Save the throstle! West Brom fan highlights plight of threatened bird that gave club its identity

Albion's traditional club symbol is a throstle (a song thrush) perched on a hawthorn branch and the club were once nicknamed 'the Throstles', before becoming more commonly known as the Baggies.

But Malcolm, who writes about football, has become dismayed at the demise of the mascot 'Baggie Bird' who has been joined by Boiler Man in recent seasons in line with the club's sponsorship deal with Ideal.

He is also concerned about the decline of the song thrush from which the throstle nickname was derived. In recent years it has been placed on the international red list for threatened species.

Hawthorns have also been in steep decline because of the increasing practice of clearing hedgerows for intensive agriculture. Albion have played at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich since 1900.

In a letter to the Express & Star, Malcolm called for Albion to be spurred into action to get a conservation message out to a traditionally 'non-green' audience and at the same time bring back the tradition of the club, which dates back to the 19th century.

He said: "Legend has it that in 1884, the players regularly passed a caged bird outside their changing rooms as they made their way on to the pitch. They reckoned the louder the throstle chirped, the better their luck would be. Club secretary Tom Smith consequently found his inspiration for the team emblem.

"I would have thought surely when they realised real-life elements of their historic motif were under threat they would be spurred into action?

"Maybe they could help promote local wildlife charities organise tree-planting sessions. Just getting a conservation message out to a traditionally 'non-green' audience would be a positive thing - and it wouldn’t be expensive.

"West Bromwich Albion have been at the forefront of so many things like being founder members of the Football League, being on the first recorded showing of a game in 1898, going to China in 1978 as the first western team to do and famously promoting and pioneering the 'Three Degrees' [Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson] which helped with the emergence of more black players.

"I have been lobbying the club since 2017, hoping 'the Throstles' would surely want to give their beleaguered namesake a helping hand - and initially they were interested until they realised I lived in Sydney and things went silent.

"I later approached the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust who were keen to progress the concept but nothing has happened since."

West Bromwich Albion were approached for comment and a club spokesman pointed to their continued support of the World Wildlife Federation's World Wildlife Day as evidence of their concern about nature and biodiversity.

He said: "In common with other organisations who removed nature from their branding, the iconic throstle bird sitting on the hawthorn tree was taken down for 24 hours. This was to highlight the catastrophic loss of biodiversity globally and the social and economic risks it poses. We hope this will continue for the 2024 event.

"But we are also fully aware of the history of the club and will always continue to represent that in any badges or branding that we use whether around the ground, on kits or on club merchandise."