The West Brom moment in 2005 that still shocks to this day | OneFootball

The Baggies wrote themselves into the Premier League history books two decades ago

After being promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, more often than not, the three sides who achieve such success are immediately tipped for relegation back into the EFL.

In 2004, West Bromwich Albion made a swift return to the top-flight alongside champions Norwich City and play-off winners, Crystal Palace, with the Baggies hoping to consolidate among the elite as their first-ever season in the newly-formatted division ended in relegation just two seasons prior.

As well as being tipped for relegation by many outsiders at the time, Albion didn't exactly do their chances of proving the doubters wrong any favours for the vast majority of the season. However, two decades later, the class of 2004/05 at The Hawthorns are still remembered fondly for their end-of-season heroics which wrote the club into the record books.

West Bromwich Albion's bleak start to 2004/05 Premier League season

After earning promotion, Gary Megson made an influx of new signings which brought a range of experience to B71, including the free transfer of Kanu, who had previously won the league with Arsenal on two occasions, as well as Martin Albrechtsen, Darren Purse, Jonathan Greening, Zoltan Gera and Robert Earnshaw on a club-record deal for at least £3m.

Ironically, the West Midlands side got off to a respectable start with three successive draws against Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, with Neil Clement scoring the club's first two goals of the season and ending the trio of matches in a season-high position of 11th.

It took Megson's side eight games to record their first win of the season with a 2-1 home victory over Bolton Wanderers, but that would be their only three-point haul until January 2005, and he would be sacked later in the month after over four years in the hotseat following a 3-0 defeat to Palace and a fall-out with chairman, Jeremy Peace.

Former midfielder and ex-Middlesbrough boss, Bryan Robson, was then handed a two-and-a-half-year contract alongside Nigel Pearson. Despite earning a credible point away at the reigning champions and previous invincibles, Arsenal, in just his second game in charge, Albion slumped to the bottom of the table, with a 4-0 defeat away to local rivals Birmingham City confirming that they would prop up the division on Christmas Day with just 10 points from 18 games, five points from safety.

Despite making the smart additions of Kevin Campbell and Richard Chaplow, many had written Albion off in terms of an escape from relegation, although a 2-0 home win over Manchester City, which brought the late striker his first goal after moving from Everton, would be the first of five wins in the second half of the season which sparked the most miraculous of escape acts.

Another 2-0 victory against Birmingham in early March finally lifted the Baggies off the foot of the table, and two wins in the next three against Charlton Athletic and Everton, followed by two draws against Aston Villa, in which Paul Robinson equalised in the 90th minute, and Spurs, was enough to see the club climb out of the bottom three for the first time since November 6th.

In typical fashion, a run of two defeats and as many draws, although one would prove to be a vital point away at Old Trafford, saw Albion fall back into the relegation zone ahead of what was dubbed as 'Survival Sunday', with Robson's men back at the foot of the division ahead of a home game with Portsmouth, needing to better all of Palace, Southampton and Norwich's results to survive.

The Canaries were thrashed 6-0 by Fulham, whilst the other two encounters relating to Albion's predicament were much more topsy-turvy, with it looking like the Saints or the Eagles were on course for safety after taking the lead against Manchester United and Charlton Athletic respectively, before the Red Devils turned it around at St Mary's after James Beattie's opener, whilst Jonathan Fortune cancelled out Dougie Freedman and Andy Johnson's second-half turnaround at the Valley to plunge Palace's safety into doubt.

Meanwhile, Albion supporters were treated to the most memorable of second-half displays as Geoff Horsfield's stunning volley saw West Brom take the lead, before United loanee, Kieran Richardson, fired home after 75 minutes, before news began to come through regarding the results which needed to, and eventually, had, gone the Baggies' way, causing scenes of pandemonium in the Midlands.

After a lengthy post-match pitch invasion, Robson told the BBC: "This is the best (moment) ever. It is a fantastic feeling. The lads have done me proud and worked their socks off. They deserve this."

A 17th-place finish, one point ahead of Palace and Norwich, saw the club become the first-ever side in Premier League history to survive after being bottom at Christmas. Although they were relegated the following season and the feat has since been replicated on three occasions, it is a season which continues to be passed down the generations in the Birmingham Road and Smethwick ends.