West Brom have angered many of its fans by rejecting the
offer of a victory parade to celebrate promotion to the Premier
League.
Officials at the Championship winners said they had
declined the offer of an open top bus tour and a civic reception to
concentrate on preparing for the top flight.
In a statement, the club said: "The club can confirm we have
informed Sandwell Council we are unable to participate in a civic
reception to celebrate our Championship success.
"As a club, we regard this as only the start of an exciting
journey under our management team and we now want to focus all our
attentions on preparing for the Premier League."
The statement also noted that a capacity crowd had celebrated
Albion's promotion in their final home game of the season, while
almost 3,000 Baggies fans witnessed their title-clinching win at
Queens Park Rangers last Sunday.
Many West Brom fans have been critical of the decision not to
mark Albion's first league title win for more than 80 years with a
public parade.
Sandwell Council leader Bill Thomas said: "I am sure it is
disappointing for the fans, but I suppose it is understandable.
"It has been a very long and hard season and as a lot of the
players are foreign, they no doubt want to get home and see their
families before getting back for pre-season training in preparation
for the Premier League.
"We were more than prepared to go along with the celebrations,
but at the end of the day we are in the hands of the club."
Mr Thomas added that the council was still prepared to hold a
civic reception if Albion had a change of heart.
