No, we haven’t gone totally mad. The Albions pre-season friendly game against Portugese top flight side Portimonense was abandoned following a mass brawl. The Johny foreigners were seemingly less than happy with Ashley Barnes enthusiasm for a tackle, with their forward Ivanildo chasing the forward twenty years before smacking him one. Gus Poyet lead the charge onto the pitch from both dugouts to “calm things down” as players from both sides piled in, before the referee decided enough was enough and along with his officials marched off the pitch and down the tunnel

Albion fans may remember the infamous Battle of Longford, the pre-season game during a tour of Ireland which was abandoned following another mass brawl in which Charlie Oatway found himself being dismissed. No cards were issued today, and it is probably safe to say that it is unlikely that we will be having any sort of link club relationship with Portimonense anytime soon!