after Earnshaw failed to score in pre-season. However, on 11 September 2002 he was handed a start against Boston United in the League Cup and scored a hat-trick. He went on to enjoy a prolific season, scoring two further hat-tricks in matches against Queens Park Rangers and Tranmere Rovers and also scored six braces, as Cardiff won promotion to the First Division after defeating Queens Park Rangers in the 2003 Football League Second Division play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium. He finished the season with 35 goals in all competitions, despite scoring only once in his last eleven matches, breaking a club record for most goals scored in a single season which was previously held by Hughie Ferguson's tally of 32 during the 1926–27 season. His 31 goals in league matches also broke a 56-year-old club record previously held by Stan Richards. At the end of the season, Earnshaw was named Young Welsh Footballer of the Year, and was named in the PFA Division Two Team of the Year. Following the club's promotion, Earnshaw continued his form and scored over 30 goals during his first season in the First Division, including a four-goal haul during a 5–0 victory over Gillingham and a hat-trick against Leyton Orient in the League Cup. His continued goalscoring form attracted attention from numerous clubs, including Scottish side Celtic and Premier League clubs Fulham, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa. Cardiff chairman Sam Hammam had strongly resisted any potential approaches for Earnshaw and at one point claimed that "They would hang me in the city centre" if he was sold. West Bromwich Albion However, at the start of the following season, Earnshaw was transferred from Cardiff to West Bromwich Albion for £3 million, a fee that could have reached a maximum of £3.62 million with performance-related add-ons. His agent Mel Eves was fined 30,000 Swiss francs (£12,250) by FIFA in July 2007 over his role in the transfer. Eves was found guilty of acting for both his client (Earnshaw) and the buying club (Albion) in the deal. Earnshaw made his Albion début in a 3–0 defeat at Liverpool on 11 September 2004, coming on as a second-half substitute. He scored his first goals for Albion in his seventh appearance, netting twice in a 2–2 draw at Southampton on 6 November 2004 and scores in the club's following two matches against Middlesbrough and Arsenal. His first and only