The 1980 – 1981 league season proved to be the last one which saw Ron Atkinson in charge at the club. He led West Brom to finish off in a mighty fourth position finish as they were in contention for the league title for much of the campaign. The end of the season was also notable for the departure of Bryan Robson who left the club for a then record fee of £1.75 million moving to Manchester united. Martin Jol was brought in at the West Brom side at the start of the 1981 – 82 season and the club also had a new manager as Ronnie Allen was in charge at the club for the entire season. Albion considerable declined in the division as they campaign progressed and could only manage a disappointing 17th position finish as they were fortunate to avoid relegation by the end of the campaign. Cyrille Regis was in prolific form in front of goal as he was the West Brom football player of the year. Ron Wylie took charge at the club at the start of the 1982 – 1983 campaign and Albion made a considerable improvement in the top flight as they finished it off in a respectable 11th place finish.
The 1983 – 1984 season saw West Brom crash out of the FA cup in the fifth round as they suffered a humiliating defeat against Plymouth Argyle, losing the match 1-0. They were also poor in the league as they crashed down the league to finish off in17th place for the second time in three years.

Johnny Giles took over from the managerial post at the start of the 1984 -85 season and West Brom improved in the league finishing the campaign off in 12th place. Carlton Palmer made his debut for the club during that season and the player went on to play for the English national side for much of the 1990’s.