'It's the best thing that could have happened' – Watch as West Brom fans react to news of takeover
It's a time of change at the helm of one of the region's biggest and most historic football clubs after it was finally sold.
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Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel have agreed to acquire Guochuan Lai’s 87.8 per cent majority shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the club’s parent company, for a deal worth in the region of £60million.
It comes after fan protests, boardroom wrangling and months of uncertainty for Albion fans.
Shilen Patel is set to be at The Hawthorns this evening for the Championship game against Southampton and has said he is excited about getting started at the club, with aims to get it back to the Premier League.
The owners, under the consortium Bilkul (meaning "absolutely" in Hindi) Football WBA join a host of other foreign owners of Premier League and English Football League clubs, such as Chinese group Fosun at Wolves and Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham.
Among shoppers on West Bromwich high street the day after the news broke there was a mixed reception to the news, with fans of the club elated at the prospect of a new dawn while supporters of other clubs from the region were pleased for Albion, but also sceptical about foreign owners taking over another club.
Albion supporter Eric Poolier said he'd only just found out the club had been sold, but the 56-year-old said it could lift up the club and the town.
