When West Bromwich Albion made it to the Premiership for the first time in 2002, their first-choice kit had the traditional white socks and when Everton travelled to the Hawthorns, they were able to wear their black third kit without much fuss.
West Brom failed to stay up in 2002-03 but bounced back immediately and their new strip for 2004-05 featured navy socks. The second strip had a red shirt and that was worn away to Everton.
As with 2002-03, the Toffees once again had a white away shirt and black third – making for a lot of different combinations – but neither was considered suitable for the trip to the Hawthorns in the spring of 2005.
Instead, Everton wore the blue shorts from the change kit to create a Chelsea-like look, as they had at Aston Villa in February.
*
While the white panel housing the number on the back of the West Brom shirt aided differentiation, it wasn’t a completely satisfactory solution.
*
It certainly didn’t help Everton, without a win since beating Villa, as Zoltan Gera’s goal condemned them to a third straight defeat.
They would, however, bounce back to ensure a fourth-placed finish. The following season, 2005-06, West Brom would again have navy home socks but on this occasion Everton opted for an all-blue look when they went to the Midlands.
