. There was a period in that season when we were both injured and we spent our days together in the gym. If so, please let us know and we will be happy to share them with the world! Robertson, Ally All the Best to superstar and legendary player WBA Ally Robertson. The Best soccer game ever of all time WBA v Red Star Belgrade, Beograd.Turner’s men travelled north for the third meeting on Monday, November 24, barely 48 hours after a 3-0 home defeat to Wrexham which left them 11th in the Fourth Division table. Almost exactly 40 years on, Robertson now reflects on a moment when instinct took over. “He shot into the top corner and I went up to try and head it and just punched it,” he says. “I didn’t stand there and think ‘I’ve got to save this.’ The shot was so fast and so hard, I just did it. I think in our day nobody intentionally went to save it and cause a penalty.” After making the save he lay in the goalmouth for a moment before standing sheepishly, hands on hips and head bowed, as the referee took his name. “It was on the telly and if I remember my face is so upset, it was like ‘Good God – what have I done?’” You could feel that it was a club with a history – they’d recently won an FA Cup, played in Europe, too. Still, he’d rather not think about Chorley. Tomorrow night, Robertson is hoping the current Wolves team can exorcise the demon. Robertson, with 626 Albion appearances second on the all-time list to his close friend Tony Brown, is confident the Baggies can record the points required to make the cut – but only with a positive start this weekend.

Ally Robertson, John Wile, Derek Statham - who travels over at least once a year from Spain - and Ally Brown or Len Cantello put forward their argument that it’s not just about winning but entertaining. I turned up at training, but they had no kit. Brian said haven't you brought your own? I hadn't had to bring my own kit for 18 years so I phoned Dave Matthews, kit man at Albion, and said Dave, 'I need kit, but it can't be blue and white!' There's no hint of arrogance in Robertson's voice when he says the above, just an overwhelming sense of pride. Three decades later, he feels fortunate to have a unique place in the history of both clubs.The various ‘meeters and greeters’ will almost certainly include the likes of Cyrille Regis or John Kaye as the debate over whether the 1968 vintage had the appearance, depth, character or complexity of the ‘78 batch. Is there something an author can do, besides just being a better writer, that would make your job easier? Regis was a key part of the Baggies team which finished third in the First Division under Atkinson’s reign in the 1978/79 campaign. Born in Philipstourn, Lothoan, in 1952, he won four Scotland caps and added six youth caps to his tally between 1968-70 but, amazingly, failed to earn any senior recognition with his country. He always assumed he would finish his career at Albion, but after 18 eventful years playing in some of the best Baggies teams in living memory, the no-nonsense Scotsman joined Wolves around his 34th birthday.

His actual words to me were: ‘Ally, when you won the ball you could give the ball to Bryan Robson, Tony Brown, Len Cantello, who have we got you can pass the ball to? I told my wife it was 50 years ago and she turned round and said she was seven then because she’s 10 years younger than me,” he joked. “I just said ‘don’t’. We created an atmosphere that was absolutely brilliant. The team spirit was second to none. I remember we played Albion once. I was out of the team by this point, but Bully and Robbie Dennison scored and we won 2-1. I stood up and cheered. After going through the interview process they decided that Mullery was going to be the next manager but somewhere along the line somebody made a mistake and informed Allen that he’d got the job instead, rather than Alan. Your bloodstained face and shirt are one of the most iconic FA Cup images. Do you remember anything from that game?I said to Saunders 'If I ever bump into you outside I'm going to belt you, because what you've done is an absolute disgrace. I'm going to prove you wrong, wherever I go, I'm going to prove you wrong'." While Robertson’s parents arrived at the game in style, the defender didn’t. “I got the number 75 bus to where we were having our pre-match meal,” the Express & Star columnist continued. “Can you imagine that now? I had my steak and beans and then travelled to the stadium with the team.” He has joined Vincent Kompany’s side upon their return to the top flight, with the Clarets having dominated the Championship on their way to automatic promotion. What has Ally Robertson said about Dara O’Shea’s departure from West Brom?

If I’d tried that at Cambridge, my old team-mate Dave Stringer would have booted me out of the ground, and here was a teenager Derek Statham, in the First Division at West Brom, playing with such ability and grace, when he was barely old enough to legally buy a pint. I knew what that meant – I was in the side, but I simply had to perform. He didn’t need to spell it out to me – I’d played twice, I’d played badly, and this was going to be my third strike. It all started in 1967 when he joined the Baggies as a 15-year-old apprentice, leaving six sisters and five brothers behind in Philipstoun, a tiny village 20 miles west of Edinburgh with a population of 300. Atkinson recalled watching Regis for the first time in the flesh after taking charge at The Hawthorns in January 1978. Robertson will be the eighth inductee to feature on the clubs’ new podcast, with the domineering centre-half set to discuss his four-year Molineux career when he joins hosts Mikey Burrows and Chris Iwelumo.I think that was the biggest reason why I never got a Scottish cap," he said. "You're left out for a year and a half and nobody knows you, you've got to start again. Steve Bull scored a whopping 52 goals that season and next year the team topped Division Three as champions too. Robertson, Ally Met Ally in Madeira. Spent some time with Ally and his partner. Told me about his playing career had a few drinks with him on a few occasions. What a very nice man. Steve Bull, Andy Mutch, Andy Thompson, Floyd Streete and Robbie Dennison all joined the club and Wolves made their way up the table into the play-offs. Within two weeks I was thinking 'what on earth have I done?' The players that were there couldn't have got in Bromsgrove's side.