 The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter 's Spring Works in West Bromwich , in Staffordshire . They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880 , becoming the first team to adopt the Albion suffix . Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked , close to what is today Greets Green . The club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition , the Birmingham Cup . They reached the quarter @-@ finals , beating several longer @-@ established clubs on the way . In 1883 , Albion won their first trophy , the Staffordshire Cup . Albion joined the Football Association in the same year ; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883 – 84 season . In 1885 the club turned professional , and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time , losing 2 – 0 to Blackburn Rovers in a replay . They reached the final again in 1887 , but lost 2 – 0 to Aston Villa . In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time , beating strong favourites Preston North End 2 – 1 in the final . 
