When Albion paid £1000 and a set of tracksuits for a signing

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Some of our best signings have proved to be absolute bargains.

Dan Tester

2023-06-26T06:00:00Z

Gary Hart would prove to be one of the greatest bargains of all time.

In 1980, the Albion paid £500,000 for the services of young striker Andy Ritchie from Manchester United.

For the next 31 years, the club didn’t pay a higher transfer fee than half a million pounds and, for a very long time, barely paid out any money at all. During the Gillingham years, Dick Knight paid Stansted Football Club the princely sum of £1,000, and a set of tracksuits, to sign unknown striker Gary Hart in 1998. In monetary terms, the best bit of player business in the club’s existence.

The chairman’s faith was rewarded as the tenacious forward went on to make nearly 400 appearances, playing in every position except centre-back, and in goal. Oh Gary Hart (OGH), as he became known, scored 46 goals, won four promotions (three as a champion) and experienced two relegations.

Another stand-out signing – for £15,000 – was Stuart Storer, who netted the last goal at the Goldstone Ground in 1997 and played a huge part in Albion clinging on to their Football League status two seasons running.

For £15,000, Stuart Storer more than paid back his transfer fee with his end of season heroics in 1997.

Fast forward three decades and Will Buckley scored on his debut – and the Albion’s first league game at the Amex – against Doncaster Rovers. The flying winger arrived on the coast just a few months earlier, for a million pounds. Many supporters could scarcely believe we now had such an ‘expensive’ player. Then, of course, as the Premier League became a reality so did higher transfer fees.

The excellent Adam Webster cost £20m, and so did a few others who weren’t quite as good. Whatever supposed errors have occurred in the transfer market since the step up, it’s fair to say they’ve been consigned to history when you take a look at the new incumbents during the 2022/23 campaign.

Pervis Estupiñán, goal-of-the-season winner Julio Enciso, Kaoru Mitoma, Billy Gilmour, Facundo Buonanotte, Yasin Ayari…

The best transfer activity in the club’s 122-year history.

Or was it?

João Pedro may turn out to be a bargain. James Milner…