Miles back at West Brom as Nestor exit confirmed

West Bromwich Albion have announced former managing director Mark Miles has returned to the club as executive director, following confirmation of Andrew Nestor's departure from The Hawthorns.

American Nestor's exit had been expected following tensions behind the scenes and a series of failures during his near two-year stay as sporting director and president, that saw two managerial appointments not work out and the recruitment of a third in Eric Ramsay.

Miles comes back to Albion, where he worked for 22 years before leaving in September 2025 having overseen the transfer of the club's ownership to the Bilkul Football Group.

In his role, Miles will report directly to owner and chairman Shilen Patel and provide "oversight and governance to all areas of the club in addition to direct leadership and external facing duties".

"When I left I had a conversation with Shilen Patel that I would be there to help in any way in the future and Shilen asked me whether I would come back in a slightly different role and it felt absolutely right to do that," Miles told BBC Radio WM.

"I hope to bring some guidance, support and leadership to get us out of the position we find ourselves in."

With the club slipping into the Championship's relegation zone, and head coach Ramsay still waiting for his first win after four games, Miles said it had been "difficult" watching Albion's plight from afar and everyone must "work together" and he feels "very passionately that we will get ourselves out of where we are and start to look upwards".

Miles says he will meet with the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) and the Albion Assembly in the coming days to "address their concerns".

"Clearly things haven't been going right on the field and that naturally brings tensions and disagreements and I want to bring that back together," he said.

Chairman Patel said the club were "fortunate" to have Miles back and added his "experience and leadership will be critical to us as we pull together as one club to move through a difficult period and continue in our pursuit of our long-term ambitions".

Those ambitions, first and foremost, will be to avoid relegation to the third tier for only the second time ever during the remaining 16 games of the season.

Patel said he was "ultimately accountable" for the club's performance and admitted the season so far had "simply not been good enough".

"I am absolutely determined to put that right by guiding the club through this period so we can all be far more optimistic about the future," he added.

Analysis by BBC Radio WM's Steve Hermon

The brevity of statements from both West Bromwich Albion and Andrew Nestor will tell you all you need to know about the state of the relationship that had broken down behind the scenes at the Hawthorns.

They have both wished each other well, and the parting is officially by 'mutual agreement', but tensions boiled over to the point that the American hadn't attended a Baggies game since December.

I understand he was reluctant to sack Ryan Mason, but it certainly was his decision to appoint the former Spurs assistant last summer, and it's just one of the reasons why he has departed. The fact the American was given the title 'president' also rankled with many, and not just the fanbase.

It's been a chaotic mess, but they're now not messing around in a bid to save their season with the team sitting in the Championship relegation zone.

Nestor's rise to a presidential role in September last year coincided with the departure of Mark Miles. He guided the ship through the financially disastrous reign of Guochuan Lai and was instrumental in getting Shilen Patel's takeover of the club over the line in February 2024.

Miles, who had served the club in multiple roles for 22 years, is now back five months later as executive director, reporting directly to the owner and chairman.

The Baggies are in the process of appointing more 'football people', with Maccabi Tel Aviv technical director and former Liverpool analyst Dominic Price being linked with a senior off-field role. But for now, they're hoping Miles' experience and leadership will offer stability and help guide them to a much better place.

That's something they also need on the field, with the better place in the short term being staying in the second tier. If head coach Eric Ramsay and his players can do that, it will give owners Bilkul a chance to regroup and rebuild after multiple missteps set them off course.