However, Everton striker Duncan Ferguson spoiled the party when he ended a long and colourful career with a goal from his final kick of the ball.
He netted a rebound from his penalty to claim a point which Everton barely deserved.
The match was a metaphor for Everton's season as a whole - a poor start leading to a belated strong finish.
Everton continued their unenviable record of not having won on the final day of the season since 1995.
The home side fans were there to pay tribute to legendary defender Brian Labone with a minute's silence at the start of the game.
But in the first half their players did not do the former captain proud.
They struggled to control possession and allowed the West Brom midfield pair of Jonathan Greening and Nigel Quashie to dominate.
It was Greening's cross that set up the opening goal with Zoltan Gera expertly taking it on the half-volley to beat young Blues keeper Iain Turner.
When the Blues' attacking midfielders Kevin Kilbane and Mikel Arteta - who was presented with his player of the year award before kick-off - were on the ball the home side looked menacing.
In the 29th minute the two combined to create their first chance. Arteta whipped in a cross but Kilbane's header was deftly put over by Polish keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
Another golden chance fell to the Irish midfielder but Kusczak's stunning double save kept the home side out.
From their poor start the home side finished the half looking to get back into the game.
But the Baggies had other plans and duly delivered the sucker-punch. An inswinging corner from Greening was nodded on by Gera and was met with a thumping volley from Uruguayan debutant Williams Martinez which went straight into the net.
Everton had hoped to turn up and coast into tenth place, which would have been the club's first Premiership back-to-back top-half finish, but luck did not seem to be on their side.
However, they continued playing well, creating a whole series of chances, but the outstanding Kuszczak kept denying them.
Ferguson had a goal disallowed for offside after he met Arteta's free-kick but the match proved to be the perfect example of why Everton could not finish higher in the Premiership table.
They created several chances with some good build-up play but their lack of sharpness in front of goal was crucial.
It fell to young substitute Victor Anichebe to turn the game around. His pace and determination allowed him to feed off Ferguson's knock-downs. In the 84th minute he collected the ball from Arteta with his back to goal.
A neat turn and a left-footed drive through the goalkeeper's legs gained him his first goal for the club and it set up a frantic finale as tempers flared.
Three minutes later, the youngster could have had a second but the goalkeeper deflected it away and Leon Osman missed an open goal.
But in the last minute Arteta was brought down clumsily in the box and referee Alan Wiley gave Ferguson his penalty chance.
He drove it straight at the keeper but the veteran Scot used his experience to eventually bundle home the rebound, perfectly rounding off his Everton career.