Express & Star

Albion road to the play-offs Part 4 - Biggest win of the season came in the boardroom

Albion’s biggest match this season was never going to be played on any pitch – even Wembley – instead it was in the boardroom.

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Former controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s desire to sell his 88 per cent majority in Albion was confirmed last summer as questions began to move to ‘who?’ and ‘when?’

Any early promise from the first year or so of Lai’s 2016 takeover had long since eroded and the absent Chinese, who very rarely stepped foot on these shores during his tenure, was left floundering for a way out as Albion’s financial position spiralled.

By last summer the club had already been operating on a £20million loan from US lender firm MSD Holdings for more than six months.

It wasn’t going to last forever and the steps forward were unclear. Even those acting at the top of the club were, privately, unsure.