We catch up with West Bromwich Albion’s 2009/10 promotion winning side.
In 2009/10, Robert Di Matteo led his West Bromwich Albion side back to the Premier League, finishing second in the Championship. Di Matteo was recently sacked by west Midlands Aston Villa; so let’s catch up with the rest of his promotion winning side.
Three of Roberto Di Matteo’s side currently reside in East Anglia. Graham Dorrans and Youssouf Mulumbu are both part of Alex Neil’s Norwich City squad for the Championship season, with the former enjoying a good run of form recently.
Dean Kiely has been the Canaries’ goalkeeping coach since leaving West Bromwich Albion’s coaching staff in January of 2015.
And Kiely isn’t the only member of Di Matteo’s squad to transition into coaching. Steven Reid is first-team coach at Jaap Stam’s Reading after ending his playing career at Burnley in 2015.
Another five members of that promotion winning side still play in English football’s second tier. George Thorne and Scott Carson are both at Derby County. Carson’s goalkeeping coach is fellow ex-Baggie Pascal Zuberbuler.
Joe Mattock never lived up to his billing at West Brom and the left-back currently turns out for Rotherham United.
Two members of Albion’s academy are playing for Garry Monk’s Leeds United. Chris Wood left Albion in 2013 after four years and 21 apperances. Kemar Roofe enjoyed an eye-catching season under -ex-West Brom player and coach Michael Appleton at Oxford United, before earning a move to play for Leeds in the Championship.
Fellow West Brom academy graduate, Romaine Sawyers, spent three years with Walsall before making the switch to Brentford. Paul Downing played with Sawyers at Walsall and is now at League One side MK Dons.
This season, Downing will come up against his former Albion teammates Jerome Thomas, Leon Barnett, Ishmael Miller and Simon Cox. Thomas was an influential member of Di Matteo’s squad and, after spells with Crystal Palace and Rotherham United, he now plays for Port Vale.
Leon Barnett and Ishmael Miller play for Bury after both becoming free agents in the summer. Miller signed for the Shakers last month and has made two appearances so far.
One of Di Matteo’s first signings was Simon Cox and the forward scored ten goals in three years at the Hawthorns. He is currently playing for Phil Brown’s 16th placed Southend United.
Reuben Reid was signed by Di Matteo from Rotherham United and the youngster only featured four times for the Baggies. Reid spent last season with League Two side Plymouth Argyle and has stayed in the division this season with Exeter City.
Luke Moore finds himself without a club after leaving Toronto FC in February.
Marek Cech currently plies his football with Italian Lega Pro side Clacio Como. The versatile defensive player had spells with Trabzonspor, Bologna and Boavista before making the move to Como.
Fellow full-back Gianni Zuiverloon has also bounced around a bit since leaving West Brom. After two seasons with Mallorca, he moved back to Dutch football with Heerenveen and then ADO Den Haag. Zuiverloon has since returned to Spanish football with Segunda Division B team Cultural Leonese.
Gonzalo Jara and Roman Bednar are both back in their native leagues. Jara plays for Chilean side Universidad de Chile, while Bednar is with Czech team FK Pribram.
The most travelled member of Di Matteo’s squad has to be Abdoulaye Meite. The defender had stints at Dijon (French League), FC Honka (Japanese League), Doncaster Rovers, Crete (Greek League) and Ross County (Scottish League). He currently plays for Seinajoen Jalkapallokerho in the Finnish League.
Three members of Di Matteo’s promotion winning side are still at the Hawthorns. Chris Brunt, James Morrison and Jonas Olsson are all part of Tony Pulis’ squad for the 2016-7 campaign.
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