 Historically , Albion 's greatest rivals have always been Aston Villa from nearby Birmingham . The two clubs contested three FA Cup Finals between 1887 and 1895 ( Villa winning two and Albion one ) . More recently however , most Albion fans have begun to see Wolverhampton Wanderers as their main rivals – particularly between 1989 and 2002 when Albion and Villa were never in the same division but Albion were in the same division as Wolves for 11 out of 14 seasons . However , with Albion and Villa being in different divisions for so many years , the rivalry is less heated as Aston Villa supporters consider Birmingham City as their main local rivals and not Albion despite geographical distance between the two clubs . 
