JULY

Wolves announced that goalkeeper Carl Ikeme had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and was set to begin chemotherapy.

The 31-year-old was revealed to have the condition after he reported back for pre-season training and returned abnormal results on a blood test.

Messages of support, from the likes of cancer survivors Geoff Thomas and Stiliyan Petrov, flooded in for Ikeme – who made his Wolves debut in 2005 and has played 10 times for Nigeria.

He was still assigned the No.1 shirt for the new season and fundraising efforts for Cure Leukaemia started.

Wolves, Villa and Albion all made sizeable signings.

The Molineux side smashed their transfer record once again as Ruben Neves joined from Porto for £15million.

Portuguese international Neves agreed terms on a £40,000-a-week contract and the fee equalled a Championship record – matching what Villa splashed out for Jonathan Kodjia in 2016.

2017 review part one: A year of change and emotion

Neves was not the only Porto man to join Wolves, with French defender Willy Boly signing a season-long loan deal.

Diogo Jota, Ruben Vinagre, Barry Douglas, John Ruddy and Will Norris also joined Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, while Jon Dadi Bodvarsson was sold to Reading.

Albion snapped up attacker Jay Rodriguez for £12million, rising to a possible club-record £15million.

The Baggies also agreed a loan deal for Egyptian defender Ahmed Hegazi, with the club since making his move to The Hawthorns permanent.

And Villa won the race for former England captain John Terry.

The centre-half had been a free agent after his release from Chelsea, where he spent more than 20 years.

Villa announced his arrival on Twitter via a fake WhatsApp conversation between chairman Tony Xia, manager Steve Bruce and some of the players.

Ahmed Elmohamady, Chris Samba, Glenn Whelan and Sam Johnstone were also signed.

Shrewsbury’s pre-season victories over four Championship sides, including Wolves and Villa, provided promise for the upcoming League One campaign.

In tennis, Roger Federer trounced a tearful Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to become the first man ever to win eight singles titles at Wimbledon

England Women won the cricket World Cup on home soil, beating India in the final at Lord’s. Wolverhampton’s Georgia Elwiss was in that squad. In cycling, Chris Froome won the Tour de France for the fourth time. Staffordshire swimmer Adam Peaty won two golds at the World Aquatics Championships.

Bradley Lowery, the football mascot whose smile touched thousands of people around the world, died after a battle with a rare cancer.

AUGUST

Albion made four more signings and started the new Premier League season in style. Oliver Burke joined for £13.5million from German club RB Leipzig, Grzegorz Kyrchowiak was signed on loan from PSG, Kieran Gibbs was snapped up from Arsenal and Gareth Barry was picked up from Everton – and the Baggies picked up two wins and a draw in August.

Things turned sour after that for Tony Pulis though.

Wolves completed loan deals for Leo Bonatini and Alfred N’Diaye, with Villa getting Josh Onomah and Robert Snodgrass on a temporary basis as the Championship got under way.

Neymar became the most expensive footballer of all time after joining PSG for 222 million euros – worth £200.6million at the time.

In cricket, England beat South Africa by 177 runs in the fourth Test at Old Trafford to clinch a 3-1 series win.

Moeen Ali – who has played for Wolverhampton and West Bromwich Dartmouth – was key to the victory, with some excellent displays with the bat and ball.

He got the first hat-trick in 100 Test matches at The Oval, during the third Test of the series.

Sir Mo Farah won gold in the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships in London

Jessica Ennis-Hill received her heptathlon gold medal from the 2011 World Championships in London, following the failed drugs test by original winner Tatyana Chernova of Russia.

And in boxing, Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor in a big-money fight in Las Vegas.

SEPTEMBER

Excitement was building among fans of Wolves and Shrewsbury, while Albion and Walsall supporters were voicing their displeasure over their respective bosses. Wolves advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup by beating Bristol Rovers, while Albion were knocked out by Manchester City.

Two of England’s standout stars in football and cricket were arrested. Former England skipper Wayne Rooney pleaded guilty to a drink-driving charge and apologised for his ‘unforgivable lack of judgement’.

All-rounder Ben Stokes was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after an incident outside a Bristol nightclub, with him then missing out on the Ashes tour while he awaited action to be taken.

England Women’s football boss Mark Sampson was sacked following evidence of ‘inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour’ during his time at a previous club.

Birmingham manager Harry Redknapp paid the price for a run of six straight defeats in the Championship as he parted company with the club.

In non-league, Hednesford Town sacked Neil Tooth just seven games into the Evo-Stik Premier campaign.

Rob Smith and Larry Chambers took the reins once again at Keys Park soon after. The duo had previously been in charge at at the club between 2010 and 2015.

James Anderson became the first Englishman – and only the sixth person of all-time – to take 500 Test wickets. .

Birmingham was chosen ahead of Liverpool as the recommended city for England’s bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

OCTOBER

Fundraising for Cure Leukaemia in support of Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme soared past the £100,000 mark.

Led Zeppelin frontman and Wolves fan Robert Plant made an undisclosed personal donation to the fund

Stafford-born Morgan Gibbs-White played a starring role as England Under-17s won the World Cup.

The Wolves youngster and former Thomas Telford student scored in their 5-2 final win over Spain.

And Leo Bonatini was named Championship player of the month.

Former Albion forward Rickie Lambert announced his retirement from football. Lambert played 20 times for the Baggies between 2015 and 2016, after being signed by Pulis – who, after their results during this month, was on borrowed time as chief at The Hawthorns.

While Pulis was on the brink, Leicester sacked Craig Shakespeare and hired Claude Puel. Ronald Koeman lost his job at Everton too.

Shrewsbury’s phenomenal run in League One was brought to an end as they lost 1-0 at Peterborough.

The loss at London Road came after 15 games unbeaten for Paul Hurst’s charges, who started the campaign as one of the favourites for relegation.

After the defeat, Hurst said: “I’m proud of the players.

“If we’re going to lose a game of football then that’s how to lose it.

“Ultimately we’ve seen what it means for a team to beat little old Shrewsbury. That’s massive credit for the players and how far they’ve come in a short space of time.”

Walsall playmaker Erhun Oztumer’s performances saw him nominated for the League One player of the month gong, but Plymouth man Graham Carey won the award.

Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula One world champion for a fourth time.

Anthony Joshua retained his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles with a 10th-round stoppage of Carlos Takam in Cardiff.

And in tennis, Dan Evans was handed a one-year ban by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for cocaine in April.

NOVEMBER

Tony Pulis was shown the door at Albion two days after a 4-0 thrashing by Chelsea at The Hawthorns, bringing an end to his near three-year reign at the club.

A statement released by the Baggies thanked the Welshman for his efforts but said results over the back end of last season and this season had been ‘disappointing’.

Assistant head coach and former boss Gary Megson took charge of first-team affairs while they searched for a permanent replacement, with Alan Pardew getting the job at the end of the month.

Megson then left the club and Pardew, after his unveiling, said: “I’m thrilled with the opportunity Albion have provided and looking forward to getting to work with what I consider to be a talented group of players.

“The immediate challenge will be to get the results we need to pull ourselves up the table.

“But I’m aware that while I’m joining one of the great, traditional clubs of English football.

“It is one determined to go forward in the Premier League. It’s an exciting opportunity to play a part in that ambition.”

At the opposite end of the spectrum to Pulis was Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who oversaw four wins from four games in November to cement their position as the Championship’s pace-setters.

He was named the league’s manager of the month and took the opportunity to show his appreciation to everyone at the club, including his backroom staff and kit man Ron Picken on his award photo.

Nuno said: “It feels good and it means a lot, not only for us, it means a lot for the club, for the squad, for the players, for the fans. It means a lot.

“It’s a deserved award for the work that the club and everybody here has been doing.”

Also on the managerial front, Slaven Bilic was sacked as West Ham boss and replaced by former Shrewsbury man David Moyes. Chris Coleman resigned as Wales manager to take over at Sunderland.

Dudley-born Sam Allardyce took over at Everton.

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for the World Cup, while Oumar Niasse became first Premier League player to be hit with a retrospective suspension for diving.

In non-league, Telford pulled off one of the biggest signings in their history as they snapped up former Wolves and Shrewsbury attacker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

And in cricket, England suffered a 10-wicket defeat in the first Ashes Test. Australia knocked off the 56 runs needed on the final morning at the Gabba.

DECEMBER

Alan Pardew had a tough introduction to life as Albion boss as they drew 0-0 with his former employers Crystal Palace before losing 1-0 at Swansea.

Also in football, UEFA chose Wembley to stage three group matches and one last-16 clash at Euro 2020, in place of Brussels, as well as the two semi-finals and final already scheduled to take place at the national stadium. And Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or for a fifth time.

Tyson Fury was cleared to fight again immediately after receiving a two-year ban from boxing which was backdated to December 2015.

In snooker, Ronnie O’Sullivan won the UK Championship for a record-equalling sixth time.

It was revealed cyclist Chris Froome had produced a urine sample, during his La Vuelta win, found to contain twice the permitted concentration of the asthma drug salbutamol, though he protested his innocence. Russia were banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics after a doping investigation.

England lost the second and third Tests to Australia to end their hopes of winning the Ashes.

In a positive end to the year, Birmingham was named the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.