West Brom pre-season tour diary: First few hours and a flavour of what's ahead

Ola from Porches! Not the kind you enter your house in - but a small, rural, pretty village in the Algarve, Portugal, my home for the next three nights.

It is a privilege to be out here following Albion on my second pre-season tour abroad on reporting duty.

It has been a long day. Southern Portugal is not the longest jaunt, as many of you reading this will know, but any 4.30am alarm for a travel day can be taxing. There is the small matter of an important World Cup semi-final I’ve got to get through yet, too!

My 8.10am flight left prompt from Birmingham International. I was pleased and unsurprised to see plenty of Albion colours on board.

This oversees trip - the first Baggies fans have been able to visit since 2022 - has captured the imagination of fans and I expect there will be 2,000, easily, in the Estadio da Nora in Albufeira to watch the friendly against Bromley on Friday.

I had the pleasure of doing a week in the Austrian hills last summer, but that was closed to fans.

Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Albion coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. CLICK HERE

It was only when milling through departures in Faro did I see more Baggies fans of all generations, including the beloved ‘Snarka’, recently elected as chair of Albion’s independent supporters’ trust.

Anyway, Portugal is sunny, as you might expect. At first I didn’t think it was that type of unbearable hot it is at home at the moment. But that Mediterranean sun soon gets you!

Those who know me know I like a travel but may not be the most cultured. I’m happy to report I turned down a McDonald’s earlier - but ended up with something equally unexotic.

I reached the village of Porches via two buses. It was an interesting winding journey, while fighting for laptop signal.

The place, which as far as I can see consists of two rural main roads and a sprinkling of white-washed brick houses, is a charmer.

It is sleepy, save for the church bells every half hour and sound of kids playing in a pool in the distance. A shop sold hammocks as I hopped off the scarcely-populated bus - that says it all.

I’m up early tomorrow for a busy day. An interview with Albion new-boy Barney Stewart at 9am before the chance to watch training, and another interview in the afternoon. I can’t wait for that.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’m off for a suitable establishment to watch the football. Come on England!