Latest news with #AndrewNestor
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
West Bromwich Albion women's team move to new stadium
The Alexander Stadium has been named as the new home of West Bromwich Albion's women's team for the 2025-26 in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham, the club said the 17,500 all-seater ground had "word-class facilities" and was just four miles from Albion's ground in West Bromwich - The Bromwich Albion Women have been playing their recent seasons at Redditch United's Valley Stadium, which is 20 miles away from West chairman Shilen Patel promised in the summer that they were looking for a new home for the women's team. The team play in the National League Northern Premier league and two promotion spots are available this director Andrew Nestor said: "This is another significant step forward for our women's football programme."We are committed to the advancement of our women's first team, and this is a crucial component for the club's progression. "This venue move will ensure our players and coaches are working in top-class facilities at home fixtures, and that our supporters enjoy a vibrant and welcoming match day experience within our local community."He added: "I want to make special mention to all our women's first team leadership and club staff and thank them for their work in securing this stadium partnership. We look forward to welcoming our fans to the Alexander Stadium." Manager Siobhan Hodgetts-Still said: "It's a really great venue to be playing our games at this season.""It brings us much closer to our area, which will hopefully continue to grow our fanbase. "And it also shows the ambition of the ownership group and the football club, in terms of the direction we believe we're heading."The first match there will be the FAWNL Northern Premier Division game against Stoke City on Sunday 14 September. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'It's clearly a huge loss'
The sale of Torbjorn Heggem is clearly a huge loss to the heart of West Bromwich Albion's defence, however, it is the best example yet of the recruitment model that has been implemented under the club's owners, Bilkul, and led by their sporting director Andrew of the club, practically nothing was known about the Norwegian defender when he arrived from Swedish top-flight side IF Brommapojkarna in July cost under £600k and, fast forward 13 months, he is a Norway international and is going to be playing in Serie A after sealing a move which is worth in the region of £ was deservedly crowned the Baggies' player of the season after featuring in all but one of their Championship games in the 2024-25 campaign, and provided further proof of his credentials with a solid performance for his national team in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Italy during the summer - which may have alerted Bologna to his talents, although it is likely he was on their radar more of Steve Hermon's analysis on Heggem's departure here.
BBC News
08-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
West Brom defender Bartley retires through injury
West Brom defender Kyle Bartley has been forced to retire on the eve of the Championship season because of a knee 34-year-old was under contract at the Hawthorns for another year but has called time on his career."Unfortunately, a knee injury I picked up during last season has led me to make the difficult decision to hang up my boots, despite my best efforts to rehabilitate from it," Bartley said., external"I consider myself incredibly lucky to have played the game I love, and it is the highs and lows of football that have helped make me the man I am today."Bartley joined the Baggies in 2018 and made 232 appearances for the club - including a season in the Premier League in captained the club when fit last Director Andrew Nestor said: "Kyle helped lead the team both on and off the pitch – often by putting his body on the line in the heart of our defence."Making more than 200 appearances for one club is rare nowadays and we are grateful to Barts for his seven years' service to Albion." 'A huge part of the dressing room' - Analysis Steve Hermon, BBC Radio WM's West Bromwich Albion reporter"The knee injury was something Kyle had been struggling with last season and he powered through the pain."Last season he wore the captain's armband for the majority of the season. He was divisive with supporters and was criticised a few seasons ago but bounced back and was brilliant during their play-off campaign in 2023-24."He was a huge part of the dressing room, was part of the pre-season tour to Austria but has now called time on his career."
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
West Brom sign striker Heggebo from SK Brann
West Bromwich Albion have signed striker Aune Heggebo from Norwegian side SK Brann for an undisclosed 23-year-old has scored seven times in 13 appearances this campaign - the Eliteserien season runs from March to November - and joins the Baggies on a started his career at SK Brann in April 2018 and has scored 29 goals in 102 Norwegian becomes new Albion head coach Ryan Mason's third signing after Liverpool defender Nat Phillips and Harrogate Town forward Jack Bray."Reinforcing our striker options was a top priority going into this summer," Baggies sporting director Andrew Nestor said."Aune is a young, mentally strong talent with the technical and physical attributes that we were seeking to add to the squad, as well as complementing our existing attacking options."
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
New Albion boss Mason club's 'top choice'
West Bromwich Albion sporting director Andrew Nestor says Ryan Mason was the club's first choice to be their new head coach after the sacking of Tony was relieved of his duties in April following Albion's home loss to Derby County with the club appointing former player James Morrison as interim boss for the final two games of the a disappointing run of five defeats from their final eight matches, Albion finished the season ninth in the Championship, four points off the play-off have now turned to rookie boss Mason, 34, embarking on his first permanent head coach role after two brief spells as caretaker at Tottenham in 2021 and 2023."We had other candidates but as we got to engage with Ryan and have discussions he became our top choice," Nestor told BBC Radio WM."It was a smooth process once we had the chance to engage with him."Obviously he was very busy with a great Europa League run. Once we had permission, we had a high level discussion around the vision for the club and the vision for his career."We got more granular through that process in terms of the tactics, the day-to-day operations, alignment along the different sporting departments, as well as staff." Albion's poor form at the back end of last season, combined with a style of play which many fans had become disillusioned with, was a key reason behind Mason's appointment and a seeming change in strategy."First and foremost, there's a very clear alignment in our playing model and the kind of squad we want to keep evolving and building," Nestor added."Otherwise he [Mason] wouldn't have been a top choice - there has to be that alignment. We have a very structured process around player recruitment and scouting. Ryan's input is very important to that."For every position, we have a shadow squad - a list of players we like and if there is an outgoing, those are players that we would approach and that continues to change on a daily basis."Myself, [director of football operations] Ian Pearce, [head of technical scouting] Dan Sale and Ryan were all aligned on what the squad needs going into next season. Last season, there was a lot of turnover and frankly we needed that to address the PSR (profit and sustainability rules) deficit."But we also wanted to address the playing style, to get the team younger, start to invest into assets that will have future value but will really impact the first-team straight away and create a better squad balance."BBC Radio WM's Steve Hermon will be joining the Baggies on their pre-season trip to Austria next week and compiling a 'Daily Diary' which you will be able to read here.
