Paul Robinson treasures West Brom's Great Escape memories two decades on

Thousands of Baggies supporters had barely dispersed from The Hawthorns turf after a 2-0 final-day victory over Portsmouth had secured Premiership survival in history-making fashion.

The feat was masterminded by boss and legendary former midfielder Bryan Robson, who had a message for his squad as they were sinking refreshing beverages in the home dressing room afterwards.

Tough-tackling left-back Paul Robinson, a crowd favourite and hero of the second half of the season push, explained: "After the game we had a few beers and Bryan told us we were in for a cool down the next day. The lads were like 'is he joking?'

"We all turned up at the training ground in the morning with our wash bags expecting to do a cool down. We expected to get our end-of-season programmes, to make sure we were looking after ourselves.

"We came in, Bryan burst through the doors and said 'lads I've got something to tell you, we're not doing a cool down...' and he opened up loads of cool boxes full of champagne and beer. We all just cracked on!"

Second-half goals from substitute Geoff Horsfield and Manchester United loan youngster Kieran Richardson did the job for Albion - but it went down to results elsewhere, and that famous late equaliser by Jonathan Fortune for Charlton condemned Crystal Palace - as nerves jangled before a remarkable eruption.

Robinson fondly - and somewhat hazily - recalled a day spent celebrating in Birmingham before finishing with the end-of-season presentation night at The Hawthorns.

"We were drinking at the training ground, got taxis into Birmingham and had a Chinese for lunch together and then headed back to The Hawthorns for the awards night," he added. "I can't remember much of it but it was a good night!

"We made sure we enjoyed each other's company before we went off to enjoy time with our families and switch off."

Thursday marks 20 years to the day the Baggies completed the unthinkable. They were dead and buried - or so everybody claimed - while rock-bottom on Christmas Day. A club had never survived relegation from the Premiership from that doomed position.

Robson was appointed in November of a difficult campaign to replace the great Gary Megson following a start to the season which had yielded just one win.

Heavy defeats against Southampton and Liverpool, on Boxing Day, were the nadir for the new boss. From December 28, a spirited draw at Manchester City, things began to turn.

The late Kevin Campbell, Baggies captain, told the story of a team bonding trip to Florida, sanctioned by Robson, to build morale for a survival push.

Victories arrived and defeats were less common. City were beaten at The Hawthorns before Birmingham were dispatched of and Charlton were beaten 4-1 at The Valley courtesy of a late Rob Earnshaw hat-trick. Zoltan Gera, scorer of big goals from midfield, struck for a crucial 1-0 win over Everton into April.

Four draws - including the penultimate day's point at Old Trafford with Earnshaw spot-on again - and two defeats came, it was decent form but it still left work to be done on that dramatic final day against Portsmouth, who just above the dotted line had safety wrapped up.

That day, May 15 2005, undeterred by scorelines elsewhere, Albion re-emerged after half-time to the theme tune of The Great Escape. Come full-time, Portsmouth fans in the away end cheered 'play up Albion' as they shared glee with Southampton plummeting to the second tier.

"The Portsmouth game for us was one of the easiest," remembered Robinson, whose spell as Watford's opposition analyst is set to end this summer. "We were at home, we went in as favourites because of the run we were on and the way we were playing.

"The 4-1 Charlton win, the Villa game where I equalised and then obviously the draw at Old Trafford - those results stand out as having given us that great opportunity for the last day.

"We were fully focused and that's what Bryan brought to us, as well as Nigel (Pearson) and Craig (Shakespeare) in the background. They drove it from behind the scenes and were on the touchline leading and demanding. You need that from managers and coaches to keep you on your toes."

Robinson added: "The overriding memory and feeling is just that we did it, we survived. We were the first team to ever do it.

"People saw us as down, heading back down to the second tier, it would be a struggle to get back up. There was just loads of emotion about what we'd gone through and how we went through it as a group, fans, staff, our families. It was everyone sticking together.

"They are ever-lasting memories and we celebrate 20 years of it. We are missing good people, like Kevin Campbell, Craig Shakespeare and Frank Burrows.

"These memories live for people wherever they may be, if they were there, if they were watching on from the telly. We played in it, enjoyed it and made the most of it. It was a special time."