Peterborough United were elected to the Football League in 1960, and this is only the third season that they've spent in the top two divisions. Albion's record against them is therefore not an extensive one. But it is quite successful:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | |
| Home | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Away | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| Total |
6 |
4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 8 |
Here are the details:
| 2009/10 | Championship | Albion | 2 | 0 | Peterborough | Peterborough |
2 | 3 | Albion | W |
W |
| 1993/4 | Division 1 | Albion | 3 | 0 | Peterborough |
Peterborough |
2 |
0 | Albion | W | L |
| 1991/2 | Division 3 | Albion | 4 | 0 | Peterborough |
Peterborough |
0 | 0 | Albion | W | D |
In 2009-10, we visited London Road on a Tuesday evening in August - it was our second away game of the season. We'd won the first, against Nottingham Forest on the previous Saturday. Albion took a 3-0 lead in the first half, with two from Luke Moore and one from Chris Brunt. Craig McKail-Smith pulled one back for the Posh in first half injury time, and Aaron Maclean made it 3-2 eight minutes into the second. But Albion held on for the three points - despite having Graham Dorrans sent off in the fifth minute of second half added time.
At The Hawthorns on Boxing Day, Peterborough defended strongly and held Albion at bay for the first hour, but Luke Moore proved to be their downfall again and an own goal from central defender Ryan Bennett made it 2-0.
: club historyPeterborough United FC was founded in 1934, after a previous club (founded just 11 years earlier) was found guilty of financial irregularities and disbanded. The new board promised the city "a posh team" - and the word stuck.
They joined the Midland League, and went on to dominate it in the 1950s. Their achievements were rewarded in 1960 when they were elected to the Football League at the expense of Gateshead.
They won promotion to Division Three immediately, with Terry Bly (who died in September 2009) scoring 52 goals - a post-war Football League record. Peterborough stayed at that level for seven years, but in the longer term they did little other than yo-yo between the bottom two divisions. Dogged by financial troubles, they went into administration in 1988, but in 1991 they won promotion to the Third Division for the third time - the same year that Albion were relegated to that level for the first time.
Albion took four points off Peterborough that season, but while we finished in seventh place it was the Posh that ended up in the play-offs; and they won it, beating Stockport County in the final. (I was there!) This meant promotion to the newly-renamed Division One, and Peterborough had gone from the Fourth Division to the First in only two years.
In 1993 they finished in a respectable 10th place, but the following year they struggled and were bottom for most of the season. Their 2-0 victory over Albion (who had succeeded the Posh as "Second Division Play-off Champions") at London Road on 15th January 1994 was one of only eight wins.
It was in 1996 that Barry Fry took over as manager at London Road. The Posh were relegated to the Third Division the following year, but promoted in 2000; after a further relegation in 2005, Fry moved up to become Director of Football and appointed Mark Wright as manager. Wright lasted only until the following January, when he was sacked for reasons that remain unclear with the team in a promising upper-mid table position. (It was alleged that he made a racist remark to a member of staff.)
They went through three managers in the following twelve months, but the arrival of Darren Ferguson in January 2007 changed everything. In Fergie Junior's first season in charge they finished as runners-up to Milton Keynes, and in 2009 they finished second to Leicester City in League One.
Peterborough's squad however had evolved little since their last season in League Two, and they failed to make headway in the Championship. Ferguson was controversially sacked in November with the team bottom of the table, with just 11 points from 16 games. He was replaced by Mark Cooper, previously manager of non-League Kettering Town and another son of a famous father: Terry Cooper played 250 games for Leeds United - most of them under Don Revie, but going through the Brian Clough fiasco and on into the Jimmy Armfield era - and won 20 caps for England between 1968 and 1974.
Head to HeadThe history of Albion's League meetings with Peterborough is so short that there's little to add to what you can see in the tables at the top of this page. The first ever meeting was at The Hawthorns on 17 September 1993; Albion won 4-0, the goals coming from Gary Robson (2), Paul Williams and Stewart Bowen. That remains our biggest ever victory over the Posh. Our only League defeat to date is the previously-mentioned one on 15th January 1994, when one of their goals was scored by Gary Strodder. The other scorer was Peterborough legend Ken Charlery, who also had a spell under Barry Fry at Birmingham City in 1995-6 (but then, who didn't?).
We've also had a series of Cup games against Peterborough in the last couple of seasons - and all three have ended in victory for Albion at London Road. In 2007-8 we were drawn against them in both the FA Cup and Carling Cup - Fourth and Second rounds respectively - both away from home, winning 3-0 and 2-0. In the FA Cup the scorers were Bednar, Koren and Phillips (pen.); in the Carling it was Gera and Ellington.
Last season - just one year later - we were drawn against them again in the FA Cup, this time at home. The first game ended in a 1-1 draw - Jonas Olsson putting Albion ahead midway through the second half, but Craig McKail-Smith equalising for the Posh with three minutes remaining. In the replay however Albion had another productive trip to London Road, winning 2-0 with goals from Jay Simpson and Paul Robinson.
We had met them in the League Cup on three previous occasions. The first was in the 1965-6 semi-final, when we won 6-3 on aggregate. Tony Brown scored three in a 4-2 win at London Road in the second leg. Three years later Peterborough won 2-1 at London Road - the rock of their defence was 21-year-old John Wile. Finally (until 2007) in 1988-9, they won over two legs, taking the first leg at The Hawthorns 3-0 and restricting Albion to 2-0 in the second leg at London Road. Albion's scorers in the second leg were Andy Gray (yes, that Andy Gray) and Carlton Palmer (yes, that Carlton Palmer).
We also played the Posh in the Texaco Cup in 1974-5. Albion had already drawn 0-0 with Birmingham City and beaten Norwich City 5-1, but a 2-1 defeat to Peterborough meant we failed to qualify from the group stage.
And finally ... in 1993-4 we beat them 3-1 in the Anglo-Italian Cup. Albion's scorers were Bernard McNally, Mickey Mellon and Scott Darton.