Football fans have voiced their anger after publisher Reach plc scrapped dedicated coverage of their club in its current round of cutbacks.

Championship side West Bromwich Albion have become the latest club to lose its assigned reporter after Birmingham Live’s Joe Chapman was switched to a new role.

Joe confirmed on X that last Saturday’s game, in which the club, nicknamed the Baggies, defeated Blackburn 4-1, was his last as the dedicated club writer.

But the move sparked criticism on fan website West Brom News which described Joe as “an incredible source of information” for supporters of the club.

Wrote Joe: “Today was my final game as the dedicated club writer. There’s been a company restructure and my role has changed as a result, I’m sorry to say.”

After an outpouring of praise from fans, he later added: “The volume of responses and messages is something I couldn’t have comprehended. Thank you for each and every one of them, they mean a lot. Gutted I won’t be continuing with the daily coverage. See you in the home end.”

Former Sky Sports Fan Zone commentator for West Brom, Alistair Jones, who is also the founder of Action for Albion, was among those who hit out at the decision.

“Years of tradition, following the length and breadth of the country, stopped because Reach plc can’t see that local football is so important to the community,” he said.

Writing on West Brom News, Harri Burton said: “There is no wonder why local fans are furious with the choice to scrap West Brom coverage from BirminghamLive, especially with the aforementioned Chapman given a more generic role within the company.

“Chapman has been an incredible source of information for the fans, covering for the website for over nine years. However, it comes as no surprise to most as Reach continues to ignore the wants of the fans.

“It was never going to be a popular decision among any of the fans, even those who may not read Chapman’s work regularly. Yet, the company decided without a second thought, leaving everyone angry.

“Hundreds of jobs have been lost to Reach’s ruling with an iron fist in recent years, and West Brom will not be the last club to suffer, while Chapman will not be the last journalist stripped of his love and joy.”

In addition to West Brom, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Sunderland have all lost their dedicated club reporters in the recent cutbacks, which are due to see 320 editorial roles lost.

HTFP has approached Reach for comment on the football cutbacks but the company has yet to respond.