to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson. Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010–11 season. Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the Premier League. It included an 8th-place finish in 2012–13 under Steve Clarke, and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12 and Tony Pulis in 2016–17. On 5 August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner Jeremy Peace had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan. By this time, the club had begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay. Pulis and his replacement Alan Pardew were both sacked during the season. Albion finished fourth in their first season back in the Championship under the management of Darren Moore, losing the Championship play-off semi-final against Aston Villa on penalties. Slaven Bilić took over as boss on 13 June 2019, and led Albion to automatic promotion back to the Premier League during the 2019–20 season. Back in the Premier League, Bilić was controversially sacked on 16 December 2020, with Sam Allardyce named as his replacement the same day. After Albion were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2020–21 season, Allardyce resigned from his position. The club endured disappointing results back in the Championship during the tenures of Valérien Ismaël and then Steve Bruce, who left the club in the relegation places in the 2022–23 season. Former Marcelo Bielsa understudy Carlos Corberán was named as successor on 25 October. Crest and colours Badge Albion's main club badge dates back to the late 1880s, when club secretary Tom Smith suggested that a throstle (song thrush) sitting on a crossbar be adopted for the badge. The badge has been subject to various revisions since then. It has always featured a throstle, usually on a blue and white striped shield, although the crossbar was replaced with a hawthorn branch at some point after the club's move to the Hawthorns. The throstle was chosen because the public house in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage. It also gave rise to Albion's early nickname, the Throstles. The hawthorn bush is also a favourite bush of throstles, which were regularly seen on the pre-stadium estate and local area.